Stephens Island Lighthouse

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Stephens Island Lighthouse
Stephens Island Lighthouse.jpg
Location: Stephens Island (New Zealand) , Marlborough District , South Island , New Zealand
Geographical location: 40 ° 40 '14.9 "  S , 173 ° 59' 57.1"  E Coordinates: 40 ° 40 '14.9 "  S , 173 ° 59' 57.1"  E
Height of tower base: 183  m
Fire carrier height : 15 m
Stephens Island Lighthouse (New Zealand)
Stephens Island Lighthouse
Identifier : FL W 5
Scope knows: 18 nm (33.3 km )
Operating mode: 1894 oil lamp
1989 electrification
1989 automated
Function: lighthouse
Construction time: 1894
Operating time: since 1894
International ordinal number: K4236

Stephens Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Stephens Island in the Marlborough District . It is in the Cook Strait in the north of the South Island of New Zealand . It is operated by Maritime New Zealand .

The cast iron tower was built for £ 9,349 and was New Zealand's most powerful at the time. At 189 meters above sea level, it is the highest in the country. It was put into operation on January 20, 1894 and initially lit by an oil lamp . In 1938 the tower was electrified and powered by a diesel generator. In 1989 the tower was automated and the lighthouse keeper removed. Since then, like all New Zealand lighthouses, it has been remotely controlled from a central control room at Maritime New Zealand's headquarters in Wellington . In 2000, a new beacon with a 50 W halogen lamp was installed in the tower, which is fed by batteries charged by solar cells.

Access to the island via the troubled Cook Strait was difficult, afterwards people and loads had to be transferred in a basket with the help of a crane, later helicopters were used. Service on the island was lonely, the only connection to the mainland being the service-only radio.

The tower is not open to the public. The island is managed by the Department of Conservation as a nature reserve, home to around 30,000 of the rare bridge lizards. The lighthouse keepers used to work as volunteer rangers. Two of the former lighthouse keeper's houses are used by the DOC.

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