Wreck of the Kakapo

On Sunday 30th October 2005, Carol and I took the dogs for a walk on Long Beach, from Kommetjie. Our destination was the wreck of the Kakapo which is buried in the sand half way along the beach. It was a glorious hot sunny day and the walk wash even better by a great fish lunch in the nearby Fishermans Restaurant.

Below is the story of the Kakapo and related information.

Buried in the sands on the Kommetjie Slangkop Mountain end of Noordhoek Beach, rest the remains of the Kakapo.

A new steamship at the time of its catastrophic navigational end, Kakapo was a double skinned steel vessel, launched in Wales. This historic ship wreck of comparative recent maritime history underscores the fate lying in wait of unlucky seafarers who navigate the waters in and around 34 Degrees South.

The Kakapo was on her fateful 1900 delivery voyage to Australia from the UK during a rainy and misty Atlantic North West storm, when those on watch are said to have mistaken Chapman’s Peak for Cape Point and altered the ships heading to the east.

This error in navigation is recorded as having ended up with the ship sailing headlong onto the sandy beach, only meters away from the rocks, at full power. All members of the crew survived and indeed walked off the boat onto the beach.

The remains of the wreck lie mainly totally embedded in the soft white sands of Noordhoek Beach, or Long Beach as it is also known, with only the boiler and rudder visible. These remaining hallmarks which can be seen from as far as Chapman’s Peak Drive are engraved in memories of many who recall the film Ryan’s Daughter, parts of which were filmed on Noordhoek, or Long Beach.

Much of the hull and superstructure of the Kapako wreckage was used as railway projects along the peninsular during that era.

A number of legends and fables surround the wreck, such as the local resident who helped herself to part of the cargo of linen on the Kapako, and others who took the liquor, and who was later taken to book….

The Kapako is in fact a rare flightless bird found only in New Zealand. The owl like Kapako bird or Night Parrot as it is often referred to, is now categorised as extremely endangered and close to extinction.

The ancient, flightless Kakapo is the world's rarest and strangest parrot. Its the only flightless and nocturnal parrot, as well as being the heaviest in the world, weighing up to 3.5 kilograms (8 lbs).

The birds live in New Zealand, an island country which had virtually no mammals living on it for millions of years. It was a place inhabited by birds and reptiles. The only types of mammal were two species of bats.

The Kakapo did not learn the defense mechanisms to combat or escape mammalian predators. This made the parrot very vulnerable when new animals started showing up.

The arrival of Polynesian peoples thousands of years ago, of Europeans in the 1800's, and ultimately the pets and livestock they brought with them resulted in the massive decline of Kakapo populations from hundreds of thousands to a mere handful of birds.

Once common throughout the three main islands of New Zealand, there are now approximately 62 Kakapo left. These remaining birds have been relocated to six predator free island habitats, where the birds are relatively safe and have been breeding!

The wreck of the Kakapo sadly has one other claim to fame as just buy the wreck in 2003 the below incident took place.

A huge great white shark killed a teenage body boarder at a popular surf break off Cape Town's Noordhoek beach on Friday, dragging him under the water in its massive jaws and tossing him into the air.

'I see no sharks'

A group of surfers and body boarders watched in horror as David Bornman, 19, of Newlands was attacked. He was helped to the beach but bled to death within minutes despite receiving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation from a fellow surfer. 'It was the biggest shark I've ever seen in my life' The shark's teeth bit into his body, causing a massive injury from his back down to his thigh.

Shocked surfers Peter Whale and Brent Mills were in the water about 50m offshore at Dunes, a surfing spot near the Kakapo wreck, when they saw the shark strike. Whale said he heard a loud splash even though there were no sets of waves coming through. "I looked across and saw this guy in the shark's mouth. It was the biggest shark I've ever seen in my life. It took him under, then came up and just tossed him and then disappeared." Whale said he shouted "shark!" and they all started paddling in furiously. 'I told him he still had his legs'

'one of our famous flying Great White Sharks'

Mills said he saw Bornman catch a wave towards the shore. "But the water around him turned red. The whole wave was just blood." He paddled out to help the stricken teenager, who told him he couldn't breathe. "I told him he still had his legs but I could tell the bite was bad. You could see into his body." Whale, who is trained as a rescue diver, gave Bornman CPR for half an hour but he was dead within minutes. Mills said that just before the attack Bornman had caught a really good wave. "I turned to him and said 'nice wave'. How can it go from being so much fun to this?" he asked.

