New Zealand lighthouses

Cape Campbell

Guarding the southern entrance to Cook Strait, this lighthouse was built in 1870. Cape Campbell was chosen to site a lighthouse after the notorious wreck of the whaler Alexander in 1858.

While it is now possible to drive to Cape Campbell, the coastal journey begins at Marfells Beach. Early keepers travelled this route by horse and cart to collect their mail.

As the crumbling cliffs at the end of the beach are difficult to negotiate, you must time your visit with the tides. Access to Cape Campbell is across private land; respect this and leave farm gates as you find them.

Access

From Blenheim, travel on SH1 for 36km to Lake Grassmere; turn left into Marfells Beach Rd. Drive eight kilometres to the shelter at the camping ground.

Time

Two hours walk at low tide.

Taiaroa Head

The Royal Albatross colony is one of the most delightful destinations in Dunedin, reached after a harbour-side drive along Otago Peninsula. From a viewing platform, you can spot red and white buildings clinging to the cliff-top. However, since the lighthouse is off-limits to the public, the best views can be obtained on a boat trip from Portobello out to the harbour entrance and beyond.

Sited 60 metres above the Pacific Ocean, the 12-metre-high tower shared the rock promontory with a fog-signal building, pa site, prison, radar station and gun emplacements. Built from stone quarried locally and lined with kauri timber, the light was lit in 1865.

In 1885, exaggerated colonial fears of a Russian invasion prompted the building of Fort Taiaroa.

The guns here were manned again during the two World Wars, and with the threat of a possible Japanese invasion, coast-watchers were employed. These days, you will more likely be watching out for albatross, fur seals, dolphins and penguins.

Access

From Dunedin, follow Andersons Bay and Portobello Roads for 40 minutes. Continue to the car park. Alternatively, stop at Portobello Wharf and join a boat cruise.

Time

One hour cruise.

Waipapa Point

Amongst mariners there is an old adage: ‘It’s not the sea that sinks ships. It’s the land’. Nowhere in New Zealand is this more true. The lighthouse at Waipapa Point was built in direct response to the sinking of the passenger steamer Tararua in 1881 – our worst civilian shipwreck, claiming 131 lives.

A detour off the Catlins highway leads to this isolated iron tower, guarding the eastern entrance to Foveaux Strait and looming high over the rugged reef which sank the steamer. If you can bear the heart-breaking nature of this tragic tale, visit the cemetery nearby at Tararua Acre where 65 of the victims were buried.

Access

An hour from Invercargill, leave the Southern Scenic Route at Otara. Travel for five kilometres on Waipapa Lighthouse Rd.

Time

20 minutes walk to Tararua Acre.

Cape Egmont

Originally prefabricated in London, this cast-iron lighthouse was assembled on Mana Island in 1865, but caused confusion and possibly even shipwrecks so, in 1881, it was moved to Cape Egmont.

Nearby was the settlement of Parihaka, home of the non-violent protester Te Whiti. Since these Maori believed that the land was tapu, they caused havoc with local settlers, ploughing up the fields of Pakeha farmers and obstructing the lighthouse construction. As a reaction, about 40 armed constabulary were stationed in the tower for a year.

From the summit of Mount Egmont you can spot this lighthouse, a white pillar on the hazy green and blue circumference that circles the Taranaki province. If you’re cruising the Surf Highway, it’s worth a visit to the Cape.

Access

From New Plymouth, drive on SH45 for 45km to Pungarehu. Turn right into Cape Rd for five kilometres.

Time

Five minutes walk.

Cape Foulwind

In 1642 Abel Tasman anchored off this cape, naming it Rocky Point. In 1770, Captain Cook wasn’t impressed with the atrocious weather, coining the name Foulwind. However, this coastline hasn’t actually claimed many ships. Nevertheless, in 1876, a hexagonal wooden lighthouse was erected, its kerosene lamp dutifully guiding sailors to the Buller River mouth for a century.

A well-graded path meanders over the headland, skirting the old lighthouse. It provides a panorama from Mt Cook, to the Paparoa Range, to the Denniston coal plateau. Weaving among rock promontories and tenacious scrub, the walkway continues to climb between sheer cliff faces and fenced farmland.

After about an hour’s amble is a viewing platform. Far below, kekeno lounge in their rookery. (Summer is a good time to visit, as the seal breeding season is from mid-November til January.)

From the seal colony, a path suitable for wheel-chairs follows the coast south to the carpark at Tauranga Bay.

Access

Drive 11km south of Westport on SH67, past Carters (check)Beach. Turn right at a junction, drive one kilometre to car park.

Time

Five minutes to lighthouse; 1.5 hours to Tauranga Bay.

Cape Reinga

At our most frequented lighthouse, visitors stream along the short path toward the top tip of Aotearoa. To Maori, this legendary landmark is the place of departing spirits; to the tramper beginning the Te Araroa Trail, this is also a point of departure, with the finish line at Bluff some 3000km away.

