Portland Island, also called Waikawa, is a small island off the southern tip of the Māhia Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. It is used for sheep farming. The area of the island fluctuates rapidly between high and low tides due to a shelf of rocks surrounding the east, north and west coast of the island.
The Portland Island light was established in 1878. It was decommissioned in the late 1950s, after which the tower was disassembled and rebuilt in nearby Wairoa as a visitor attraction. An automated light remains on the island.
This photo of Portland Island lighthouse appears to have been taken shortly after it was built, either in 1878 or early 1879, as the bracing struts had not yet been added.
Callsign: ZLOE
Location: Southern tip of Portland Island
Elevation: 91.5 metres above sea level
Construction: Hexagonal kauri timber tower
Tower height: 8.5 – 12.78 metres (sources differ)
Light configuration: Revolving
Light flash character: Flashes every 30 seconds, with constant red in NE direction (Bull Rock)
Power source:
Range: 24 nautical miles
Date light first lit: 10 Feb 1878
Automated: 1957 (replaced by an automated light on a lattice tower built beside the lighthouse)
Demanned: It appears radio operations continued into the 1970s at least (see photos below)
Portland Island, photographed between 1889 and 1910. The tower struts were added in 1879 for extra strength following storm damage. Photo: Henry Wright, Alexander Turnbull Library
The Press, 26 Feb 1957
NEW BEACON IN OPERATION
(New Zealand Press Association) GISBORNE, February 25.
The beacon for east coast shipping since its erection in 1878, the Portland Island lighthouse “died” on Thursday night for the first recorded occasion in its 69 years’ service.
But Portland Island did not fail the shipping and airways lines. The new and much more powerful all-electric beacon incorporating many modern features was thrown into action.
The survival of the old lighthouse for almost 70 years nearly qualifies for a saga of the sea. In spite of storms it operated without a single lapse, all the while lurching and shivering in every high wind. Through some extraordinary oversight the cement foundations for the light were never laid, the tower virtually resting on the wind-torn sward.
The old lighthouse will be kept in working order as a standby in the case of a mishap to the more powerful newcomer.
In 1961 the original lighthouse was dismantled and re-built in Wairoa as a visitor attraction.
Photos that follow are from NZPO Napier Radio Depot staff and others.
The assistant light keeper’s house is seen at the left of this photo, and the radio hut is the small building at the right.
Portland Island radio hut in the early 1960s
Portland Island radiotelephone desk in the early 1960s. The Commander transmitter and receiver are at the right.
The Commander transmitter and receiver were made by Fisher Research Laboratories Inc of Palo Alto, California.
The transmitter (seen here with its front cover removed) was capable of AM and CW operation on eight channels.
The receiver had variable tuning.
Beacon transmitter, made by International Marine Radio (IMR)
Left: One of the towers for the beacon aerial which appears to be a Marconi Tee. Right: Tuning box for the same aerial (early 1960s)
Portland Island Radio, December 1976. The Commander radiotelephone set seen in an earlier photo was still in use.
NZ Nautical Almanac, 1973
