Drink-Driving Victory 1861 (Otago Peninsula) Traditional Cache
Hidden : 9/20/2016
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Chief mate George Hand was intoxicated and absent from his post at the helm when the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company ship SS Victory ran aground at Wickliffe Bay, at 6 pm on 3 July 1861. Luckily, there was no loss of life; passengers, baggage and mail all reached shore safely.

The Captain and Engineer were severely reprimanded for negligence while George’s drink-driving earned him three months’ hard labour in prison. The wreck site became known as Victory Beach.

On the dunes behind the Victory's flywheel, a pest-control track will lead you directly to the pines and the cache. If you reach the self-resetting possum trap, you have gone too far.

NOTE: If a sealion happens to be resting on the track, you will have to DNF and come back later.

Choose a good low tide to visit Otago Peninsula’s longest beach. The engine’s flywheel, the only part left of the SS Victory after 155 years, is only visible at low tide. At high tide it would be difficult to walk along parts of Victory Beach, Papanui Inlet and the saltmarsh.

To find the lowest tide use the NIWA Tide Forecaster. Enter the Victory Beach coordinates in DDD MM SS H format: 45 50 26 S and 170 43 51 E. Select Lowest Possible Tide.

Download a track map for Okia Reserve here: Download Guided Walk Information

Wildlife reserve: NO DOGS. NO SMOKING. Bikes are permitted on the firebreak tracks in Okia Reserve.
The round trip is an excellent mountain bike ride at low tide. It is mostly on 4WD tracks or the beach; however, you will need to walk or carry your bike over the soft sand in Papanui Inlet and over the saltmarsh reserve. Waypoints are listed below.

Allow an easy 2 hours walking time for the return trip via Okia Flat, or 3 hours for the more difficult loop walk. From the carpark at Dick Rd, walk to the Pyramids and choose one of the Okia Reserve tracks to the beach. A nice route is past Triple Difficulty Challenge and Egyptian Angle, Then walk south along Victory Beach to the flywheel.

For the loop walk, continue to the end of Victory Beach. The entrance of Papanui Inlet is an ideal place for lunch – and it’s also a favourite spot for sealions. Have your camera ready but keep a safe distance, particularly during the summer breeding season.

Walk around the mudflats at the edge of Papanui Inlet at low tide - there are two shallow streams to cross. Once you reach the DoC saltmarsh reserve you can take a shortcut back to Dick Road where you see the DoC sign. You will have to jump or wade across drainage ditches. Otherwise, keep following the foreshore to Dick Rd. Walk back along Dick Rd to your car.



Optional extras below- for those who are curious about the three shipwrecks in the Papanui area...

The First Shipwreck at Papanui Inlet?

Archaeological finds show that humans have lived at Papanui Inlet for the past 700 years – it’s sheltered, with good food-gathering in the inlet and deep water fishing off Cape Saunders nearby.

In October 2014, researchers monitoring the eroding northern side of Papanui Inlet discovered a totara waka, 6.17 m long and 59 cm wide, emerging from the sand dunes. Radiocarbon dating of flax ropes inside the hull found that the waka was used around 1450-1500, making it the second-oldest vessel discovered in New Zealand.

Feuding around Papanui

The early new Zealanders who once paddled this canoe (perhaps the Te Rapuwai? or the Waitaha arriving about 1480?) were supplanted by Ngati Mamoe migrating from the east coast of the North Island around 1580. By the mid-1700s several groups of Ngai Tahu had also moved into Otago.

The Ngai Tahu arrivals included Te Wera, based at Huriawa Pa in Karitane, and a hapu led by chiefs Moki and Taoka living in Pukekura Pa at Taiaroa Head. When a feud erupted between Te Wera and Taoka, the local Ngati Mamoe living at Papanui sided with the Pukekura Ngai Tahu hapu. When Te Wera raided from Huriawa, he killed Pukekura Ngai Tahu and Ngati Mamoe alike. Te Wera killed the famous Pukekura warrior Kapo - traditionally this was on Kapo Island in Papanui Inlet – then had Kapo’s body cooked and publicly ate his roasted intestines.

During the same raid many Ngati Mamoe warriors were killed at Ryans Bay north of Victory Beach, and other Ngati Mamoe were killed when hiding in the cave at Little Pyramid. Artifacts and human bones were found when the cave was excavated in 1934 Journal of the Polynesian Society Vol 49, No 193 p 137-143 (1940). This feud between relatives continued when Taoka besieged Te Wera’s pa at Huriawa…

Some years later, even though the Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu iwi had become formally allied through marriage, the Pukekura Ngai Tahu trespassed by fishing without permission in the Ngati Mamoe’s Papanui fishing reserve. The Papanui chief Rangiamoa chanted karakia and summoned a gale which sank the Ngai Tahu waka. In retaliation the Ngai Tahu attacked and broke up the Papanui Ngati Mamoe waka.
The Ngati Mamoe of Papanui then planned retribution against Pukekura chief Tarewai. They invited Tarewai and his companions to help the Ngati Mamoe to build a whare at Kapu Turoto (hills standing inland) near the Pyramids… as you know, Tarewai escaped to Hereweka.