While the Cape is not quite the northernmost point of New Zealand (which is actually the scientific reserve around North Cape, further to the east), it is an essential destination, if only for the jaw-dropping views.

Access

About two hours north of Kaitaia on SH1. Tourist buses regularly visit via 90 Mile Beach.

Time

Five minutes walk.

East Cape

This lighthouse was originally erected 2km away on East Island, but it was threatened by slips and difficult to access. In 1922, the Marine Department moved the castiron tower to the mainland.

High on the crest of a hill, this place is popular with sightseers wishing to see the sunrise, as this is the eastern-most point of New Zealand. If you explore the ridge top, you’ll discover relics and remnants from the old station buildings.

Access

Take the Pacific Coast Highway to Te Araroa on SH35. Drive East Cape Rd for 25 minutes to the end. Behind the keeper’s cottage are at least 500 steps leading to the lighthouse. The road isn’t suitable for campervans.

Time

Twenty minutes one way.

French Pass

You will be pleasantly surprised how accessible French Pass is, and even more impressed with the spectacular scenery en route. Most of the road is sealed, meandering through pine plantations, high above a myriad of hidden coves, each sporting its own mussel farm. Prior to journey’s end are a couple of short walks.

The path zigzags downward to reach a junction. Turn left to visit a small beach; turn right to find a lookout overlooking this infamous stretch of water. Both the channel light and the beacon are visible, guiding vessels through a narrow passage between D’Urville Island and the mainland. The collision between two bodies of water creates a treacherous tidal rip; the noise can be heard as you descend through regenerating native bush.

Access

Leave SH6 at Rai Valley, drive 60km for 1 hour, 40 minutes. Walks are signposted about one kilometre before the small settlement at French Pass.

Time

15 minutes each walk.

Katiki Point

While visiting the famous Moeraki boulders, take a detour to the white tower on the nearby peninsula. It’s not hard to find the route – it’s named Lighthouse Road. The eight-metre structure was erected in 1878 as a navigational beacon for coastal shipping between Port Chalmers and Lyttelton.

Below the historic buildings, follow a steep pathway down to a wooden viewing hide concealed in the scrub. Time your adventure for a summer evening. You will see rare yellow-eyed penguins waddling ashore, plus fur seals and other wildlife.

Access

Leave SH1 40km south of Oamaru. Turn into Moeraki township just past the boulders; follow Lighthouse Rd seven kilometres to car park.

Time

Five minutes walk to viewing hide.

Manukau Heads

Set in a spectacular location on the South Head of the Manukau Harbour, this lighthouse was finally erected in 1874 to safeguard shipping to Auckland, a decade after the HMS Orpheus hit the Manukau bar and 189 sailors drowned in the worst shipwreck in New Zealand history.

Although the old lighthouse was abandoned to the elements, a replica of the original wooden tower opened to the public in 2006.

Climb up the spiral staircase, past the gigantic lens and admire some stunning 360-degree views from the balcony. You look across to Destruction Gully and the Waitakere Ranges, and down to the black sands of Whatipu, Ninepin with its smaller light, and Paratutae Island, site of the original signal station. In the distant haze, the Sky Tower rises above our largest city; beyond that, Rangitoto Island provides a familiar backdrop. Look out for the world’s rarest Maui dolphins in the water below.

Access

About 1.5 hours drive from Auckland, via Waiuku and Awhitu Peninsula.

Time

Three minutes walk.

Nugget Point

Perched precariously atop a vertiginous finger of headland, a visit to this lighthouse is truly spectacular. While you walk the well-worn path, which hugs a kilometre of knife-edge ridge top, spare a thought for the original keepers who were sometimes forced to crawl along the track in horrendous weather conditions.

From a small viewing veranda, look out to the Nuggets – rock stacks scattered like dice towards the horizon. Far below, amongst the surging seaweed, you may see fur seals.

Access

On SH1, leave the Southern Scenic Route south of Balclutha. At Kaka Point, follow the gravel road to the end.

Time

20 minutes walk.

Somes Island

Matiu Island was renamed after Joseph Somes from the infamous New Zealand Company. After the light at Pencarrow Head was established, a second signal was needed for navigation and Somes Island was selected. The lighthouse was originally constructed in 1866, but was not powerful enough and was replaced in 1900 with a round brick tower.

Between the 1870s and 1920, the island was used as a quarantine station, usually for animals, but also for people.

Matiu/Somes Island is now open to the public and easy walking tracks encircle the perimeter. A short detour leads to the rusty lighthouse.For several decades, the island has been a sanctuary for native plants, birds and insects. Look out for red-crowned parakeet, robin, kingfisher, shags and the little blue penguin. Several species of weta are protected here, along with skinks, gecko and tuatara.

Ferries provide regular drop-offs. Being a scientific reserve, there are strict access restrictions for other vessels. Contact DOC if you wish to stay overnight in one of the houses or at the campsite.

Access

East by West ferries

Time

30 minutes walk to lighthouse.