Owhiro Bay-Island Bay, Wellington City
Karori Light - also sometimes known as 'The Leaning Lighthouse' was a scout and soldier amongst New Zealand's troop of coastal lights.
It's technical location is about 1km off Cape Terawhiti, upon Karori Rock. With lights earlier constructed at Pencarrow head, Mana Island, and then Cape Palliser, it might have seemed like the Wellington coastline was covered, but this most treacherous stretch of the South Coast claimed the steamer Penguin in 1909, with the loss of 72 lives, raising the call for a light upon the rock.
The tower was built over several months in 1915, in difficult conditions thanks to the sea often overcoming the entire rock, and sometimes washing away concrete foundations before they were set. The Acetelyne Light imported from Europe was so new and trendy it was showed off at the Auckland Exhibition while the 65 foot tower was built.
The invaluable service provided for over eighty years to sailors and seafarers, was a warning not only of the proximity of the coast, but also the unseen underwater hazards nearby; Luna Rock and Thom's Rock, both invisible from the surface and potentially lethal.
In 1996, a new shore-based solution was employed, a Vega 250 flashing beacon at Tongue Point and Karori light was no more. The tower survives, still leaning into the southerly wind.
The wild stretch of Coast alongside Karori Rock is home to a seal colony, the substation associated with the Cook Strait Cable, and Terawhiti Station, a long standing sheep run. The Makara Wind Farm is on Terawhiti land. A rough 4WD extension of the the Red Rocks track does follow the coast round here, but the emphasis is on the rough. Although parts are safe to cycle, some motor vehicles may not give way because if they do they will get stuck. So walking the seven kilometres from Ohiro Road is the safer option, if you are intent on seeing Karori Light. The other way to view or photograph it is from the Cook Strait Ferry.
At the Karori Cemetery it is possible to do aself-guided walk visiting the graves of people who died in the 1909 Penguin shipwreck, and there are relics of the wreck in the Wellington Museum of City and Sea and the Lyttelton Museum.
Image Credits: Karori rock lighthouse in Cook-Strait AN Brecken NZ Herald 1932 Sir George Grey Special Collections Auckland Libraries NZPlaces, Peter Whiteford.
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