The Sygna Shipwreck at Stockton Beach

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi guys

These photos were taken over xmas last year, and as it turns out, processed in March/April this year, but for some reason I thought I hadn't finished processing them and so just left them.

I went back the other day to finish them, found them already done, and so here they are.. finally.

Over the December 2009 Xmas holidays, my family and I went camping at Birubi Beach, North of Newcastle. It was our second time there and I’m starting to get quite a nice collection of photos of the Birubi Beach area.

This time around, Jacob and I went on a 4WD adventure along the sand dunes on a 3-hour shipwreck tour – taking in some sand boarding, the Tank Traps, Tin City, and of course the Sygna Shipwreck.

The Sygna was a 53,000 tonne Norweigan bulk carrier than ran aground on Stockton Beach on the 26th May, 1974. It’s been decaying ever since, and there’s really not that much left of it! So check it out while there’s still something to see!

Canon 40D, 24-105mm lens.

Larger versions on my blog here:
The Sygna Shipwreck at Stockton Beach

Thanks for looking.

[RickS (Rick)]

Nice pics, Mike!

[h0ughy (David)]

was definitely low tide and no swell mike. nice to see whats left

[multiweb (Marc)]

Pretty cool colors. That reminds me of a similar wreck on fraser island between eurong and indian head.

[lacad01 (Adam)]

Great shots Mike

[Vanda (Ian)]

Great series Mike - like number one perspective best - did you tell the angler to "move on please"?

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Ian, I was happy with the fisherman there! Gave it a bit more interest.

[ngcles]

Hi Mike & All,

Nice pics -- my memories of this wreck aren't quite so fond. I bogged my beloved Rodeo dual-cab 4WD ute to the floor tray in dry sand and spent 3/4 of an hour on my hands and knees digging it out while my wife nagged me about not letting the tyres down enough in the first place. There are normally lots of other vehicles and people on this beach to help out or snatch you out of a bog but the nearest fisherman I could see was the best part of 2km back up the beach.

My daughter (now almost 20) has great memories of this beach ... it was the first place I let her "drive". She was about 12 and she sat on my lap and steered while I did the rest. She was buzzing the whole day about it.

As I said, very nice images Mike.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Pretty cool colors. That reminds me of a similar wreck on fraser island between eurong and indian head.

Yep, that is the SS Maheno. Been there twice -- in 1988 in my old ex-army Series III Landrover and in the Rodeo in 2005. I've spent a total of about 10 days on Fraser never even looked like getting bogged (even at Indian Head which is notorious) and must have snatched or winched a dozen Japanese and British tourists out of trouble in rental 4WD's, but Stockton Beach was different ...

Attached is a crap happy-snap (not my camera -- I was between cameras at the time) of the Maheno in 2005


Best,

Les D

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Absolutely lovely pics. I have a great love for wrecks as I used to do a lot of scuba diving and was diving through wrecks. They are wonderful for marine biology as well.

I remember taking a shot of a wreck on Fraser Island, seems a popular place for beach wrecks along the east coast.
It was done with an old film camera about 25 years ago and captured streams if light entering inside. I want to dig it up know.
I also have a beach shot done on the same trip. According to the developer he liked it and stuck a nice photo sticker on it.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by ngcles

My daughter (now almost 20) has great memories of this beach ... it was the first place I let her "drive". She was about 12 and she sat on my lap and steered while I did the rest. She was buzzing the whole day about it.

Hehe.. I bet she was. I did the same with my boy. He was 6 at the time in 2000. We did have an eventful drive in between the south tip and eurong because we caught the barge late and we ended up being caught by the tide. So half of the trip was done with water rising and floating logs before we got out of it. Best trip ever though. Great place.