1 products
Many of New Zealand’s original lighthouses are still in operation, offering safe passage around New Zealand’s treacherous coast and into our harbours. New Zealand’s oldest operational lighthouse illuminates the approach to the City of Sails, Auckland. The original tower now houses a modern light, monitored remotely from Wellington, New Zealand’s capital.
Issue information
Ever since the first voyagers arrived from Hawaiki, New Zealand’s rough coastline and changeable weather have proved both a risk and a challenge to those attempting to make land. Oral histories indicate that waka were wrecked as the first people discovered New Zealand’s shores. Over 1,500 shipwrecks were recorded in the 19th century alone, causing upwards of 2,000 deaths. The New Zealand government was eventually convinced to act, and lighthouses began to form a significant presence in Aoteoroa by the 1860s.
First lit in 1865, Tiritiri Matangi is New Zealand’s oldest operational lighthouse.