Skymed flight paramedic Andre Jooste said the shark must have been huge. "I've worked in KwaZulu-Natal and seen a lot of bites but this was the largest and most destructive I've ever seen." Jooste said Bornman would have lost his entire blood volume within two minutes. "There is no way he could have survived." He said the shark probably mistook Bornman for a seal. "He was wearing a black wet suit and fins and was on a black boogie board so he must have looked like a seal." SA Lifesaving has now banned bathing between Noordhoek Beach and Scarborough until further notice. This includes popular beaches such as Long Beach at Kommetjie.

'Carol gives an briefing on the dangers of surfing on Long Beach to her attentive pupils'

Spokesman Nicholas Reyneke said the police helicopter would patrol the False Bay coast and Noordhoek area today and tomorrow. "Alarm bells do need to start ringing especially with the number of sharks we've seen in our waters over the past year," he said. Shark expert Theo Ferreira said great white shark attacks on humans were very rare. Ferreira, the founder and director of the Great White Shark Project, said a six-year study had found that white sharks were not aggressive animals by nature but were inquisitive. Ferreira said this was a sad incident because it often created mass hysteria. He said the shark was only doing what it did naturally. "It's a reality that if you enter their domain you risk an encounter with the animal. This risk gets greater the more further out behind the back water you are," he said. "The shark was obviously attracted to that area because of the activity of fish."

As stated above we started our walk along Long Beach to the wreck of the Kakapo in Kommetjie, which is one of our favorite spots on the cape peninsular. Going through a boom period with some fantastic Cape Cod style house on the beach fetching high prices. However, the village is still quiet and rustic, with some great little restaurants, our current favorite being Fishermens.

Kommetjie is a rustic seaside village nestling between Slangkop Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean.

'Carol walking along Long Beach back towards Kommetjie'

It is very famous for it's crayfishing, surfing and bird life. The name derives from "Little Bowl' the sheltered natural tidal pool which has provided holidaymakers with safe bathing since the turn of the century.
"Die Kom" was first sighted by Antonia de Saldanha as early as 1503. Lord Charles Somerset erected a hunting lodge here around 1815 which is now known as Honeysuckle Cottage. The first beach houses were built in 1900. Before that holiday makers camped in the Milkwood groves which are now a protected species.

The coastline around the Kom and the offshore reefs provide ideal conditions for huge kelp beds where crayfish, perlemoen and shellfish abound.

The kelp which is regularly washed up on the shore by the pounding waves starts to rot ...... emitting an offensive odour at times ..... this breeds myriads of insects, which in turn attract bird life. It is the only place on the mainland where four different species of Cormorant can be seen roosting together and is also a winter roosting spot for the Antartic Terns.

Surfers all over the world have enjoyed riding the numerous excellent surf spots around Kommetjie. Despite the cold water temperatures, which require the wearing of wetsuits, Long Beach has become the Peninsula's most popular surfing beach and competition venue.........however, it is the big wave spots that have achieved international renown, with Outer Kom which is 200 metres off the lighthouse, surfable in waves up to five metres. Sunset Reef , approximately a kilometre off long Beach has been known to have waves of up to eight metres which have been ridden.

'still no sharks or surfers for that matter just a seal in the waves over there'

Places of interest include the Light House at Slangkoppunt - built around 1914 - which is the last steel lighthouse in the country.

Recreational activities include swimming, surfing, crayfishing, snorkeling (many divers snorkel around the reefs to catch crayfish), with the crayfish season running from November to April - canoeing and walking,. A 45 minute walk along Long Beach brings you to the wreck of the Kakapo about 100 metres above the waterline.

'can you spot the old boiler'

If you continue walking along Long Beach you will come to Chapman's Peak and Noordhoek.

'Carol and Noah on the rocks near Kommetjie'

Surfing - Long Beach provides beach break surf and is rideable about 300 days of the year. The big wave reefs of Outerkom, Sunset Beach , Kelp Factory and Backyards are only for the more experienced.

Imhoff's Park offers the visitor a Nature Park. Africa's largest Bird Park in Hout Bay has established a park here - breeding ground of the giant African Cranes.......a Snake Park and various interesting shops have also been established here. Camel rides and horse rides are also a great attraction.