Cardiff in making iron and later steel, brought to the sea by packhorse from Merthyr Tydfil. This was first achieved by the construction of a long canal from Merthyr (510 feet above sea-level) to the Taff Estuary at Cardiff. Eventually the Taff Vale Railway replaced the canal barges and massive marshalling yards sprang up as new docks were developed in Cardiff – all prompted by the soaring worldwide demand for coal from the South Wales valleys. At its peak, Cardiff's port area, known as Tiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and – for some time – the world's
Fullers Bay of Islands on board to transport cream from the islands, and by the 1960s, the well known ‘Bay Belle’ started this run. Although a modern catamaran now takes this historical route (The Cream Trip), the Bay Belle continues to transport visitors and locals between Paihia and Russell throughout the day. The company expanded to Auckland and became Fullers Corporation. In 1989 Fullers Corporation split into the Bay of Islands company and the Auckland operations, which were taken over by what is now Fullers Group. In December 2008 Fullers Bay of Islands was rebranded Fullers GreatSights to bring it inline with InterCity Group's