New Zealand Manukau Heads, South Auckland

This is the entrance the Manukau, the west-facing of Auckland's two harbours.
Waves can be seen over the sand bar where, on a fine summer day in February 1863, 189 of the 259 members of the crew of the Royal Navy corvette, HMS Orpheus, mostly teenagers as young as 12, drowned, when the ship ran aground.
The lighthouse is a replica of the 1874 original but it still houses the original prism that was fitted 1929 and its very accessible.
The views on the road out to the lighthouse are worth stopping for, and from the hill behind the lighthouse it is possible to make out Auckland Central Business District, with the distinctive Sky Tower spike, in the distance.

It’s possible to reach the signal station, below the lighthouse, by taking the path to the left from the bottom of the main path up. Someone said it is possible to stay there. I'm not sure it offers a much better vantage point overall, but a slightly less obstructed view of the sandbar.

Expect bright green foliage in early summer.

You’ll need to drive but roads are good.