Cape Palliser light shines on world must-see list

Wairarapa's iconic red-and-white striped lighthouse has been named as one of the world's must-see sights.

The Cape Palliser Lighthouse has been included in Lonely Planet's latest book, 1000 Ultimate Sights.

The lighthouse is one of 15 New Zealand attractions to make the book's 100 top 10 lists, featuring as one of the best man-made sights.

Barbara Hyde of Destination Wairarapa said she was "thrilled to bits" to have the lighthouse featured in the book. She said Cape Palliser was a place every visitor to Wairarapa must see.

"Last year they picked Wellington to be the coolest little capital in the world and it's terrific for us that Lonely Planet has also now identified something New Zealanders know to be so unique.

"It's an adventure to go to Cape Palliser.

"It's so wild and dramatic, and it's one of those special places that New Zealanders love, and also one that international visitors fall in love with when they go there."

She said the place was special because it was so close to Wellington and Martinborough but, when you get there, "you feel like you're literally in the middle of nowhere".

"It's a lovely drive out there and it isn't a million miles from anywhere. You could be sitting having a glass of wine in Martinborough and 40 minutes later you can be in the middle of nowhere. In the summer time I always say, because it's so dry and barren, it almost looks hungry and desperate, and then you have the lighthouse standing there tall and proud."

Cape Palliser sits alongside such natural New Zealand wonders as White Island and Waimangu Volcanic Valley near Rotorua, Franz Josef Glacier, Sutherland Falls in Fiordland, the Moeraki boulders, and Tane Mahuta, featured in the book.