Currie Harbour

Posted on May 21, 2013 by

I passed by Currie Harbour lighthouse on my way to and from Cape Wickham lighthouse (which we shall see next) on the 29th and 30th July 1987.  I took this image on the way back on the 30th.

Currie Harbour. 1:30pm 30 July 1987 Arca-Swiss monorail 5x4" 90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon f32 1 second+ polariser Fujichrome 50

Currie Harbour.
1:30pm 30 July 1987
Arca-Swiss monorail 5×4″
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon
f32 1 second+ polariser
Fujichrome 50

Currie Harbour is above north-western Tasmania, on the western side of King Island.  The lighthouse was constructed of iron because the local stone was found to be unsuitable.  It was manufactured in England and assembled 0n site.  It is 21 metres high and 46 metres above the sea.

There were many wrecks along this coast.  The lighthouse was built in 1880 after several ships had been wrecked on nearby rocks.  In some cases those ships may have mistaken the Cape Wickham lighthouse on the north end of the island for the lighthouse at Cape Otway further north in Victoria and steered directly for the coast of King Island.

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Maatsuyker Island

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

I dropped in on Maatsuyker Island, a wild and windswept location off the south-west tip of Tasmania, on 22nd April 1987 after a special helicopter flight from Hobart.  We returned after I finished taking the photographs.

Maatsuyker lighthouse and rocks from in front of cottages 1:30pm 22 April 1987 Arca Swiss Monorail 5x4" 150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar f16 1/30 second + polariser Fujichrome 50

Maatsuyker lighthouse and rocks from in front of cottages
1:30pm 22 April 1987
Arca Swiss Monorail 5×4″
150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar
f16 1/30 second + polariser
Fujichrome 50

The Maatsuyker Island lighthouse was built in 1890-91.  The tower is only 13 metres high because it is located 110 metres above the sea.  A higher location was possible but deemed less suitable because of the prevalence of fog.

The view you see above is from just in front of the keepers’ cottages.  The cottages are 167 metres above the sea but in bad storms the spray could carry even this far.

Needle Rocks (or the Needles) beyond the lighthouse are home to many mutton birds (short-tailed shearwaters) and seals.  Aboriginals never lived here but used to come over from the mainland on hunting expeditions.  They made what must have been a very hazardous crossing of about ten kilometres from the mainland in bark canoes that they then had to reconstruct to return.

Maatsuyker lighthouse and rocks from cliff edge 2:00pm 22 April 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4" 65mm Schneider Super Angulon f16 1/30 second + polariser Fujichrome 50

Maatsuyker lighthouse and rocks from cliff edge
2:00pm 22 April 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″
65mm Schneider Super Angulon
f16 1/30 second + polariser
Fujichrome 50

This image is taken from near the lighthouse at the edge of the cliff.  The keeper’s wife told me how she was taking a cup of tea down to him in a storm when the wind swept her past the railing leading to the lighthouse and she clung to the edge of the cliff for twenty minutes or more until she was located and rescued.

In the beginning of the twentieth century the prime method of communication with the outside world for Maatsuyker, as for Tasman Is, was by carrier pigeon.  They had to send off carrier pigeons at regular intervals, if only to show that all was well.

Social relations were not always smooth sailing at lighthouses.  At Maatsuyker in 1920 there was constant tension between the two assistant lighthouse keepers which also involved the defacto wife of one of them and that was drawn to the attention of the Hobart Office.

Maatsuyker clockwork mechanism 2:30pm 22 April 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon f32 15seconds + polariser Fujichrome 50

Maatsuyker clockwork mechanism
2:30pm 22 April 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon
f32 15seconds + polariser
Fujichrome 50

This is the clockwork mechanism from the lighthouse.  The chain you see behind it would have held a weight which slowly dropped inside the tower.  This in turn powered the clockwork mechanism to turn the massive array of prisms around the kerosene lamp (later an electric bulb).  The prisms sat on a bed of mercury for ease of turning and the keepers needed to rewind the weight back to the top periodically.

The colour is likely not quite right here but I think it is mixed lighting sources and I can’t work out what to correct it to, so I leave it as is.

Maatsuyker lighthouse - view from rail 3:00pm 22 April 1987 Nikon FE 16mm Nikkor fisheye lens Fujichrome 50

Maatsuyker lighthouse – view from rail
3:00pm 22 April 1987
Nikon FE
16mm Nikkor fisheye lens
Fujichrome 50

Here is a view from the railings at the top of the lighthouse.  Maatsuyker was the last lighthouse to be demanned in 1996 and it lasted that long due to political pressure from Tasmanian fishermen.  A few National Parks volunteers probably continue to live on the island.

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Cape Bruny

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

I visited Cape Bruny lighthouse on 23rd April 1987.

Cape Bruny lighthouse stairs from floor 10:00am 3 April 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4" 65mm Schneider super Angulon, f45 65 seconds, Fujichrome 50.

Cape Bruny lighthouse stairs from floor
10:00am 23 April 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″
65mm Schneider Super Angulon,
f45 65 seconds,
Fujichrome 50.

