Farewell Spit Lighthouse

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Farewell Spit Lighthouse
Farewell Spit Lighthouse.jpg
Place: Farewell Spit, Tasman , South Island , New Zealand
Location: Tasman , New Zealand
Geographical location: 40 ° 32 '45.9 "  S , 173 ° 0' 33.8"  O Coordinates: 40 ° 32 '45.9 "  S , 173 ° 0' 33.8"  O
Height of tower base: 30  m
Fire carrier height : 27 m
Farewell Spit Lighthouse (New Zealand)
Farewell Spit Lighthouse
Identifier : Fl WR 15s
Scope knows: 19 nm (35.2 km )
Operating mode: 1870 oil lamp
1930 electrification
1984 automated
Function: lighthouse
Construction time: 1869-1870
Operating time: since 1870

Farewell Spit Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the Farewell Spit headland in the Tasman region in the south of New Zealand's South Island . It is operated by Maritime New Zealand .

Since the Farewell Spit headland, which protruded far into the sea, was feared because of numerous shipwrecks, it was decided to build a lighthouse. Since this tower, unlike many others in the country, could not be built on a high cliff, it had to be particularly high.

A hardwood tower was built in 1869–1870 and commissioned on July 17, 1870. It was lit by an oil lamp . As early as 1891 it was found that the wood was increasingly rotting. Therefore, it was replaced by a steel framework that went into operation in January 1897. In the 1930s the tower was electrified and powered by a diesel generator. In the 1960s, it was connected to the national power grid.

The tower was automated in 1984 and, like all New Zealand lighthouses, has been remotely controlled from a central control room at Maritime New Zealand's headquarters in Wellington ever since .

In September 1999 the tower was replaced with a new rotating beacon with a 50 W halogen lamp. The old beacon is displayed in a hut at the foot of the tower.

The tower is located in a protected area administered by the Department of Conservation . The headland can be visited on guided tours, the tower itself is not accessible. One of the lighthouse keeper's huts houses a small museum.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Farewell Spit . Maritime New Zealand , accessed October 18, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Farewell Spit (1869) . New Zealand Lighthouses , accessed October 18, 2018 .