This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Lloyd Wilkin
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The date: Sunday 15 March 1998. The place: Maungakotukutuku Valley, Paraparaumu. The time: 10am.
The team: Trip leader Don O’Brien and his son Ben, Dot and Dave Catchpole, Barry Cook, Kaisu and John Elgar, Heather Jones, Lorraine Nielsen, Georgina Sanderson, Olive
Stempa, Diana Strang and her sister Barbara, and two sisters being a French couple. Don led this flying fifteen up a steep track (unmarked on the Paraparaumu Topo map) to a junction at the top where a turn left takes one to Maunganui, 708m, and a turn right to Titi, 613m. From this junction to the top of Maunganui the party battled a very strong nor-wester which bowled over some punters at this fairly scrubby section of the track along the top. The reward was a good view of the coastal scenery from the trig, although the Southern Crossing was completely in the clag, which . was a pity as in my view, Maunganui, on a clear day, offers a view of it which is second only to the view from the top of Kapakapanui.
Trip Reports
Lunch was taken in reasonable shelter at the top and after lunch, the weather changed. The gale-force norwester backed around to the southwest and the temperature plummeted. The coastal view disappeared into the clag and some rain showers started up, as forecasted. The track down lay towards the north and passed over a bump marked 620m on the map before it descended steeply down a spur to the north-west until the stream and road was again reached at its foot. Most of the party had tumbles on the trip, wither because of the strong nor-wester on top or because of the slippery track down, but Dot was an exception! She proudly proclaimed that she had taken no tumbles throughout, and everybody appeared to agree with her. Well done Dot.
Other “Maunganuis” also exist. The Mount Maunganui is just a tiddler alongside Tauranga harbour. It’s only 252m high. (Hello David and Nuki Lowe up there.) The highest Maunganui is in the Ureweras at 892m, and the Paraparaumu one is the second highest at 708m. Then there was the passenger vessel Maunganui of 7527 tons built in 1911 and sold in 1947. As a troopship in WW’, it carried kiwis to war, and as a hospital ship in WW2, it brought home wounded servicemen. In peacetime it carried passengers to Australia and to the West Coast of North America. The name Maunganui was well-known in the Pacific because of the vessel.
from its berth, swings and sweeps forward to start its run up the harbour. Its Chief Engineer stands at the still open gunport door in the vessel’s side and as it passes the Picton ferry Tamahine, the Chief, using the end of some rope, makes a derisory gesture towards the ferry as the Maunganui passes by. Officers on the Tam’s bridge see it and know its meaning which is that you are so slow that you ought to be towed. Tam’s skipper orders more revolutions from its engine room as soon as the Tamahine sails for Picton (ten minutes after Maunganui sails). Off goes Tam in pursuit. Both vessels belong to the same shipping company which has made it clear to all Masters that racing company vessels at sea is strictly forbidden because of fuel costs. At Barrett’s Reef, Maunganui passes first and turns right on a very mean (short) course set by its Master to safely pass by the next landfall which is Sinclair Head (near the Hawkins Hill at South Karori). The Tam, which has its boilers up to normal pressure since leaving the wharf, is catching up to Maunganui, which is still working its boilers to full pressure. Both vessels are of the same nominal speed of 16- 17 knots. One of Maunganui’s boilers is not in commission which is normal. Tam’s Master decides to overtake on Maunganui’s starboard side and after passing Owhiro Bay, both vessels start to draw level, with Tamahine closest to shore and since it is the smaller (1989 tons), Tamahine is possibly using its lesser draught to sail an even shorter course to Sinclair Head than the larger vessel.
passengers on both vessels out on deck to see what the whistling is all about. Some passengers are concerned at the closeness of the two vessels while others are not. Tamahine responds and slows, and then stops, turns, and moves farther out into Cook Strait before heading across to Tory Channel. Meantime, Maunganui maintains its speed and course and passes by Sinclair Head safely before its next course change opposite Karori Light on its way to Sydney. The incident is over, but not the consequences. Wellington newspapers started receiving letters of complaint from passengers. The government ordered a magisterial inquiry and its finding was that both Master took the correct action to avoid either a collision or a stranding, and each Master received back his certificate. It also found that the minimum distance between the vessels was some 250 feet — not the 40 feet alleged by some passengers. The owner was displeased by the whole performance. Both skippers were derated from passenger vessels to cargo vessels and both lost their Safe Navigation Bonus. However, after a period of time, both were forgiven and went on to much greater things. Captain Davey of the Maunganui was later sent to Britain to stand by the building of Awatea for the Tasman passenger trade and he was in command on its maiden voyage to New Zealand and its subsequent trans-Tasman running, until I;; health and WW2 both intervened. Captain McClellan of the Tamahine was appointed during the 1950s to the post of Marine
The scene: Queen’s Wharf, Wellington. The date: 2 February 1928 (exactly 8 years before the big storm which devastated the Tararuas in 1936).
Maunganui sails with a passenger load bound for Sydney and backs out
Suddenly, the Tam’s skipper realises that to continue his present course will ground his vessel. He rings down to his engine room “Full astern both engines”, and signals his intention to go astern by three blasts on his steam whistle, which brings most
Saperintendent at the company’s Head Office. But as for that Chief Engineer on Maunganui, who incidentally was a Scotsman... (This story was from Davey and the Awatea by WA Laxon, 1997, Chapter 21.)
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