Friday 13 February 2009, Carnley Harbour
Overnight we moved around Auckland Island and in the early morning we were greeted by a soft cloudy sunrise, although the waves were pretty high and crashed right up to the bridge windows at times. But once we entered Carnley Harbour the water was more peaceful. Although this is the harbour in which the Grafton was wrecked, we did not get to see the remains of the ship. For those interested, however, here is a brief summary of the exciting story of the shipwreck in 1864, how the men managed to survive and how they were finally saved. And if you have a broader interest in the shipwrecks of the Auckland Islands, here is another informative piece with a list of wrecks and provision depots.
Our reason for landing here was to look at the remains of the huts used by coast watchers during World War II. At the beginning of the war the New Zealand Government had been alarmed by the fact that a German merchant vessel, desperate to get home after the declaration of war, had landed on Auckland Island and cut down a large stand of rata to use as fuel. Below is a picture of a rata flower. The rata here are very stunted and bush rather than tree. The wood is very hard and difficult to chop. The New Zealand revenge?
The Government decided to establish coast-watching stations early in 1941 in the Auckland Islands and on Campbell Island. Robert Alexander Falla, an ornithologist and Director of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch who served in a naval auxiliary patrol, was called in as an adviser. He was instrumental in having young scientists included in the personnel at each base, and set up a scientific programme; he himself also served in the field. The result was a long series of published works on the geology, zoology and botany of these islands. Below are pictures of the inside of the observation hut.
The names of participating scientists are found in landmarks on the islands: Falla is commemorated by Falla Peninsula; the palæontologist Charles Alexander Fleming is commemorated by Fleming Plateau and the ornithologist Evan Graham Turbott is remembered by Turbott Lake.
From Auckland Island it took us a day and a half to motor to Macquarie Island, which visit was among the many highlights of the trip because of the penguins and the elephant seals. More about this in the next post.
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2 comments:
Not too sure I agree with what 123? said...
Anyway, I find it quite interesting that NZ made shelters and left provisions for potential ship wrecks - perhaps a light house or something else would have been a little more prevention focused.
I saw recently (on Campbell Live I think) a piece about ship wrecks around the Auckland Islands and treasure hunting. In particular there is a ship that has never been recovered but thought to be there somewhere because of the stories from the survivors. But the ship and it's gold have not been found. Did you find any?
No, no gold. But just as we were told to leave nothing but footprints, we also could not take anything except memories and photos.
Don't forget that these shipwrecks took place in the nineteenth century when lighthouses were still manned to keep the flame burning. They did not yet have the technology to have a lamp burning without supervision. On Enderby a group of pakeha tried settling in 1849, but the settlement only lasted 2 years and 9 months. When they arrived a group of Maori was there already, but they gave up on the inhospitable place too.
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