NEW ZEALAND LIGHTHOUSES

Farewell Spit (1869)

Farewell Spit Lighthouse.

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mätauraga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Lighthouse at Farewell Spit and surrounding houses.

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mätauraga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Two trucks and the lighthouse, Farewell Spit.

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mätauraga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Google has a satellite map

Farewell Spit juts 25 kilometres out into Golden Bay at the top of the South Island and was named by Captain Cook in 1770 as he bade farewell after his first visit to New Zealand.

As the land was very low, frequent ship wreaks occurred in the area. Between 1840 and 1887, ten ships were wreaked on the spit, plus many more that ran aground but were able to be re-floated.

With the formation of the Marine Board of New Zealand in 1865 (renamed The Marine Department in 1866) who took of operations of all lighthouses, James Balfour was appointed the Marine Engineer and Inspector of Steamers on October 11, 1866. ¹⁰

Balfour designed the Farewell Spit lighthouse but while the lighthouse was being constructed, Balfour was drowned in a boating accident in Timaru Harbour in December, 1869.

Construction began on the lighthouse in 1869 with successful tender of  £2496 ³   £6139 ^d  for all the buildings by Mr. Samuel Brown of Wellington. ³  The tower was an open frame timber structure and was painted alternates bands of red and white, with a lantern room on top. ^b  The tower stood 113 feet tall to the top of the lantern, with the overall light elevated 120 feet above sea level. The light was visible about 17 nautical miles in clear weather. ^b

The construction material was hauled along the beach by horse-drawn sledges. ¹³  As the construction site was on an exposed windy beach, building the lighthouse had it's challenges. During one overnight storm, the wind moved so much sand that a large pile on bricks were buried, never to be seen again. The lack of shingle for concrete was also a problem, with shells being used instead. ¹

The light was a 2nd order dioptric revolving white light blinking once per minute. Over the spit end, between the bearings N.W.1/4N. to W. by N.1/4N the light was red to indicate the end of the sand spit. ^b

The light was first lit on June 17th, 1870. ¹ 

By 1891 it was found that the wooden tower was decaying due to the weather and wind blown sand. ¹   Iron for a new tower was ordered from England and arrived July 1892. ³  The new tower was constructed by J & A Anderson of Christchurch. ^a  and was completed in January 1897. ¹  

On the morning of January 17, 1897 the old wooden tower was extinguished. Two nights later the light was lit on the new tower. ³

The new tower was 88 feet high, erected 9 feet above sea level and the light visible for 15 miles. The upper part of the tower was painted white, the lower painted red.  ^e

In the early years the lighthouse site had no vegetation and sand blew into everything making it a constant job for the keepers to keep things clean. Near the turn of the century one keeper organized for small loads of soil to be delivered with the mail. He then planted a windbreak of Macrocarpa Pines which are still there to this day. The pines now protect the station from the shifting sands and provide a daylight landmark for passing ships. ¹

In 1900 the light station was established as a Post Office, the 2nd of about 15 light stations around the country. ⁴

The station was converted from oil to diesel powered generators in the 1954. ⁴  

The station was connected to mains electricity in 1973. ¹⁸

In 1928 a transport service begun to the lighthouse, bringing fuel, supplies and mail using a Dodge two wheel drive truck. ^c

The light was automated in 1984. ¹

The original light was replaced in September 1999 with a modern rotation beacon, illuminated by a 50 watt tungsten halogen bulb. The original light can be viewed in the hut at the base of the tower. ¹

The old cottages of the lighthouse families remain. One now contains a small museum, telling the area's history.

POSTAGE STAMPS:

The Farewell Spit lighthouse has along with others been featured on New Zealand postal stamps issued by the Government Life Insurance Office. 

Part of the lighthouse series that was released on 17 November, 1976, the Farewell Spit lighthouse stamp had a value of 10 cents. The other stamp in the series was East Cape lighthouse with a value of 8 cents.

Stamp Web Sites

http://100megsfree3.com/glaw/lighthouse/

http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Stamps/StampsHistoricalIssues/1969+-+1965/Government+Life.htm

http://www.newzeal.com/theme/LH/lighthouses.htm

DIRECTIONS:

Public access to the lighthouse is restricted to organized tours.

Two tour operators will take you there:

Farewell Spit Nature Tours. Take you to both Piller Point and Farewell Spit lighthouses, as well as narrative and bird/nature watching. (The tour I took)     http://www.farewell-spit.co.nz 

The Original Farewell Spit Safari. http://www.farewellspit.com/

Old Tower

New Tower

Sources

Additional Sources:

^a. New Zealand Biography www.dnzb.govt.nz

^b. Papers Past 'Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XX1X, Issue XX1X, 2 July 1870, Page 4.

^c. The Nelson Mail, 2006

^d. Star , Issue 4872, 10 February 1894, Page 6

^e. The New Zealand Pilot, 1920

Text and photographs. Copyright © 1999-2011   Mark Phillips. All rights reserved.

If anyone has any information on this light please contact me. thekiwimark@msn.com