Waipapā Lighthouse

Fiordland & Southland


Standing on a desolate but beautiful point surrounded by farmland, this 13.4m-high lighthouse was built after the SS Tararua disaster, an 1881 shipwreck that claimed 131 lives.

The lighthouse was built three years later, to avert future tragedy on these rocky shores. The beach below is home to fur seals and sea lions (keep a safe distance). The turn-off to Waipapā Point is at Otara, 12km southeast of Fortrose.


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