Waipapa Point
Encyclopedia
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of the mouth of the Mataura River
Mataura River
The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is 190 kilometres in length.The river's headwaters are located in mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, where it turns southward...
, at the extreme southwestern end of the area known as the Catlins
The Catlins
The Catlins comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions...
.
The coastline of the Catlins is notoriously dangerous, and there have been many shipwrecks in the region. The most notable of these, and also one of New Zealand's worst shipping disasters, was the wreck of the passenger steamer Tararua
SS Tararua
SS Tararua was a passenger steamer that struck the reef off Waipapa Point in the Catlins on 29 April 1881, and sank the next day, in the worst civilian shipping disaster in New Zealand's history. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, only 20 survived the shipwreck.-Ship:The Tararua was a...
, en route from Port Chalmers to Melbourne via Bluff, which foundered off Waipapa Point on 29 April 1881 with the loss of all but 20 of the 151 people aboard.
