Stirling Point facts for kids

Stirling Point is a really special place at the very bottom of Bluff, a town in New Zealand. It's famous because it marks the end of two long paths that stretch across the whole country. One is State Highway 1, a main road. The other is Te Araroa, a super long walking trail. At Stirling Point, you'll find a cool signpost with arrows pointing to different places. It's one of the most photographed spots in the Southland area! There's also a big anchor chain sculpture here, just like one you'd see on Stewart Island.

Stirling Point gateway sign

Who Was Captain William Stirling?

This special spot is named after Captain Stirling (1812–1851). He ran a whaling station here from 1836 to 1844. A whaling station was a place where people processed whales. Captain Stirling worked for a man named Johnny Jones, who was an early settler.

Captain Stirling later took over the whaling station himself. His real name might have been Pankhurst or Pankhirst. He was born in Broadstairs, England. When he was just 14 years old, he ran away to become a sailor.

The Famous Stirling Point Signpost

The first Stirling Point signpost was put up around 1960. This original sign was made of wood. It had six signs pointing to places like Dog Island, Ruapuke Island, Wellington, London, and even the South Pole.

Over time, people damaged the wooden sign. So, a new metal post was put in place. This new post was cemented into the ground to make it stronger. It had twelve signs pointing to different places.

Sister Cities on the Sign

Bluff is part of Invercargill City. The signpost includes places that are "sister cities" to Invercargill. A sister city is a town or city that forms a special bond with another city in a different country. This helps people learn about other cultures.

The sister city relationship with Hobart in Australia ended in the late 1990s. However, the sign still shows Hobart. Invercargill became sister cities with Kumagaya in Japan in 1993. Later, in 2013, they also became sister cities with Suqian in China.

Fixing the Sign's Mistakes

In 2017, a tourist from Scotland noticed something was wrong. The directions, distances, and map coordinates on the signpost were not correct! Officials checked and found that the tourist was right.

To fix these mistakes, changes were made in late 2018. Tokyo in Japan was removed from the sign. In its place, Suqian, China, was added. Even though Hobart was no longer a sister city, it stayed on the sign.