Nugget Point

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title: "Nugget Point" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["headlands-of-otago", "nature-reserves-in-new-zealand", "rock-formations-of-otago", "the-catlins", "clutha-district"] description: "Steep landform in Otago, New Zealand" topic_path: "geography/new-zealand" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nugget_Point" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Steep landform in Otago, New Zealand ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Nugget_Point_and_The_Nuggets.jpg" caption="Looking down at Nugget Point and The Nuggets from viewing platform next to the lighthouse."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/NuggetPointNov202024.jpg" caption="Nugget Point area"] ::

Nugget Point () is a coastal landform on the Otago coast in New Zealand. Located at the northern end of the Catlins coast, along the road from Kaka Point, this steep headland has a lighthouse at its tip, surrounded by rocky islets (The Nuggets). The point is home to many seabirds, including penguins, gannets and royal spoonbills, and a large breeding colony of fur seals. Roaring Bay, on the south coast of the tip of Nugget Point, is home to a small colony of yellow-eyed penguins.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Nugget_Point_and_lighthouse.jpg" caption="View along path towards Nugget Point lighthouse. Rocky islets (The Nuggets) can be seen beyond the lighthouse."] ::

Nugget Point Lighthouse

Main article: Nugget Point Lighthouse

Nugget Point had been considered a significant danger in particular to small vessels trading along the coast to the Clutha River. The lighthouse was built in 1869 and started operating on 4 July 1870. The tower was constructed from locally quarried stone and stands 76 m above the water. Originally powered by an oil burner, it was converted to a 1,000 W lamp in 1949 with electricity provided by a diesel generator until the 1960s, when the lighthouse was connected to mains electricity. It was automated in 1989 and is computer-monitored and operated by Maritime New Zealand.

Proposed marine reserve

Although the headland itself is a 47 ha scientific reserve, the marine area around it currently has no special protection. While a marine reserve has been proposed twice by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, this has proved controversial. Many of the small local communities, which still rely on fishing for their livelihood, have been a source of opposition to the proposed reserve. Fishing industry bodies such as the Seafood Industry Council have also argued against it. Meanwhile, many University of Otago scientists support a reserve. The initial proposal would have protected more coastline than the latest Department of Conservation proposal, which covers only about one third of the coastline that the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society has proposed protecting, to less than one tenth the distance offshore.

Tourism

Nugget Point is advertised as a side trip from the Southern Scenic Route, with the main attractions being two easy 20-minute return walks, one to the viewing platform next to the lighthouse, the other to Roaring Bay.

The closest village is Kaka Point, which has traveller accommodation. The Nuggets Road is sealed for its entirety and climbs the bluff towards two car parks at Nugget Point. The walk to Roaring Bay starts at the lower car park and leads to a bird hide. Yellow-eyed penguins may be observed here, as well as fur seals and sometimes sea lions and elephant seals (one of few places in the nation with regular occurrences of this species). Cetaceans such as migrating southern right whales and humpback whales, orca, and dolphins such as endemic Hector's dolphins can be seen from the shore.

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Nugget Point (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1970–present) | Jan record high C = 34.2 | Feb record high C = 33.0 | Mar record high C = 28.6 | Apr record high C = 25.0 | May record high C = 22.2 | Jun record high C = 18.9 | Jul record high C = 17.2 | Aug record high C = 19.9 | Sep record high C = 24.7 | Oct record high C = 26.2 | Nov record high C = 27.9 | Dec record high C = 30.7 | year record high C = | Jan avg record high C = 26.6 | Feb avg record high C = 25.6 | Mar avg record high C = 23.3 | Apr avg record high C = 20.3 | May avg record high C = 17.4 | Jun avg record high C = 14.8 | Jul avg record high C = 14.4 | Aug avg record high C = 15.9 | Sep avg record high C = 18.7 | Oct avg record high C = 21.5 | Nov avg record high C = 23.2 | Dec avg record high C = 24.4 | year avg record high C = 27.8 | Jan avg record low C = 5.9 | Feb avg record low C = 6.4 | Mar avg record low C = 5.4 | Apr avg record low C = 3.4 | May avg record low C = 1.5 | Jun avg record low C = 0.4 | Jul avg record low C = -0.6 | Aug avg record low C = 0.4 | Sep avg record low C = 1.2 | Oct avg record low C = 2.0 | Nov avg record low C = 3.0 | Dec avg record low C = 5.2 | year avg record low C = -0.9 |Jan record low C = 3.0 |Feb record low C = 3.6 |Mar record low C = 1.6 |Apr record low C = 1.0 |May record low C = -1.9 |Jun record low C = -1.5 |Jul record low C = -1.9 |Aug record low C = -5.0 |Sep record low C = -1.4 |Oct record low C = -0.8 |Nov record low C = -1.7 |Dec record low C = 2.0 |year record low C = |Jan high C = 18.0 |Feb high C = 17.7 |Mar high C = 16.3 |Apr high C = 14.0 |May high C = 11.7 |Jun high C = 9.5 |Jul high C = 9.0 |Aug high C = 10.1 |Sep high C = 11.9 |Oct high C = 13.4 |Nov high C = 14.8 |Dec high C = 16.7 | year high C = |Jan mean C = 14.1 |Feb mean C = 14.0 |Mar mean C = 12.8 |Apr mean C = 10.9 |May mean C = 8.9 |Jun mean C = 6.8 |Jul mean C = 6.3 |Aug mean C = 7.2 |Sep mean C = 8.6 |Oct mean C = 9.9 |Nov mean C = 11.1 |Dec mean C = 13.0 | year mean C = |Jan low C = 10.2 |Feb low C = 10.4 |Mar low C = 9.3 |Apr low C = 7.8 |May low C = 6.1 |Jun low C = 4.2 |Jul low C = 3.6 |Aug low C = 4.3 |Sep low C = 5.3 |Oct low C = 6.3 |Nov low C = 7.4 |Dec low C = 9.2 | year low C = |rain colour = green |Jan rain mm = 73.1 |Feb rain mm = 65.4 |Mar rain mm = 54.9 |Apr rain mm = 55.0 |May rain mm = 78.9 |Jun rain mm = 80.4 |Jul rain mm = 58.7 |Aug rain mm = 48.6 |Sep rain mm = 54.5 |Oct rain mm = 70.2 |Nov rain mm = 75.9 |Dec rain mm = 69.3 |year rain mm = |source 1 = NIWA{{cite web |url = https://cliflo.niwa.co.nz/ |title = CliFlo -The National Climate Database (Agent number: 5892, 5893) |publisher = NIWA |access-date = 15 Oct 2024}}{{cite web |url = https://niwa.co.nz/climate-and-weather/monthly |title = Monthly climate summaries |publisher = NIWA |access-date = 5 May 2025}}

References

References

1. Department of Conservation NZ. "Nugget Point walks".
2. Information panel at Nugget Point lighthouse
3. Maritime New Zealand. "Nugget Point Lighthouse".
4. (2005). "Southern Scenic Route - A Traveller's Guide". Department of Conservation.
5. "Completion of the Nuggets Road Sealing Project {{!}} Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency".
6. "Panoramio is no longer available".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::