Castlepoint - Wairarapa, NZ

Castlepoint was named in 1770 by Captain Cook, who thought the rock formations in the area resembled the battlements of a castle.

Castle Rock rises some 162 metres high, below stretches of beach and a sheltered lagoon provides opportunity for a variety of water recreational pursuits. Just below Castle Rock is the bar in which large and small fishing boats use to enter the lagoon. Men fishing with hand rods are often found on the rocks, which are quite narrow, on the left sheltering the lagoon. While we were here the tide was coming in and splashing over some of the rocks, the men didn't linger!

To the right of the image is the bay of Castlepoint and small township. This is a popular destination during Summer and has a large Motorcamp with a range of accommodation, a shop and one small restuarant.

The light of Castlepoint Lighthouse first shone 12 January 1913. It was built with the intention of assisting ships to make landfall on passage from Panama to Wellington and was one of the last attended stations to be built in New Zealand.
The cast iron tower stands at 23 metres high and 52 metres above sea level. The light flashes 3 times every 30 seconds and can be seen for 26 nautical miles (48 kilometres).
The 1000 watt lamp operates on mains electricity with a diesel generator for standby power. The light orginally burnt oil as a light source and was converted to diesel generated electricity in 1954, and then to mains electricity in 1961.
The light was fully automated in 1988 and the lighthouse keeper was withdrawn.
The lighthouse looks out to the Pacific Ocean.

I was hoping for a rough day with lots of 'whoosh' but that wasn't to be. On the walk up to the lighthouse there were plenty of warning signs for wind when the weather is bad. Hubby and I had a great day of exploring, there were plenty of people round but dwindled as the day progressed.