New Zealand is an independent island nation in the southwestern corner of the Pacific Ocean. Its location is remote, roughly 2000 km (1200 mi) southeast of Australia and 1000 km (600 mi) south of New Caledonia and Fiji. Settled in the 13th Century by a Polynesian people known as the Māori, it was colonized by Great Britain in 1840. It has been part of the British Empire and then the British Commonwealth ever since. It has a population of about 5 million. New Zealand is larger than many Northern Hemisphere residents might suppose: roughly 1600 km (1000 miles) long from north to south, stretching from the subtropical north to the cool temperate south. It includes two large islands, North Island and South Island, with many smaller islands. This page describes lighthouses of North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and nearby smaller islands; there is a second page for lighthouses of South Island (Te Waipounamu). Most of the coastline of New Zealand is high and scenic. Many of the lighthouses are at remote locations and lighthouse fans need a good pair of hiking shoes to reach some of them, if they can be reached at all. Coastal lighthouses are operated and maintained by Maritime New Zealand (MNZ). Information on most of these lighthouses is readily available on the MNZ web site. Harbor lighthouses, however, are owned and maintained by local harbor authorities, and less information is available for most of them. There is no national lighthouse preservation group but Heritage New Zealand has acted to preserve several lighthouses after they were deactivated. Many of the place names in New Zealand are in the Māori language; the Māori phrase for a lighthouse is whare rama or whare tūrama. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA light list numbers are from NGA Publication 111.
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Northland Region Lighthouses
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![]() Kaipara North Head Light, Pouto, March 2013 Flickr photo copyright Bill Dutfield; used by permission |
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![]() 1879 Cape Maria van Dieman Light, Motuopao Island N.Z. Departmant of Conservation photo |
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![]() Cape Brett Light, Manwahuna Reserve photo copyright Michael Boucher; used by permission |
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![]() Mokohinau Islands Light, Hauraki Gulf Maritime New Zealand photo |
Auckland Region Lighthouses
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East Coast Lighthouses
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![]() Napier East Pier Light, Napier photo copyright Michael Boucher; used by permission |
Wellington Region (Cook Strait Area) Lighthouses
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![]() Matiu/Somes Island Light, Wellington Harbour, January 2008 Wikimedia public domain photo by Matt Lamont |
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Taranaki Region (West Coast) Lighthouses
Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Fiji | South: South Island
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted April 2, 2004. Checked and revised December 3, 2019. Lighthouses: 46. Site copyright 2019 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.