Most Southern in the World #7 - Pub Hotel Bluff NZ

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The nearest hotel to the South Pole, Bluff NZ, circa 1910s.

How could a series of "Most Southern In The World" be complete without a place to "wet one's whistle"? So, here is the Bayview Hotel, I W MacPherson, proprietor, on the corner of Gore and Palmer Streets, in Bluff, New Zealand.

Billed as the Nearest Hotel to the South Pole, it lost that title when a pub opened in Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island, years later. If one counts the canteens at the various scientific bases in the Antarctic then there is ice-cold beer even much closer to the South Pole today.

The Bayview pub still serves beer today. Patrons of long ago might be momentarily taken aback in finding the way in or out - the door on the corner has gone - they'd have to go through a window instead - but the Palmer Street entrance remains.

Cheers to the "Most Southern" places & objects that have graced a postcard!

Most Southern in the World #5 - Railway Station, Bluff, NZ

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The Most Southern Railway Station in the World, Bluff, N.Z. circa 1910

The railway line from Invercargill to Bluff was completed in 1867, connecting the growing town with its seaport. At the end of the line, the southern most railway station was constructed at Bluff.

Railway Station, Bluff - trackside. Muir & Moodie, 1913

The station was demolished.

Most Southern in the World #4 - Signal Station, Bluff NZ

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The Signal Station, Bluff, New Zealand

Though the postcard caption does not say so, the signal station at Bluff probably qualified as the southern most signal station at the time this card was published around 1910.

Signal stations monitored flag signals from vessels at sea and relayed them to shore-based locations. For example, an approaching ship's imminent arrival at Bluff might be signaled from the ship including information about whether a doctor was required upon docking, the ship was carrying mail, the ship required assistance, and so on. Signals might also be sent in either direction about weather conditions such as approaching storms. Flag signals were soon to be superceded by wireless radio when this picture was taken.

The Awarua wireless radio station at Invercargill did not open until 1913. Its task was to monitor marine radio for distress signals and other communication in the southern oceans. On the night of 23 March 1916 it was Alfred Goodwin at Awarua who picked up a distress signal from Ernest Shackleton's Ross Sea party that their ship the Aurora had been disabled by sea ice and they needed assistance.

Most Southern in the World #3 - Pilot Station, Bluff

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The Most Southern in the World Pilot Station, Stirling Point, Bluff NZ

Continuing with our "most southern in the world" series from the early 20th century, here is the pilot's station at Bluff, on the southern shores of the South Island of New Zealand. No doubt the station was a cosy spot for the harbour pilot waiting to go out to board a vessel needing to be piloted into Bluff Harbour.

A view along the shoreline to the pilot's station on the point as a vessel hoves into view.

Pilot station, now disused, in 2007

Standing as testament to those who built her, the now abandoned pilot station still stands on Stirling Point. Those wire guy ropes were there for a reason - the prevailing westerly winds often reach gale force in Foveaux strait, a treacherous, stormy stretch of water between the South Island and Stewart Island. Nevertheless, given its low situation, it's amazing that the station has not been washed away by high seas over the past one hundred years or more.