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Shipwreck - The Wreck of the Orpheus
Television (Full Length Episode) – 2000
At the tip of the island, facing the wreck site, stood a sacred puriri tree, a scene of ancient phallic and fertility rights ... It was felled for fenceposts by a European settler. The day it was felled: February the 6th 1863, the day before the Orpheus arrived at the Manukau Heads.– Presenter Paul Gittins, on why local Māori attributed the wreck to utu
Also watching the coast was quartermaster Butler, but his view was through bars on the porthole of the ship's brig. Butler had deserted from his ship while in Sydney and was about to face a court marshall. He was also the only man onboard who had ever steered a warship over the Manukau Bar.– Presenter Paul Gittins
The stories are so gripping that they need little embellishment and, happily, Gittins' script avoids too many overly dramatic observations...– Fiona Rae reviews this episode, The NZ Herald, 30 June 2000
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