In this painting the Eastbourne ferry Duchess is arriving at the ferry terminal Wellington. It is a clear early morning and the painting suggests the hustle and bustle of Wellington harbour and the importance that the local ferry service played transporting people around the harbour region. 

It was the excitement, the social interaction and the very lifeline to all the coastal communities. The scene in the painting is looking towards the Harbour Board building and one of the Craig Line vessels being towed out of her berth by the tug Natone.