The John Wickliffe arrives at Makahoe/Wickliffe Bay

The Maori name of this bay is Makahoe. It was renamed Wickliffe Bay when the ship John Wickliffe anchored here on 22 March 1848 with William Cargill and 96 other Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland settlers on board. Some Maoris, who were out fishing for barracouta, slung on board a great number of fish, receiving in return sugar, biscuits etc. They wanted tobacco, but refused to take tea. Next morning Pilot Driver came on board and took the ship into Port Chalmers.

More European settlers trickled into Otago over the next decade. By 1858 the pakeha population of Dunedin had risen to 1712 and the total New Zealand pakeha population was 59,413 (the Maori population was approximately 56,049). New Zealand was half the world away from “Home” so regular communication was vitally important for families and businesses.

Steamships, used in Europe since the 1820s, began operating commercially in New Zealand in the mid-1850s. The first steamship to visit Otago harbour was HMS Inflexible in February 1848 and the first commercial steamship the SS Nelson which arrived 26 July 1854. Regular steamship services began with the steamer SS White Swan, first here 15 July 1858 on a government mail contract run, and Macandrew’s ship SS Queen, bought for the trans-Tasman trade, arrived 27 August 1858.

Steamships brought with them the opportunity for regular and reliable mail deliveries. In 1858 the New Zealand government centralised the various provincial postal systems. It contracted the Intercolonial Royal Mail Service to provide steamers to collect and deliver mail from all New Zealand ports, and connect the service with Australia.

The Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Company

In 1857 the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Co was formed in NZ ‘to provide steam communication between Australia and NZ and to promote emigration to those colonies’.

The company secured a 10 year contract to operate a regular service between New Zealand and Australia, at a subsidy of £24,000 per annum: New Zealand paying £10,000 and the Imperial Government contributing the remaining £14,000.

The company’s SS Lord Worsley (290/550 tons), the first steamer direct from Britain, arrived on 2 October 1858, followed by her sister-ship SS Lord Ashley (290/550 tons) on 11 December 1858. Passenger C W Richmond commented of the two ships that “their cabin accommodation is execrably bad – vastly inferior to … the White Swan”.

The 703 ton SS Prince Alfred first visited Port Chalmers 26 June 1859. The SS Airedale (286 tons) arrived from Sydney on 30 December 1859 with “overdue” European mail. The Otago Witness complained “the mail as regards to any practical facility to business at Otago is a downright farce” and suggested that the service should come via Melbourne rather than Sydney.

The June 1859 Intercolonial Royal Mail Company Monthly mail service timetables between Australia and New Zealand shows that the Company’s four ships were providing a successful regular trans-Tasman and coastal service. But the SS Victory was to be the jewel in the Company’s crown…

The SS Victory

The SS Victory was originally an iron single screw steamer of 426 tons, 145 feet long with three masts. She was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1849 by Denny Bros, and worked for two Irish shipping companies. The Victory was bought by the Intercolonial Royal Mail Co in 1860 and completely refitted in Hull for the New Zealand service, lengthened to 215 feet, and the tonnage increased to 737 tons gross, 501 tons net. New Zealander, 25 July 1860

The Victory had 350 horsepower engines, a patent condensing apparatus for fresh water and was luxuriously furnished. The main saloon had cabins for 34 passengers, seats upholstered with red velvet and panelling decorated with oil paintings of the battles of Trafalgar, Alma, Inkerman and Waterloo. The fore saloon had accommodation for 24 second-class passengers and there was also an elegant ladies’ saloon.

The Otago Witness, 2 February 1861 outlined the new two year mail service contract arranged by the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Co (also called the “Coleman company” after the manager). Either the Victory or the Prince Alfred was to run from Melbourne to Otago and Canterbury monthly, carrying mail from Europe, with fixed rates for passengers and freight.

The SS Victory left the Isle of Wight 1 July under canvas, experiencing heavy weather on the way, and arrived at Sydney 14 November 1860 SHIPPING. Sydney Mail,November 17, 1860, p. 5.

On 1 January 1861 the Victory departed Sydney for Melbourne under the command of Captain James Toogood, who had arrived in her from England. The ship's screws were adjusted and engines placed in seagoing order, and she ran a measured mile at 11 knots.

