Signs of early European history can be found on the beach itself. Victory Beach gets its name from the wreck of the steam ship Victory. In 1861 the Victory was on a voyage from Melbourne to Dunedin carrying mail, cargo and passengers. George Hand, the chief mate, took charge of the ship just seven minutes before she struck sand. He was later charged with drunkenness and breach of duty, and was sentenced to serve 3 months’ hard labor. Had it struck the rocks a mile further up the bay, lives could have lost. Fortunately, the passengers and mail were landed safely but the steamer was left so high on the beach that it was surrounded by only four feet of water at low tide and deeply embedded in the sand. The ship’s barnacle encrusted flywheel can still be seen on the beach today when the tide is out.
Lexie and I walking along Victory Beach with the flywheel of the Victory behind us.
The beach was full of interesting shells especially since it was low tide.
Another shot of the flywheel.
We really were impressed with how close the wreak was to the beach. It seemed like you could swim out to it if the water wasn't ice cold.
No comments:
Post a Comment