New Zealand Geographic Centre
Posted by: 
arby101ca
S 41° 16.372 E 173° 17.971
59G E 692599 N 5428401
The geographical centre for New Zealand, the origin for all the trig points and benchmarks is on a hill above Nelson, on the northern edge of the south island
Waymark Code: WMFX3X
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 12/10/2012
Views: 10
A pleasant hike uphill from downtown Nelson soon gets you to the "Centre of New Zealand". Here is a monument and a needle installed by the Nelson Jaycees in 1969 confirming the zero point for New Zealand’s surveys and topographic mapping.
The information plaque says "Welcome to the centre of New Zealand: Is this really the centre of New Zealand?
It depends on the definition of centre. For a surveyor, it is the centre because it is the origin point for the Nelson Land District and Nelson is the central land district among the 12 other land districts, hence the "Centre of New Zealand". Every boundary in the District has coordinates in terms of the point which can be seen directly below the "needle" situated behind you. The original survey point was established in the earliest days of the Nelson settlement (1841 onwards). Although Nelson was laid out from the summit of Church Hill/ Pikimai, BH (Botanical Hill, the correct geographical name for this hill) soon became the dominant survey reference point. It gained official status in 1877 when it was first include in the first of the maritime and national triangulations. A triangulation is a term used for a large regional survey which establishes reference point from which smaller surveys obtain correct coordinates. GPS technology has replaced the need for triangulation surveys but the Centre of New Zealand continues to be used by local surveyors as a reference point."
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