Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → Tasman/Nelson/Blenheim Area → Wairau Lagoon and Waverley Shipwreck

Location: Blenheim area, Marlborough, New Zealand

Time Required: 2 hours

Distance: 9.7 km (6 miles) round-trip

Elevation Gain: 60 m/200 feet

Red Tape/Notes: Details on the wreck and history of the vessel can be found here (I love the old pictures!).

I was terribly excited to do this hike, because I really like shipwrecks. In reality, it was a little dull. The lagoon was pretty cool, it’s just that it was basically the same view for the entire route, which seemed to last forever before we finally came into view of the shipwreck (kind of similar to the hike to the Sólheimasandur Plane Crash in Iceland). Only the shell is left of the TSS Waverley – she was built in 1883 and dismantled in 1928. She was meant to be scuttled to form a breakwater at the mouth of the Wairau River, but she was swept up the channel in a flood and came to rest in the lagoon. The overcast skies dulled the vibrance of the ship’s maroon red, but it was still neat to see and I’m glad we came. At lower tide, it would have been fun to climb on board and see what’s left inside, but we needed to make the long drive back to Christchurch to catch our flight home that evening so we opted to cut it short instead. On the plus side, it was supposed to rain all day and it held off for our entire hike and then started pouring when we were back in the car.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → Tasman/Nelson/Blenheim Area → Wairau Lagoon and Waverley Shipwreck