Here we are looking directly up as the lighthouse pretends to be a nautilus.  The cast iron staircase was manufactured in Britain and assembled on site.  While it is bolted to the wall, it largely supports its own weight.

Although I used a tripod, I was lying on my back on the middle of the floor when I took this shot.

Cape Bruny lighthouse 1:00pm 3 April 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4" 65mm Schneider super Angulon f16 1/4 second + polariser, Fujichrome 50.

Cape Bruny lighthouse
1:00pm 23 April 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″
65mm Schneider Super Angulon
f16 1/4 second + polariser,
Fujichrome 50.

The Cape Bruny lighthouse is on the southern tip of Bruny island and commands the D’Entrecasteau Passage on the south-western approach to Hobart.  Governor Arthur recommended a lighthouse as early as 1825 but nothing was done at that time. Then three ships went down in 1835.  One hundred and thirty-four drowned with the convict transport George III (and probably many in chains), seventeen drowned with the Enchantress and no lives were lost when the Wallace went down.  This led to the construction of the lighthouse in 1838, which was built with convict labour.

Cape Bruny lighthouse and houses 1:00pm 3 April 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4" 65mm Schneider super Angulon f16 1/4 second + polariser, Fujichrome 50.

Cape Bruny lighthouse and houses
1:00pm 23 April 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″
65mm Schneider Super Angulon
f16 1/4 second + polariser,
Fujichrome 50.

It is not possible to combine the two preceding images into a panorama because they were not taken precisely at the same places and the perspective is different. The second image shows the lighthouse cottages as well as the lighthouse.

One lighthouse keeper, William John Hawkins, stayed at Cape Bruny lighthouse for thirty-seven years, from 1877 to 1914, the longest duration of any lighthouse keeper.

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Port Arthur

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Port-Arthur-0011Having walked out of the end of the Tasman Peninsula after photographing Tasman Island, I was very close to Port Arthur so I visited there too.  This was on the afternoon of 28th July 1987.

Port-Arthur-0021…

Port-Arthur-0022…

Port-Arthur-0025All these images are taken with my 1937 Rolleiflex, handheld.  Just some quick images before I had to move on.  I presume the structure above is a guard tower.  It has 1835 inscribed above the door.

There is some connection with lighthouses here, too.  If you were a very lucky prisoner in the early years you might get offered a commutation of the sentence to be a lighthouse keeper instead.  Not that there was any luxury associated with that.  One unfortunate individual was dropped on a Bass Strait island with supplies and building materials but the next night a big storm came through and washed them all away.  He led a desperate existence until the boat returned three or six months later and by that time had gone quite mad.  Whether he was a prisoner I don’t remember.

Port-Arthur-0024…

Port-Arthur-0016…

Port-Arthur-0023Port Arthur became the main colonial prison in Australia and the prison for the most hardened recalcitrants.  It started operations in 1833 and the last convict transported from England was in 1837.  The prison operated until 1877.  Because it was on a peninsula with a very narrow ithmus it was very difficult to escape from and few succeeded.  One who managed to escape several times was a very colourful character called Martin Cash.  There are 1,466 convicts buried there, along with 180 staff and military personnel.

Port-Arthur-0014Perhaps somewhat ironically, Port Arthur also became the scene of a massacre in 1996 when the psychopathic simpleton Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured another 23.

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Tasman Island

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

The 27th and 28th of July 1987 was perhaps the apex of my Public Service career because I was able to undertake two days of bushwalking on full pay, photographing Tasman Island.

Tasman Island after sunset. 5:15pm 27th July 1987, Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4", f11 6 seconds, 65mm Schneider Super Angulon, Fujichrome 50.

Tasman Island after sunset.
5:15pm 27th July 1987,
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″,
f11 6 seconds,
65mm Schneider Super Angulon,
Fujichrome 50.

Sunset was at five and I took some images then with the Rolleiflex but I don’t have those.  The first three here are successive images after sunset.

Tasman Island 5:30pm 27 July 1987 Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4" 150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar f5.6 20 seconds, Fujichrome 50

Tasman Island
5:30pm 27 July 1987
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″
150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar
f5.6 20 seconds, Fujichrome 50

Tasman Island, guarding the entrance to Storm Bay, was a late arrival as a lighthouse being built in 1906.  Contact with the mainland was by carrier pigeon, which could be hazardous for the birds.  Due to the exposed nature of the lighthouse, wind-generated powed was trialled in 1975 and this led to automation of the lighthouse in 1977, one of the first to be automated.

Tasman Island after sunset. 5:40pm 27th July 1987, Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4", f6.8 25 minutes, 90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon, Fujichrome 50.

Tasman Island after sunset.
5:40pm 27th July 1987,
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″,
f6.8 25 minutes,
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon,
Fujichrome 50.

The Tasmanian Office insisted on sending a minder along “for my safety”.  My preference for the night was to sleep on the narrow path at the top of the cliffs so I could be in position at dawn but this was not to be.