Leaving Melbourne on 12 January , the SS Victory first arrived at Port Chalmers 21 Jan 1861. She shared the Melbourne – Otago - Canterbury service with the Prince Alfred, returning to Dunedin 29 Jan-2 Feb, 23 – 25 Feb and 2-4 March. The ship then spent a couple of months on the Nelson –Wellington-Sydney run (while the Prince Alfred took the southern run) and returned from Lyttleton to Port Chalmers on 1 July 1861 Otago Witness, 6 July 1861.

The Victory's Final Voyage

On 3 July 1861 the Victory left Port Chalmers at 3.30 pm. It was raining, with hazy visibility and a strong gale blowing from the north-east. The Pilot left the ship outside the Heads at 4.20 pm, by which time it was dusk (sunset 3 July is about 5 pm now, with ½ hour permanent daylight saving since 1941, but back in 1861 it was 4.30 pm). At the enquiry the pilot noted that when the ship was going down the harbour the mate appeared to be worse of liquor; he had just enough to do him good, but he was not drunk; he could walk steadily; the captain requested me to go below and get a glass of grog before I left; the mate went with me and he also had a glass of grog with me.

Outside the heads, Captain Toogood turned south on the route to Melbourne and set a course to take the ship three miles clear of Cape Saunders at a speed of about 9 knots. ( Taiaroa Head had a light on a flagstaff from 1850 – although it often ran out of oil – but there was no light at Cape Saunders until 1880 .) Captain Toogood passed command of the ship to the Third Mate, temporarily, and went to tea. Later, Chief Mate George Hand (whose watch it was) relieved the Third Mate. But whether it was the wind, the current, compass inaccuracy in the iron ship or a combination of causes, during that last hour and a half the ship was going off course.

At 6pm, about 7 minutes after the Chief Mate took charge, the ship ran aground at full speed on the sandy beach at Wickliffe Bay - so gently that a cup of coffee in the hands of a passenger was not spilt. When the Captain and Third Mate rushed to the bridge, the Mate was absent. When the Mate returned the Captain accused him of being tipsy and called the saloon passengers together to see the mate’s condition. When asked to walk along the deck the Mate was “very unsteady” and “evidently the worse of liquor”.

Captain Toogood reversed the engines, but the ship could not be freed. About midnight a boat was lowered and the passengers and mails safely landed. Passengers and crew were cared for by the locals at Otakou. The mails were taken overland to Portobello put on board the Prince Alfred to leave Otago for the Northern Ports and Sydney. Otago Witness, 6 July 1861

Inquiry into the loss of the SS Victory

Captain Toogood laid a complaint under the Merchant Shipping Act 1854 against Chief Mate George Hand for drunkenness and breach of duty. The enquiry was held over three days, at the wreck and then at the courthouse.
Enquiry starts July 10, 1861 - Otago Witness, 27 July 1861
Enquiry continues Tuesday, July 16, 1861 - Otago Witness, 27 July 1861
Enquiry concludes Friday, July 19, 1861 - Otago Witness, 27 July 1861
The Lyttleton Times summarised the enquiry, including an extract from the ship’s log:
LOSS OF THE INTER-COLONIAL ROYAL MAIL STEAM SHIP VICTORY. Lyttelton Times, 10 July 1861

The court found that the Mate George Hand was intoxicated and absent from his post at the time the ship struck, and was therefore guilty of wilful neglect of his duty. However, the Court gave a reduced sentence of 3 months hard labour because it was doubtful whether the vessel could have been saved even if the Mate had been sober. The Captain allowed reprehensible practices, unwarrantable carelessness and lax discipline to prevail on board the Victory. The Captain had not posted lookouts on deck. With culpable negligence, the Engineer had gone to tea at the time the ship struck without waiting for the second engineer to replace him. The Company Providore, who earned a commission from sales, was permitted to sell unlimited quantities of spirits and other intoxicating liquors to officers and crew. The court strongly advised the Company to abolish this pernicious system which encouraged intemperance and breaches of discipline.

Captain Toogood wrote to the Otago Witness defending his position: Original Correspondence. Otago Witness,10 August 1861

Auctioning the wreck

The Victory and cargo were auctioned on the beach on 24 & 25 July: Otago Witness, 13 July 1861 Otago Witness 20 July 1861

The auction attracted a fair number of people despite the bad weather. The ship was sold to a Dunedin syndicate for £570, with the sails, rigging, furniture and cargo fetching good prices, considering the difficulty and expense which must attend their removal..

