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Kōrero: Lighthouses

Puysegur Point lighthouse

Audio file

The work of a lighthouse keeper was taxing and monotonous. Before the lights were electrified, the regular routine involved watching the light, pumping fuel, and winding up the weights that powered the lenses. But at some lighthouses the physical conditions were unusually demanding. At Puysegur Point in south Fiordland, for example, sandflies and gale-force winds had to be endured. In this sound clip Kevin Pennel recalls the atrocious weather during the very last days of the lighthouse.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 30386

Image: Phantom House Books, by Grant Sheehan

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Helen Beaglehole, Lighthouses – Lighthouse keepers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/speech/6665/puysegur-point-lighthouse (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Helen Beaglehole, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.