by Helen Martin
As we go to print the discovery of a shipwreck on Muriwai beach is causing a lot of excitement.
The wooden ship, a 17m by 5m twin mast schooner, was preserved by being buried in sand and has now been exposed through erosion. Auckland Council Heritage Unit have identified the ship as the 153-year-old Daring, which was driven ashore in 1865 in a severe gale as it carried a cargo of grass seed. The wreck was on an archaeological site protected under the provisions of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act. Inexplicably, within days of the discovery, idiots had been to the site and looted parts of the ship, including removing the stern rail with a chainsaw!! What’s wrong with these people??