The total gross proceeds of ship and cargo was about £1900 — a miserable return for property which stood a few days ago at a value of upwards of £25,000. Otago Witness, 27 July 1861

Salvage attempt

Just like today, the wreck of the Victory was a tourist attraction: EXCURSION TO THE HEADS. ODT, 4 April 1862

In January 1862 a company was floated Advertisements, Otago Daily Times, 27 January 1862 and experienced Sydney engineer Mr Scott was hired to refloat the Victory. He brought in specially made hydraulic equipment to ‘walk’ the ship offshore THE FLOATING OF THE S.S. VICTORY. ODT, 12 June 1862.

During the preparations Captain Toogood, who was an advisor to the salvage attempt, found gold-bearing quartz at Victory Beach. This find led to the later unsuccessful gold-mining venture at Hereweka Otago Witness, 5 July 1862.

Despite setbacks, by mid-October the Victory was 28 feet offshore, although two men had been injured ODT, 21 October 1862.

In mid-November the ship was well afloat and anchored several hundred yards away from the beach, only waiting for the high tide to get over the last sandbar. But, the anchor chain snapped at the windlass and the Victory drifted back broadside to the beach ODT, 25 November 1862. This time recovery was hopeless – the ship broke in two, burst her decks and filled with sand The Colonist, 16 December 1862 .

Another wreck at Papanui Inlet - the Favourite

And now we come to the third shipwreck in the Papanui area – the Favourite. This 15 ton clipper-rigged schooner boat had worked on the Otago coast since June 1855 for freight or charter.

Mr Scott bought the wrecked Victory and began salvaging what remained. An engine, brass rails, lamps and other equipment were loaded onto the Favourite, moored in Papanui Inlet.

On 23 December 1862 a boat was pulling the Favourite over the Papanui Inlet bar when one of the men rowing on the port side slipped his oar. The schooner lost headway, beached and broke up. Her cargo, valued at £600, was scattered (and is still buried in the sand somewhere). All on board narrowly escaped with their lives. ODT, December 1862.

And Captain Toogood?

After the attempts to salvage the Victory failed, Captain Toogood left for London In January 1863. The Witch of the Tees has already received all her cargo, consisting of 830 bales of wool with a quantity of sheepskins and hides, and is appointed to sail in a few days. Captain Toogood, late of the steamship Victory, proceeds home in her as a passenger. ODT, 17 January 1863. He left an indirect legacy in the name of the harbour tugboat Arihi - it was James Toogood who suggested that Hariata and Timoti Karetai's newborn daughter should be named Alice after Queen Victoria's daughter. ODT 11 Nov 2016




How did the mail get through?

The wreck of the Victory disrupted the mail service for several months, since the Intercolonial Royal Mail Company had no ship to replace her. How did the mail get through?

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand 1861: Report on the Postal Service 1861 The mail service between Lyttleton, Port Chalmers and Melbourne, performed by the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company from the beginning of 1861, under contract with the Provinces of Canterbury and Otago, at a subsidy of £3500 per annum, was brought to a sudden close by the untimely loss of the steamer Victory in July of that year. As the discovery of a richly paying gold field in Otago was announced precisely at this time, and a large population consequently began to pour in from the Colony of Victoria, the demands of commerce alone caused constant steam communication between Port Chalmers and Melbourne. In order to secure the speedy arrival of the monthly European mail, the Provincial Government of Otago, in the month of November 1861, entered into a contract with steamship proprietors in Melbourne for the dispatch of a packet for Port Chalmers about the stated time of arrival of the P & O Company’s contract from Point de Galle [Ceylon]. By this means the inward Otago mails have since that time been regularly transmitted.

The Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. continued to provide contracted mail services for the colony. Over the next few years the NZ government tried to obtain better shipping services from Britain, but when nothing had been achieved by 1863 the government decided to proceed upon their own by inviting tenders for a monthly mail service from NZ to Panama. In December 1863 the contract was awarded to the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Soon after the NSW government approached the NZ government with regard to the service being extended to include Australia and the subsidy would be shared by the two governments. There would be monthly departures from Sydney, with a call at Wellington on the way to Panama. There passengers and mail would be transported across the isthmus on the newly opened railroad, and join a Royal Mail ship at Colon for the voyage across the Atlantic to Southampton. The entire trip was scheduled to take 60 days As a result the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Co was reorganised and a new company registered as the Panama, NZ and Australia Royal Mail Co.

Information sources: listed in earliest log note below.
Newspaper reports: see otagotaphophile.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-ss-victory.html

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Grgurerq va gur zvqqyr bs n ynetr cvar, jnvfg urvtug, svefg cvar ba yrsg orfvqr gur genpx nf lbh ragre gur cvar gerrf. Snapl n qevax?

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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