Heritage et AL

The Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post  was the first in the world to use pigeons to deliver mail using postage stamps, although they were “unofficial” stamps. The Great Barrier Island pigeon post service was started after the sinking of the SS Wairarapa in October 1894.  This ship ran aground on the remote north side of Great Barrier Island. Ref:  James Richardson   Showing the Wreck of  SS Wairarapa  at Miners Head, Great Barrier Island, 1894, Sir  George Grey  Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-102 About 121 lives were lost. News of the disaster  didn't  reach Auckland until two or three days later. It highlighted the need for better communication with the island. The first message of the pigeongram service was carried by one of Mr Parkin’s pigeons, on May 14th 1897. You can read the full page article in the Auckland Weekly News here . Ref: Auckland Weekly News, A kit of racing pigeons, 15 September 1899, Sir...

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...