The wreck of HMS Orpheus
If you ever fancy a nice weekend drive in Auckland the perfect place to go would be the Awhitu Peninsula, north of Waiuku. You can pack a picnic, take a dip in the sea, go camping at the Awhitu Regional Park , or just enjoy a drive. Ref: AWNS-19020925-5-4, Mokohinau lighthouse, Sir George Grey Special Collections Any trip to Awhitu, however, just has to include a visit to the restored lighthouse on top of the Manukau Heads over looking the entrance to the harbour. It is there that one can walk out on to the balcony and look across to the Waitakere Ranges on the northern side, and imagine what it must have been like on a particular day 150 years ago for an 18-year old signalman by the name of Edward Wing as he guided in the British warship HMS Orpheus, only to see it crash on to the infamous sandbar. Of the 259 assumed to be on board that day, 189 seamen perished, some as young as 14 years old, many of them not able to swim. This is still New Zealand's worst maritime d...