The Puysegur Point Lighthouse is located on a remote headland overlooking the Tasman Sea at the southwest corner of New Zealand's South Island. The Puysegur Point headland is near the entrance to Rakituma / Preservation Inlet in Fiordland National Park. The lighthouse marks the northwest point of the entrance to Foveaux Strait, separating Stewart Island from the South Island. Puysegur Point is one of the most isolated and inaccessible lighthouses in New Zealand.
The original wooden lighthouse tower was destroyed in an arson attack on 8 February 1942. A replacement lighthouse was constructed using equipment that had recently become surplus from the Godley Head and Cape Foulwind lighthouses, and a new light was commissioned in January 1943.
Background
Surveys of possible sites for lighthouses around Foveaux Strait were undertaken in 1874 from the vessel PS Luna. Sites visited included Cape Puysegur, Centre Island, Rugged Island, Green Islands, and Cape Windsor. Puysegur Point was identified as a potentially suitable site because of the elevation, the visibility from vessels en route to Otago or Canterbury from the west, and the accessibility.
The first lighthouse
Lighthouse equipment for Puysegur Point was ordered in February 1875 as part of a larger contract awarded by the Commissioner of Customs for the supply of apparatus and lanterns for six lighthouses around the New Zealand coast. Site works began that same year in levelling sites for houses, and for the construction of a road to the location of the lighthouse from the landing point at Otago Retreat in Preservation Inlet. The Otago Retreat landing point had been previously established by prospectors exploring local coal deposits.
Land was formally reserved for the lighthouse late in 1875. The estimated cost of constructing the lighthouse was reported as ₤8,500. In December 1876, the Marine Office called for tenders for the construction of a lighthouse, dwellings and other buildings. Materials for the construction were brought ashore at the landing point at Otago Retreat. The main site construction works were completed by 1878. In the financial year 1877-78, the Marine Department spent ₤3,418 on works at Puysegur Point.
The tower was of wooden construction high, painted white. The lighthouse was fitted with a first order lens and the light, flashing every 10 seconds, was first shown on 1 March 1879. The focal height was above sea level, with a range of .
The tower was found to sway in the extreme winds often experienced at Puysegur Point. In 1886, the tower was strengthened with the addition of four guy-wires, fixed to ground anchors.
The Puysegur Point light was upgraded to the Chance incandescent system in 1909, providing an improved light with reduced consumption of oil.
Communications
Despite being built on the mainland, rather than an offshore island, Puysegur Point is one of the most isolated and inaccessible lighthouse locations in New Zealand.
In 1896, surveys began for a telegraph line route from Puysegur Point to Orepuki in Southland, to provide communications from the site. Following the stranding of the vessel Ruapehu on Farewell Spit in 1897, commentators noted that several lighthouses around the coast, including Puysegur Point, did not have telegraph communications for promptly summoning assistance for vessels in distress. However, in 1899, homing pigeons were still being used to carry messages from Puysegur Point back to Invercargill.
A government decision to provide telegraph communications with the lighthouse was finally made in 1908. Telegraph communications from the site were used to summon assistance in 1910, following the wreck of the Waikare in Dusky Sound. However, the telegraph line proved difficult to maintain, and by the 1920's it was replaced by a radio-telephone system.
The lighthouse received stores and mail in monthly supply visits from government steamers, including the Stella in 1886, the Invercargill in 1895, and the GSS Wairua in the 1940s. Lighthouse keepers complained about the lack of a regular mail service. There was no reliable and regular mail service provided until 1941 when a two-weekly service from Riverton was commenced, subject to weather conditions.