RUGGED COASTLINE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 848, 17 December 1929, Page 1

RUGGED COASTLINE

DISTRICT IS WELL-KNOWN RESORT EARLY DISASTER RECALLED Long Point, where the Manuka went ashore, is at the eastern end pi Tautuku Bay, and about 15 miles from Nugget Point, or “The Nuggets,” as it is familiarly known, a lonely little fishing centre near the mouth of the Clutha River, about 20 miles from Balclutha on the Southern Main Trunk line. On the extremity of Nugget Point stands the lighthouse, one of the principal beacons on that section of the coast and a mecca for holidaymakers from Dunedin and Balclutha, who visit the Nuggets to enjoy the ocean beaches and deep-sea fishing. The coast at that locality and south of it is rocky and grandly rugged, but the massive cliffs and headlands are broken here and there by stretches of sandy beach. In easterly weather the line of the land represents a forbidding lee-shore, and heavy gales bring the long swell of the South Pacific thundering against the rocks with high fountains of spray. Eight miles inland from the Nuggets is Romahapa, a small centre through which the branch railway passes from Balclutha to' Owaka, and the famous sawmilling districts of the Catlins, as shown on the map of the area published in The Sun today. A good road connects the Nuggets with Romahapa, the lighthouse is connected with the telephone, and post offices are situated at both Romahapa and Owaka. The district originally was thickly covered with bush, but the sawmills have now eaten their way further south to the Catlins area, and Romahapa is in the centre of a developing agricultural area. A few miles inland are the coal-bearing areas of Kaitangata. The history of the coastline from the Nuggets to Fortrose, which is on the Southland coast nearly midway between the lighthouse and Bluff, is darkened by the tragic wreck of the Tararua on April 29, 18S1. She grounded and went to pieces on the treacherous rocks at Waipapa Point, near Fortrose with terrible loss of life. En route from Dunedin to Bluff, following the opposite course to that taken by the Manuka yesterday, she struck in the early morning. Twelve hours later after a heavy sea had arisen, 130 lives had been lost. Another early wreck, still nearer to the scene of the Manuka - * foundering,

was that of the French sailing ship Surat which went ashore and broke up. It carried numbers of immigrants many of whom lost their lives. A beach near Pounawea is named after this vessel. WAITING FOR DAWN ! ■ ~ LANDING OF PASSENGERS j WRECKED VESSEL ROLLS OVER Press Association DUNEDIN, Today. The first account, a brief telephoned one from the actual scene, states that the passengers were awakened by a shock at 11 o’clock, but there was no panic and all were mustered on deck. Several attempts were made by the officers and crew to get the boat to the shore, but the coast was too rough for a safe landing so that it was. decided that the passengers should remain on board through the night. At daybreak they were all safely landed with nothing but the clothes they wore, mostly night clothes. Shortly after the safe landing the Manuka rolled over on her side. The passengers only reached Owaka at one o’clock so that no complete story is possible. WELL-KNOWN VESSEL ONCE ON SAN FRANCISCO RUN The Manuka, a twin-screw steel ship of 4,534 tons gross, was built in 1903 by Denny and Bros., of Dumbarton, for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Ltd. She is 368.7 feet long, and 47.2 feet wide, and is registered at Wellington. The ship is quite up-to-date in fittings, and carries wireless. She carries a complement of 106, and has accommodation for 360 passengers. The Manuka was built for the old“horseshoe run” from Sydney to Melbourne, via Wellington, Dunedin, and Bluff, and back again. Later she took up the Sydney - Wellington - San Francisco service, eventually returning to the intercolonial run. Only recently the Manuka entered . upon a State-subsidised service between Dunedin and Melbourne via Bluff. She was en route to Otago’s capital when the wreck abruptly ended her long career.

The Manuka was in the charge of Captain Boss Clark. The officers were: —Messrs. A. T. Adams, chief officer; E. G. Meatyard, second officer; C. R. Carlyon, third officer; A. S. Smith, fourth officer; J. Stannage, wireless operator; F. S. Hamlin, purser; R. H. Burns, chief steward; E. A. Griffiths, chief engineer. The other six engineers were Messrs. K. J. McLeod, L. V. Jellyman, J. Chambers, D. Gibbs, H. A. Amos, and D. J. McKenzie, in that order.