Lyttelton Timeball Station in Lyttelton, Banks Peninsula, New Zealand | Harbour

Visual signals were important features of any port, necessary for communication between ship and shore, in pre-radio times.
Daily from 1876-1934, the dropping of the Lyttelton timeball signalled Greenwich time to shipping in the harbour. This enabled navigators to check their chronometers and so calculate accurately their position of longitude once back at sea.
While Lyttelton's timeball was one of many constructed as part of a vast Victorian network of time signals around the globe, it is one of few to have survived in working order and the only one still standing in New Zealand.
It is a rare piece of maritime history, fabulously restored and boasting spectacular views over Lyttelton Harbour.