|
|
|
History of Lighthouse Lodge, Pouto and Kaipara Harbour Area
Lighthouse Lodge is a modern lodge, hosted by Barbara
and Roy. The lodges history is short, opening in July 2000 and
catering to the first guests, Lucy Lawless and Gabriel from the Zena
Warrior Princess show, who loved the isolated wild and uninhabited
sand dunes of Pouto.
Pouto is a coastal peninsula of land some 55 km long, which is bounded
on three sides by water. On the western side the Tasman Sea beats
along an unbroken drivable surf beach (Ripiro). On the eastern side
the waters of the Kaipara Harbour ebb and flow over sand banks and
through deep inlets.
Lighthouse Lodge lays on the southern boundary of the peninsula
forming one side of the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour. Offshore of
the lodge, swift tides mark the meeting place for the harbour waters
and rollers from the open sea. The coast here is a rounded line of
broken sandstone cliffs and dunes, girded by an apron of sandy beach.
The harbour, its infamous mouth and sandbar, treacherously guards the
coast. An area of Pouto is called the Graveyard because of the many
ships which went down there. In certain tidal and sand conditions, the
remains of wrecks may be partially exposed offshore or in the sand.
Pouto lighthouse is the oldest wooden lighthouse in NZ.
Maori habitation of Pouto goes back to ancient times and in recent
years relics have been found of a civilisation thought to pre-date
Maori settlement of the area.
|
|
|
