The unsinkable dress! WAHINE SURVIVOR'S PRICELESS FIND

Ferry survivor Diane relives that fateful journey and the frock that put her in her fave mag!

-  Sharon Stephenson

They called it a harlequin dress, a knee-length jersey knit featuring brightly coloured diamond patterns.

That dress was one of the few items Diane Wilton was able to salvage from the Wahine ferry which sank on April 10, 1968.

Diane, now 81, and her late husband Ken were passengers on the ill-fated sailing from Lyttelton to Wellington in which 53 people died. The couple, who had recently married, were on their way to Masterton to see Ken's family when the Wahine ran aground on rocks at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.

"Our car was filled with our wedding photos, golf clubs, even two hats I'd packed to wear to the races," says Diane, who has lived in a retirement village in Masterton for three years. “We lost the lot.”

But six months after the couple were rescued by a fishing trawler, authorities managed to salvage their car from the wreckage.

“Ken brought home two suitcases, which stank,” recalls Diane. “Everything was covered in black gunk and we couldn’t save much.”