Where The Flag Floats
Page 11
While we are there we will visit the house where my aunt and father grew up, but we cannot visit his grave; it is deep in the interior of this vast land, unmarked, and almost impossible to find.
However, I carry a small part of my father with me always in the form of his watch that now functions admirably after being repaired by the watchmaker. It has come a long way, as have I, and I know we both have a long way ahead of us still, a bright future filled with such promise that I could never have imagined on that dark night so long ago when my mother died.
My aunt is knocking at my cabin door and I must put down my pen, which I do now gladly that my story is told. Now a new one unfolds ...
Historical Facts
On 31 January 1863 HMS Orpheus, a British navy corvette left Sydney harbour bound for Auckland, New Zealand. Seven days later, on the 7th February, after an uneventful voyage across the Tasman Sea, the ship struck a sandbank at the entrance to the Manukau Harbour. Of all the men aboard the ship only two had ever crossed the Manukau bar before and one of them, Fred Butler, was a deserter, being taken back to his ship HMS Harrier for punishment. There was confusion as to which was the correct chart to use while entering the harbour and this contributed to the disaster. In spite of the command to reverse the engines the ship was stuck and was struck by a wave which broached her to the seas and she began to take on water. As the ship began to break up and the water to rise, the men took to the masts and rigging, eagerly watching the approach of the steamship Wonga Wonga. However by the time the ship arrived, it was already dark and it was impossible for her to pull alongside. She could do little but stand to and wait for the smaller boats to bring survivors on board. By the morning little remained of the ships but the ribs. Of the 259 men aboard, 189 lives were lost. It is New Zealand's worst maritime disaster in terms of loss of life.