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.

Farewell Spit juts 25 kilometres out into Golden Bay at the top of the South Island. The first lighthouse was built in 1869 and lit in June 1870 with the lantern room sitting on top of wooden stilts.

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 lighthouse but before the lighthouse could be lit, Balfour was drowned in a boating accident in Timaru Harbour in December, 1869. ^c  

By 1891 it was found that the wood was decaying due to the weather and wind blown sand. So the wooden tower was replaced with a steel tower which was completed in January 1897. The tower was constructed by J & A Anderson of Christchurch. ^a

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.

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

In 1946 a transport service begun to the lighthouse, bringing fuel, supplies and mail.

The light was automated in 1984.

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

Sources:

^a. New Zealand Biography

². 

³. 

⁴. 

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

Last Updated:

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.

See reference page for more details.

Sources

Additional Sources:

^a. 

^b. 

Text and photographs. Copyright © 1999-2009  Mark Phillips. All rights reserved.