Remote lighthouse makes a good point
Southland’s most remote lighthouse opened for business on March 1, 1879. The newspaper of February 8 in that year reported: ‘‘It is hereby notified that, on and after Saturday, the 1st day of March next, a light will be exhibited from the lighthouse which has been erected on Puysegur Point, the position and characteristics of which are as follows:
‘‘— The Puysegur Point Lighthouse is situated on the point of that name, at the south-western extremity of the Middle Island, New Zealand. The tower is 40 feet in height, built of timber and painted white.
‘‘The Light will be a First Order Flashing White Light, visible all round as far as the land will allow, and showing a flash every ten seconds.
‘‘The light is elevated 180 feet above the sea, and, allowing 15 feet for the height of the eye, will be seen at a distance of about 19 nautic miles in clear weather.’’
Puysegur probably takes its name from Antoine Puyse´ gur, a French hydrographer.
The point marks the western end of Foveaux Strait. Access is from a sheltered beach in Preservation Inlet and a walk of 2.5 kilometres along New Zealand’s westernmost road.
Large waka
Southland’s largest object carved from a single piece of wood is the Ma¯ ori waka or canoe, long a feature in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, hewn from a totara log about 200 years ago.
New Zealand’s longest canoe is the 35.7-metre Nga¯ Toki Matawhaorua, named after Matawhaorua, the canoe of Kupe.
Nga¯ Toki was built in 1940 for the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi celebrations in Northland and has been in the water periodically since then. He (note the appropriate pronoun for a war canoe) can carry 80 paddlers and 55 passengers. Nga¯ Toki was the longest canoe in the world until 2006 when he was displaced by one built in Maine.
Government block
The block bounded by Dee and Esk streets and The Crescent was designated as the government block when Invercargill was surveyed. The first buildings were a collection of shanties holding the court, school, hospital, police station, custom house and other facilities. These were replaced by more substantial structures.
Until recently the block still housed some government departments. The two grandest buildings have gone – these were the old post office facing Dee St and the government building that faced the railway station.