Knight's Point

View from Knights Point lookout to Arnott Point
The obelisk monument at Knights Point was set up to celebrate the completion of the highway connecting Westland with Otago.

Knight's Point is on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

The 1950s were a time of immense infrastructure development in New Zealand. A major project was the building by the Ministry of Works of a road from the South Island's east coast, across Haast Pass and up the west coast to join the road that terminated at Ross.

Progress was made by pushing the road across the Haast Pass to near the mouth of the Haast River where a major bridge was constructed to take the road north along the coast. A second crew began construction south of Ross and progressed south.

The two teams met north of Haast at a picturesque place on the coast. As the time for the official opening of the road drew near, officials from the Ministry of Works journeyed to the meeting point to make arrangements for a commemorative monument by the roadside. In the course of conversation with the construction crew, it was mentioned that the location should be named after a senior official of the Ministry of Works employed in the head office in Wellington, the national capital.

The construction crew informed the delegation from Wellington that the area had already been named Knight's Point. The officials inquired who "Knight" was and were informed that he was the surveyor's dog. Apparently Ministry of Works documents indicate that Knight's Point was named after "the obscure dog of an obscure employee of the Ministry of Works."

The official opening of this last section of the highway that is now State Highway 6 was on 6 November 1965.[1]

Today the site includes a car park and viewing platform overlooking the coast towards Arnott Point, a resting area for New Zealand fur seals and occasionally elephant seals.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Plaque at obelisk
  2. ↑ Information panel at lookout
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