Surprisingly, the best and most accessible shipwreck remains on the entire South Island are in Blenheim’s Wairau Lagoon. The only other visible shipwreck is the hard-to-see “Ino” near the Catlins’ Fortrose town (entry F7). Hokitika trumpets a shipwreck replica, but it hardly captivates more than a moment’s attention. But the SS Waverley has both a story and ruins worth seeing, if you’ve got an unhurried 2 hours to spend here.
Before describing the wreck though, here are the details of the walk to it. The DOC sign says “3 hours return” for the loop walk to the wreck. Hardly! The walk is the flattest walk on the entire South—dead flat the whole way along the banks of the Wairau lagoon. Go counterclockwise… the longer route takes 46 minutes at a fast walk…while the shorter return only takes 33 minutes—(1hr, 20 minutes…not 3 hours. 7km total loop.)
Now, the story of the wreck: The Waverley is only a quasi-shipwreck. It was a steamer built in 1883 and saw its last service in 1928 carrying miners and supplies to the remote West Coast gold fields. In 1928 it was purposely dismantled and towed to the Wairau River mouth in order to be sunk there as part of a breakwater. But the weather fouled the scuttling and the Waverley floated into the lagoon and stranded where it now rests 80 years later.
The wreck itself is somewhat picturesque— the rusting hulk contrasts nicely with a deep blue sky. And, the wreck sits in just inches of water, so it’s fairly easy to step over to it (low tide is best to stay dry) and climb aboard! Of course the rusty hulk is dangerous and any mishap could mean sudden death or torturous gangrene… so you better just take a photo.
