Our Camp Visit to the Manukau Light House

In our team we are learning to write a recount which is a non-fiction account of an event or something which has happened. First we looked at what the features of a recount were. Then we practised writing a few sentences to make a short recount and after that we wrote this together as a class- with much discussion and many additions and alterations as we went.

On a cloudy, dull-weathered Wednesday morning we arrived enthusiastically at the historic Manukau Heads lighthouse, about 20 minutes by bus from our camp at Matakawau on the Awhitu Peninsula. We were excited because we wanted to see where the Orpheus shipwreck happened, since we had learned about it in class.

We were met by Paul Dixon and Sue Johns and their dog, Toru - our tour guides. Toru was wearing a lighthouse jacket with a cross-stitch picture of the lighthouse on it.


First we climbed a flight of steps (about 119 of them) up a steep hill to reach the lighthouse and the lookout where we sat and listened to a talk by Paul who told us about the history of the original lighthouse which was first built after the Orpheus shipwreck in February 1863.

Paul also told us that the original lighthouse was across the valley. He explained that a group of locals organised refurbishing it and making it an exact replica of the original lighthouse. He told us about the wood carving nearby which was done by a man in memory of his mother and wife.

We learned that the Manukau peninsula is made of sand and across the harbour is made of volcanic rock. Paul showed us a piece of metal which had come from a shipwreck in the harbour and had been discovered on the beach.

Paul asked us, "Who can guess how Toru got his name?" Rosie guessed it was because the dog had three patches on his back. Toru means 'three' in Maori.

Then we split into groups to explore the lighthouse, to go to the lookout and to have a quiz with the teachers and parents.

In the lighthouse we learned about the light and the prisms and that they are now obsolete. "It is one of a kind," said Paul about the light. He values the prisms as diamonds. "If you cut your finger on one, it would really hurt," he added.

The original lighthouse used paraffin for the light and needed two men to keep it going in six hour shifts. We learned that you could not live in the lighthouse because it leaked. From the deck we could see the exact point where the Orpheus sank on the sand bar. We could see hugely strong currents in the water and a small boat struggling through the waves which were bigger than they looked from our position. We could also see where the old signal point used to be and where the Tasman Sea meets the Manukau Harbour. In the distance we could see Auckland city and the Skytower.

It was a peaceful and calm place because it was so quiet.

At the lookout we learned more about the Orpheus shipwreck which happened at 2 oclock on a sunny afternoon in good weather and quite close to land. It sank because it hit the sand bar in shallow water. Many people on board could not swim and 189 lives were lost. It is New Zealand's greatest maritime disaster.

At the end of our visit, we thanked Paul, Sue and Toru and got back on the bus to go to the Orua Bay Bird Park. We had learned a lot that day and many of us decided that we would like to return with our families so we can show them what we had experienced.

Here is an article about our visit, published in the Waiuku Post.

For other links to the lighthouse click here.

If you would like to have a guided tour of the lighthouse, phone 092351458.

Huia 1 and Kea 1's camp at the Awhitu Environmental Camp

This is where we have been for a week.

and here.

Here are some random photos from our camp at the Awhitu Environmental Camp last week.


They are in no particular order but will give you an idea of some of the activities we did and the experiences we had.


There are still lots more photos to come.

There are some places along the road to Awhitu where you look right down into valleys and out to the west coast.




Fun on the rope swing - over a creek which got deeper as the tide came in and swept away Stanley's bridge and dam.


Red-billed gulls who shared some of our biscuits for morning tea on Thursday.


We went for a long walk to find the eels - and to entice them out of the water with some of our luncheon sausage. They got quite good at standing up on their tails to 'beg' for food after a while.




Recreating a scene from World War 1.


Some of us had a cold swim.


The zoom slide - getting wet and wild... and dirty. And, that wasn't only the students.

Well, you didn't think you'd get me on the zoom slide, did you?

At the light house at the tip of the Awhitu peninsula - investigating the Orpheus shipwreck.







A walk through the Awhitu Regional Park.



We found a nest of plover eggs in the paddock. (Mrs Whitehead knew they were plovers).


Hobo stove cooking - Master Chef-style.






And then we had to speak Spanish to say what we wanted for meals.





We went to the Orua Bay bird park - and fed the birds.








The men taught the boys how to light a barbecue.


We saw the sun rise and we had a beautiful full moon.