Lighthouse Lit For Maori New Year
By Sue Clark on Jun 18, 2008 in News 
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Auction Lets Winner Flip the Switch
The Maori New Year celebrations in New Zealand was kicked off by the lighting of the Manukau Heads Lighthouse recently. The two week long festivities, begins in late May or early June, whenever the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades (known as Matariki) appear in the sky. The lighthouse, dark for thirty years, was once again lit in this fitting beginning to the festivities. A fundraiser for the restoration of this lighthouse led to one lucky person receiving the honor of “flipping the switch” and lighting the light once again. What better way to celebrate the Festival of Light than by offering someone a chance to turn on the lights!
Original Lighthouse Lost
This lighthouse is actually a replica of the original 1874 tower. It was rebuilt using the original parts beginning in 1999 by a dedicated group of volunteers, the Manukau Heads Lighthouse Trust. The whole community of Awhitu came together for this project. It was finished in 2006, and was dedicated by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. The light sits opposite from its original site, where the station actually failed to prevent New Zealand’s greatest maritime disaster, the wreck of the HMS Orpheus. The ship ran aground on the Manukau Bar in in 1863, with the loss of 189 men.
The Port of Auckland owns the land, and provides a twenty year lease to the Trust. The lease is for a nominal sum, payable on demand, which the Port of Auckland will not be demanding. 
Guided tours are available, in fact, the group running it is always looking for lighthouse “keepers” to lead the tours.
Photo credit: Manukau Head Lighthouse by Erez B Some rights reserved.
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