Centre Island (1878)
Photo courtesy of MSA.
Rarotoka (Centre) Island in Foveaux Strait - one of the most notoriously dangerous stretches of water in the world, lying 5 kilometres offshore from Hinetui Point in Colac Bay. Rarotoka means ´the north rock or underworld rock´ probably referring to its location below the South Island (Maori refer to north as down and south as up) and the use of the island as a sacred burial ground and navigational marker.
Local Maori feel very strongly about the Island as it was a sacred burial place and is to this day regarded as ´tapu´. The island is so sacred, legend has it that local Maori on the mainland would exhume their dead and travel to the island in calm weather to rebury them on the island.
Ngai Tahu Tribes also used Rarotoka as a ´resting place´ for the living on their arduous journeys to and from the Titi (Mutton Bird) Islands south of Stewart Island -to collect the fat juicy birds for food. It was also used as a navigational marker for the difficult leg across the Southern Seas. This use of the island has continued today.
A lighthouse was first suggested for either Stewart Island or Centre Island in 1861, but when Captain Johnson surveyed the area in 1864 he chose Center Island as the site. Work begun the same year, 1864 4 / 1877 1 but the local Maoris who the government had purchased the land off in 1853 begun to argue that they had not sold the land after all. They then moved into on of the newly completed keeper houses. After some resistance they were eventually moved on. The light was finally lit on 16 September, 1878.
The lighthouse was designed by John Blackett and was identical to the Cape Maria van Diemen Lighthouse that was built a year later in March, 1879. 10
Marking the western approach to Foveaux Strait between the South Island and Stewart Island, Centre Island Lighthouse is one of the few wooden lighthouses remaining.
Originally a three keeper station, it was reduced to two keepers in 1955 when the light was converted to diesel-generated electricity. By 1977 there was only one keeper at the light.
As a way of supplementing there food supply early keepers often took fishing trips from the island. In 1943 unfortunately two keepers drowned on one of these fishing trips.
As the island is surrounded by dangerous rocks, a red sector shines over the area to be avoided.
The light was one of the last to automated in 1987.
The government returned the island to the Ngai Tahu tribe in 1998 after a Treaty of Waitangi claim. The island is now uninhabited except for the worlds rarest penguin the Yellow Eyed (Hoiho) and endangered NZ Hookers Sea Lions who now make the island their home.
DIRECTIONS:
Inaccessible to the public.
The lighthouse is however observable from the mainland.
From Invercargill drive west on Hwy 99, past Riverton to Colac Bay. Better views are from Wakaputa Beach just off Hwy 99.
| Island | South |
| Province | Southland |
| Location | Foveaux Strait |
| Number | K4438 |
| Date Commissioned | 16 September, 1878 |
| Date Decommissioned | |
| Automated | 1987 Maritime Safety Authority, 1990 Leading Lights |
| Latitude | 46 28' South |
| Longitude | 167 51' East |
| Elevation Above Sea Level | 81m |
| Height | 12m |
| Character | White light flashes every 15 seconds |
| Range | White 19 N. miles (35 km), Red 15 N. miles (28 km) |
| Made | Built on site |
| Construction | White wooden tower (Kauri) New Zealand timber |
| Converted Kerosene To Diesel | 1955 |
| Converted Diesel To Mains Electricity | 1990 (Solar Powered) |
| Wattage | |
| Present Tower | Original |
| Authority | |
| Date Visited | 5 January, 2000 |
| Head Keeper | From | To |
| Alexander McKinlay | April 1878 | June 1882 |
| Andreas Fremming Stewart Sandager | July 1894 | Dec 1894 |
| John Jess | c 1904 |
| Assistant Keeper (1st) | From | To |
Additional Sources:
a.
b.
Text and photographs. Copyright © 1999-2009 Mark Phillips. All rights reserved.
If anyone has any information on this light please contact me. thekiwimark@msn.com
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