Tasman Island from Cape Pillar. 10:00pm 28th July 1987, Nagaoka Field Camera 5x4", f11 1/25 second + polariser, 90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon, Fujichrome 50.

Tasman Island from Cape Pillar.
10:00pm 28th July 1987,
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″,
f11 1/25 second + polariser,
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon,
Fujichrome 50.
(This image was the frontispiece in the From Dusk Till Dawn)

My minder friend would have had conniptions if he had seen where I took this photograph at 10 AM the next morning. I was on the edge of a sheer cliff and I let myself down into a little ledge with drops of 600 or 800 feet on both sides.  The image does illustrate well some of the important characteristics of the island though and you may wish to click on it to see it larger.

You can see the small boat like a tug in the water. It’s heading towards a rock that is just before the left-hand corner of the island. From that rock there is a flying fox that goes up to a landing and a small building. You can actually see the wire on the full-sized image.  Before the advent of helicopters that was the only way on or off the island. Beyond the landing there is a way or Cornish wooden railway. At the top you can see a small white building. That was a capstan where a team of horses or bullocks dragged the cars up or down. All building materials as well as  all people got onto the island that way.

One lighthouse keeper’s wife told me of one occasion when they were slowly being dragged up and had almost got to the top until the horses or oxen got tangled up and started going the other way round. They slowly went backwards all the way down to the landing.

To get into the flying fox, you had to jump into the basket at the top of the wave and time it precisely. Another keeper’s wife told me that having got onto the island via the flying fox and the wooden railway, she vowed never to make the journey again until she came to leave. The keepers got holidays from time to time but she just stayed on the island.

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Eddystone Point

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

I visited Eddystone Point lighthouse, not far below the north-east corner of Tasmania, on 25th to 26th of July 1987.

Eddystone1

Eddystone Point Lighthouse near Sunset.
5:00pm
25th July 1987,
Nagaoka Field Camera 5×4″,
f16 2.5 or 1.5 seconds plus polariser,
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon,
Fujichrome 50
(Low-res scan from book)

The Eddystone Point lighthouse was built in 1889 and like the lighthouse at Gabo Island, was constructed of red granite quarried at the site.  It is 37 metres high.

Eddystone Point at Sunset Nagaoka 5x4" Field Camera 150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar f5.6 12 seconds Fujichrome 50

Eddystone Point at Sunset
Nagaoka 5×4″ Field Camera
150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar
f5.6 12 seconds
Fujichrome 50

It was built after several boats were wrecked on the coast and a large rock discovered hidden under the water nearby.  The miniature white “tower” beside the lighthouse is a subsidiary light directed at a specific set of rocks that was discontinued after the electrification of the lighthouse.

Eddystone-Point-Lighthouse-and-rocks-at-dusk-6x6-Edit

Eddystone Point Lighthouse and rocks at dawn
7:20am 26 July 1987
1937 Rolleiflex twin lens reflex with 75mm Tessar
f3.5 1/10 sec
Fujichrome 50

I was told several tales of sightings of thylacines when I was both at Eddystone Point and Low Head.  One I remember was of two policemen sitting in their car beside the road when a thylacine crossed in front of them but they weren’t game to report it for fear of ridicule.  North-east Tasmania has the highest incidence of reported Thylacine sightings.  I can well believe there might still have been a few in the region at that time.

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Low Head

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Low Head is on the northern coast of Tasmania, near Launceston.  I visited the lighthouse on 24th and 25th July 1987.

Low Head Lighthouse 4:50pm 24 July 1987 Arca Swiss Monorail 5x4" 90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon f32 12 seconds, Fujichrome 50

Low Head Lighthouse
4:50pm 24 July 1987
Arca Swiss Monorail 5×4″
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon
f32 12 seconds, Fujichrome 50

The original Low Head lighthouse was built in 1832, the second lighthouse in Tasmania and the third in Australia.  However, the original lighthouse deteriorated and the current one replaced it in 1888.  The red band was added in 1926.

The building beside the tower predates the current lighthouse and probably dates from the original one.  According to my notes it was once used as a schoolhouse.

Low-Head-Panorama-Left-Edit

Low Head after sunset
5:40pm 24 July 1987
Nagaoka 5×4″ Field Camera
150mm Linhof Schneider Technika Symmar
f5.6 8 seconds, 12 seconds (two exposures)
Fujichrome 50

Here is the lighthouse and buildings after sunset.  It stands at the head of the Tamar river, the main maritime access to Launceston, the main port in northern Tasmania.

Low-Head-Stairs

Interior of Low Head Lighthouse
2:30pm 24 July 1987
Arca Swiss Monorail 5×4″
90mm Linhof Schneider Angulon
f32 6 minutes, Fujichrome 50

This is the spiral staircase, desk and visitors’ book at the entrance to the Low Head lighthouse.

At this time, one of the northern Tasmanian lighthouses, either Low Head or Eddystone Point (which we shall see next), had the task of recording weather readings.  These days this would be automated.  In 1987, however, this required that every three hours, day or night, the lighthouse keeper recorded a set of readings in a log book and probably radioed them to the Meteorological Office.

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