Ma¯ori came to rescue of ship-wrecked crew
One of the few visible shipwrecks on the Southland coast is the Hindu, traces of which can be seen at low tide on Oreti Beach.
The Hindu was bound to Dunedin with a cargo of tea when she was wrecked in 1871.
The Dog Island light was obscured by thick weather and the captain was landwards of his intended course.
Here is the account of the wreck from Thomas Waugh.
‘‘The captain was found the next morning sitting on some boxes on the beach with his sword drawn and his pistols ready. He evidently did not know where he was and feared the natives.’’
Quite untrue!
A report from the time says, ‘‘The Hindu, from Foo Chou to Cape Sondberg, ran ashore on the Riverton Beach at 3am on 27 March 1871. All hands (15) saved by Maoris at low water, with personal effects and stores.
‘‘The vessel lay embedded in the sand about 150 yards from the shore at low water.
‘‘In the darkness the proximity of the land was unseen, and the first sign of danger was the line of breakers. After she struck she was driven farther up on the beach by the sea.
‘‘She was a new ship and very strong. All hands remained on board till daylight, with the seas constantly breaking over.
‘‘Then our perilous position was seen by the Maoris and halfcastes at the Kaik, seven or eight miles off, who put off to the rescue. At low water it is possible to wade to the ship, but dangerous.
‘‘The Hindu was floated off, but while waiting for a steamer to tow her to a place of safety, a gale arose and again drove her on the beach where she became a total wreck.
‘‘She was a tea ship, the tea was taken out of her, much of it soaked with salt water.
‘‘A drying apparatus was rigged up, and under the supervision of Mr Jabez Hay, engineer, Invercargill, drying went on for a long time, night and day, by steam power, and large quantities of this tea afterwards found their way into the markets in the form of blends.’’
Mountain climbing
In November 1895 a public meeting was held at Tapanui to form a society to encourage mountain climbing, the preservation of natural bush, and for tracks and huts on popular routes.
Tramping is certainly not a new pastime and many of our tracks have been around for more than a century.
The first tourists did the Milford Track in 1888, for example, and the Southland landscape offered endless choices for day hikes through patches of bush and up hills for a view.
Lake Hawkins
In 1932 there was an argument about Lake Hawkins, the body of water enclosed when the causeways along Stead St and the Waihopai River were made.
Should the estuary reclamation be left as a lake or reclaimed as originally intended to be converted to farmland and possibly a new airport?
The paper said, ‘‘Lake Hawkins should be retained as a bird sanctuary and a beauty spot for Invercargill.
‘‘Paradise ducks and other waterfowl find it a congenial spot and on a fine day it makes a particularly attractive picture.
‘‘It would be well to give this matter careful consideration for once the lake has disappeared it cannot be conjured up again.’’
In the event, reclamation proceeded and the land became soggy pasture and later the town’s airport.