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The Kātiki Point Lighthouse, also known as Moeraki Lighthouse, shone for the first time in 1878, following several accidents on the dangerous reefs around the area, to make the area safer for ships that sailed past on their way to
The wooden tower stands high and above sea level. The light flashes on for 6 seconds and off for 6 seconds, and can be seen for . The light-emitting diode beacon is supplied by mains electricity, with a battery for standby power. The original lens operated with a 1000-watt lamp supplied by mains electricity, with a diesel generator for standby power. It can still be seen in the lantern room at the top of the tower.
The light was fully automated in 1975 and the lighthouse keeper was withdrawn. The operation of the light is now fully automatic and is monitored by a computer and
Lighthouses of New Zealand
''Maritime New Zealand'' {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1878 Lighthouses in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Otago 1870s architecture in New Zealand Transport buildings and structures in Otago
Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre.
History
Early Māori settlement
The or ...
, Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
. The lighthouse was built between the settlements of Moeraki
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railwa ...
and Kātiki
Kātiki is a small settlement in North Otago, New Zealand. It lies between the townships of Palmerston and Hampden on State Highway 1 at the northern end of Kātiki Beach, close to the Moeraki Peninsula. The tip of the peninsula, Kātiki Point ...
, on the tip of the Moeraki Peninsula, which is known as Kātiki Point or Moeraki Point.
History
The point has a long history of wrecks, notably the wrecking of the ancestralwaka
WAKA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Selma, Alabama, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Montgomery area. It is owned by Bahakel Communications alongside Tuskegee-licensed CW+ affiliate WBMM (channel 22); B ...
atua on a return trip from Hawaiki
(also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...
, leaving some of the cargo being on the beach at Kātiki, below the lighthouse. Tradition holds that the remains of the cargo are the Moeraki Boulders
The Moeraki Boulders (officially Moeraki Boulders / Kaihinaki) are unusually large spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach on the wave-cut Otago coast of New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden. They occur scattered either a ...
. Just before the light was to be lit for the first time, a storm shook the tower to the extent that the lamp glass broke. A new one had to be ordered, and the tower was strengthened, before the light was lit on 22 April 1878.
The wooden tower stands high and above sea level. The light flashes on for 6 seconds and off for 6 seconds, and can be seen for . The light-emitting diode beacon is supplied by mains electricity, with a battery for standby power. The original lens operated with a 1000-watt lamp supplied by mains electricity, with a diesel generator for standby power. It can still be seen in the lantern room at the top of the tower.
The light was fully automated in 1975 and the lighthouse keeper was withdrawn. The operation of the light is now fully automatic and is monitored by a computer and Maritime New Zealand
Maritime New Zealand (New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority) is a Crown entity and also a state maritime safety authority responsible for protecting the maritime transport sequence and marine environment within New Zealand and maintaining safet ...
staff in Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. The lighthouse was restored by Maritime New Zealand in 2006.
See also
*List of lighthouses in New Zealand
This is a list of lighthouses in New Zealand. Maritime New Zealand operates and maintains 23 active lighthouses and 74 light beacons. All of these lighthouses are fully automated and controlled by a central control room in Wellington.
Other li ...
References
* McLean, G. (1986) ''Moeraki'' Dunedin, NZ: Otago Heritage Books. .External links
*Lighthouses of New Zealand
''Maritime New Zealand'' {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1878 Lighthouses in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Otago 1870s architecture in New Zealand Transport buildings and structures in Otago