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Location | Northeast of the much larger D'Urville Island
South Island New Zealand |
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Coordinates | 40°39′56″S 174°00′00″E / 40.6655°S 174.0000°E |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1894
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Construction | White cast iron tower |
Automated | 1989 |
Height | 15 metres (49 ft) |
Markings | white
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Power source | solar power
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Light | |
First lit | 1894 |
Focal height | 183 metres (600 ft) |
Light source | 50 watt tungsten halogen bulb |
Range | 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) |
Characteristic | Flashes white once every six seconds |
The Stephens Island / Takapourewa lighthouse is one of New Zealand most powerful lights with a range of 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi). [1] Perched 183 metres (600 ft) up, on top of Stephens Island, it guards Cook Strait and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, at the top of the South Island / Te Wai Pounamu.The light flashes white once every six seconds from a white cast iron tower. [2]
The light is operated remotely from Maritime New Zealand's Wellington office. [3] It was first lit on 29 January 1894, [4] and did not become automated until 31 March 1989, one of the last in New Zealand to be automated. [5]
Entry to the site and tower is by permit only, because it is part of the Stephens Island Nature Reserve, managed by the Department of Conservation. [6] Today it is home to tuatara, no people and an urban myth about a cat named Tibbles.
The Māori name for the island, Takapourewa, originates from it once being covered in the takapou trees. Takapou – more commonly known as matipo – trees grew right down to the water’s edge, giving the effect that the island floated in the sea. The Maori word for float is rewa; hence, Takapou-rewa. [7]
In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed past, and named the island after Sir Philip Stephens, the Secretary of the British Admiralty Board. [7]
As the new colony grew in the 1850s, the island was identified as an obvious location for one of a scheme of lighthouses to be erected on significant headlands along New Zealand's 15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi) long coastline. [8] The site was first proposed in 1854, and again in 1888 after the bark Weathersfield was shipwrecked nearby. [1] Several factors, including remoteness, turbulent Cooks Strait and steep terrain, made it a difficult and hazardous to build. [9] In addition, it is the highest elevation above sea level of any lighthouse in New Zealand. [8] Before the lighthouse and associated dwellings could be built, a work party arrived in 1891 to construct a boat landing ledge and vertical tramway up the precipitous cliffs. [10]
The original light components were sourced from Edinburgh [8] and France. [11] The eventual £9,349 cost was twice the price of many other New Zealand lighthouses. [3] Back then, its five wick paraffin lamps made it the brightest lighthouse in New Zealand. [1] [3]
The native māpou (red matipo) was cleared to make way for sheep and cattle, and vertical tramway. [12] Habitat destruction and feral cats are blamed for the silencing of the birdsong of the native tūī, bellbird and tīeke. [1] [10] By way of contrast, when Edward Lukins, a collector of natural history specimens, visited shortly after the occupation, he recorded 31 species of birds, along with two species of land snails and four of lizards. [11]
For the keepers and their families it was a lonely and hard posting, with a perpendicular climb from boat to home. Besides keeping the light lit, they acted as wildlife rangers and coast watchers during the second World War. [8] [9] Isolation made illness a serious risk. For example, in May 1909, a doctor and nurse were urgently sent out from Wellington to stifle an outbreak of scarlet fever. [13]
On a brighter note, in 1947, the lighthouse featured on a four pence postage stamp. [5] At one time, there were three keepers and small school. [12] In the mid-1960s, Jeanette Aplin and her family lived on the island for six years. She tells her story in The lighthouse keeper's wife, a tale of self-discovery, small domestic details of a lighthouse community and her zest for isolation from everyday society. [14]
![]() | |
| |
Location | Northeast of the much larger D'Urville Island
South Island New Zealand |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°39′56″S 174°00′00″E / 40.6655°S 174.0000°E |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1894
![]() |
Construction | White cast iron tower |
Automated | 1989 |
Height | 15 metres (49 ft) |
Markings | white
![]() |
Power source | solar power
![]() |
Light | |
First lit | 1894 |
Focal height | 183 metres (600 ft) |
Light source | 50 watt tungsten halogen bulb |
Range | 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) |
Characteristic | Flashes white once every six seconds |
The Stephens Island / Takapourewa lighthouse is one of New Zealand most powerful lights with a range of 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi). [1] Perched 183 metres (600 ft) up, on top of Stephens Island, it guards Cook Strait and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, at the top of the South Island / Te Wai Pounamu.The light flashes white once every six seconds from a white cast iron tower. [2]
The light is operated remotely from Maritime New Zealand's Wellington office. [3] It was first lit on 29 January 1894, [4] and did not become automated until 31 March 1989, one of the last in New Zealand to be automated. [5]
Entry to the site and tower is by permit only, because it is part of the Stephens Island Nature Reserve, managed by the Department of Conservation. [6] Today it is home to tuatara, no people and an urban myth about a cat named Tibbles.
The Māori name for the island, Takapourewa, originates from it once being covered in the takapou trees. Takapou – more commonly known as matipo – trees grew right down to the water’s edge, giving the effect that the island floated in the sea. The Maori word for float is rewa; hence, Takapou-rewa. [7]
In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed past, and named the island after Sir Philip Stephens, the Secretary of the British Admiralty Board. [7]
As the new colony grew in the 1850s, the island was identified as an obvious location for one of a scheme of lighthouses to be erected on significant headlands along New Zealand's 15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi) long coastline. [8] The site was first proposed in 1854, and again in 1888 after the bark Weathersfield was shipwrecked nearby. [1] Several factors, including remoteness, turbulent Cooks Strait and steep terrain, made it a difficult and hazardous to build. [9] In addition, it is the highest elevation above sea level of any lighthouse in New Zealand. [8] Before the lighthouse and associated dwellings could be built, a work party arrived in 1891 to construct a boat landing ledge and vertical tramway up the precipitous cliffs. [10]
The original light components were sourced from Edinburgh [8] and France. [11] The eventual £9,349 cost was twice the price of many other New Zealand lighthouses. [3] Back then, its five wick paraffin lamps made it the brightest lighthouse in New Zealand. [1] [3]
The native māpou (red matipo) was cleared to make way for sheep and cattle, and vertical tramway. [12] Habitat destruction and feral cats are blamed for the silencing of the birdsong of the native tūī, bellbird and tīeke. [1] [10] By way of contrast, when Edward Lukins, a collector of natural history specimens, visited shortly after the occupation, he recorded 31 species of birds, along with two species of land snails and four of lizards. [11]
For the keepers and their families it was a lonely and hard posting, with a perpendicular climb from boat to home. Besides keeping the light lit, they acted as wildlife rangers and coast watchers during the second World War. [8] [9] Isolation made illness a serious risk. For example, in May 1909, a doctor and nurse were urgently sent out from Wellington to stifle an outbreak of scarlet fever. [13]
On a brighter note, in 1947, the lighthouse featured on a four pence postage stamp. [5] At one time, there were three keepers and small school. [12] In the mid-1960s, Jeanette Aplin and her family lived on the island for six years. She tells her story in The lighthouse keeper's wife, a tale of self-discovery, small domestic details of a lighthouse community and her zest for isolation from everyday society. [14]