Deal Island - Kent Group National Park, Tasmania Pt. 2

 

The most outstanding structure on Deal Island is, of course, the lighthouse. Built in 1848, it is the tallest lighthouse in Australia at nearly 1000' (305M) above sea level. In fact, it's the tallest lighthouse in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, it is so high, it was many times occluded by clouds and fog and couldn't be seen by ships … not good if you're a lighthouse. It was manned until 1992, when two new, unmanned lighthouses were built on nearby Northeast Isle and Southwest Island. It looks regal sitting on the bluff as you approach the island, but it's absolutely awesome when you get up close and personal.

Not only can you visit the lighthouse, you can climb the spiral staircase to the top and get a close-up look into the massive fresnel lens.

Stepping out onto the narrow walkway that surrounds the top of the lighthouse takes your breath away with a million dollar, 360 degree view of the Bass Strait.

Not far from the lighthouse, we saw a tiny grave simply marked “Baby”. Research indicates that the grave belonged to the infant daughter of the Jacksons, assistant lighthouse keepers in the 1890's.

Another marked grave over by Squally Cove is that of Rev. Mr. Baker's 11-year-old daughter, who died c. 1872 near Deal Island on a ship en route from England to New South Wales and was buried here. The grief associated with burying your child in this isolated place and then having to leave is unfathomable to us, but a necessity in the time and place.

We wandered up to Barn Hill to look at the whim, a vertical track used in the early days to haul supplies from the jetty to the Compound above. Bullocks did the heavy work then, but the whim has long since deteriorated to just a remnant of the past. A small ute (pick-up) is used now to lug supplies up and down the road from jetty to Compound. Nearby the whim, the grave of John Thomas Hague, head lighthouse keeper who died here in 1924, is fenced and well-marked.

Walking the well-worn paths on the island, visiting the museum, seeing the lighthouse and the graves, conjures up all sorts of images of the lives that were led here and of the ordeals and hardships faced. We feel privileged to have experienced this place, not once, but twice. The magic never seems to wear off.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Waitangi Day (New Zealand)

Celebrates the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840, making New Zealand part of the British Empire and gauranteeing the Maori their land and the rights of British citizens. Surprising, it didn't all work as agreed. Learn a little more about the Maori culture in New Zealand

Wear Red Day

While you're learning about New Zealand and the Maori people, put on a red shirt or a red sweater or better yet, put on your red dress, baby!

Deal Island - Kent Group National Park, Tasmania

 

I woke up this morning and watched a wallaby hop across a sandy white beach while I sipped my tea. Another two hopped along in his tracks, causing the Caspian terns to screech when they had to move. We were anchored in East Cove off Deal Island in Kent Group National Park, Tasmania's northern most national park. Six other boats had been anchored here last night, but had all departed for the Hobart Wooden Boat Show save one. We'd visited Deal last year right around this time. There's no other word for it … it's magic!

Part of the magic of Deal Island is its location in the middle of the notorious Bass Strait. It is only accessible by boat although helicopters can land on top if there is an emergency. That's rare. The park is manned by volunteer caretakers who spend three month terms here, welcoming guests and generally taking care of the island and its buildings during their watch.

We beached the dinghy and walked halfway up the steep hill to the “Telstra bench”, strategically located in order manage a signal to the mainland through the notch that separates Erith Island and Dover Island across the Channel.

At the top of the steep, switchbacked hill, lies the fenced “Compound”. Most of the island's buildings are located here including the Caretaker's Residence. We tried to avoid upsetting wallabies and Cape Barren geese along the way, but it's nearly impossible. They're everywhere. Marie, Tom and 7-year old, Floyd, were waiting for us and welcomed us warmly.

Though we'd visited before, we checked out the tiny museum once again. It's full of information about the island and memorabilia from lighthouse keepers past. Antique bottles, shards of china, interesting shells collected on the beach, bits of machinery and sepia photos, all found their place in the old lighthouse keepers home.

David was interested in the huge solar panel display … 56 panels at 210 watts each. They rely on solar as their only means of power on the island and it seems to do the trick.

The garden was thriving. Covered with netting and fenced to protect it from the island's other inhabitants, the garden is planted and harvested in turn by each set of caretakers that live on the island, providing freshies during their stay. Lettuce, beets, tomatoes, chard and herbs all seemed to be doing well at the moment.

The animals hold the most allure for me. Flame robins and firetails, welcome swallows and silver eyes flit about. Cape Barren geese roam everywhere. Ducks swim along the shore and mingle with terns, gulls and oystercatchers. We've watched the little blue penguins coming home to their nests at dusk after a long day at sea. Wallabies, like half-pint kangaroos, are everywhere. They lounge under trees, munch on the tussock grass along the path, play on the beach and generally have the run of the island.

They tend to startle you as you're walking and jump out in the path beside you, usually startling themselves as well. They sometimes hide their heads in the tussock grass, but their long tails and bums stick out. I guess they reason that if they can't see us, we probably can't see them.

Tomorrow, the Deal Island Lighthouse and gravestones on the island

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

International Pancake Day

Free pancakes at IHOP today in their 7th International Pancake Day for charity. No IHOP in your neighborhood (or country?), make some up yourself and don't forget the maple syrup or maybe some Nutella?

World Nutella Day

Never tried Nutella? It's a chocolate-hazelnut spread. Good day to try it!

The Furneaux Island Group - just a glimpse

 

Fighting a west wind to get further west into the Bass Strait was certainly not reasonable. We consulted the cruising notes/guide we'd received from Jack and Jude on Banyandah. We'd met them in Kettering and spent some time chatting. They're knowledgeable, experienced sailors and we trusted their input. Their guide proved to be an excellent resource. We were not far away from Inner Sister Island and it looked as if a little notch of a bay on its south coast would make a reasonable overnight anchorage and allow us some time to catch up on our sleep and assess repairs to be made.

The wind managed to find our nose no matter which way we turned. The seas were still confused, but the swell had lessened, making the going much more tolerable though we had to motor now. The Furneaux Group, named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux in 1793, is comprised of 52 islands (I personally would have called them the Weeks Islands, but that's just me). It was Matthew Flinders, for whom the largest island in the group is named, and who explored and charted these islands in 1798.

As we neared Flinders Island, the largest island of the Furneaux Group, we were reminded that this island was the home of the last of Tasmania's Aborigines. They had been rounded up by order of the government and relegated to this isolated, barren, windblown island from 1828-34 where most of them died of disease, maltreatment and broken spirits.

We slid down Sister's Passage between Inner Sister Island and Flinders, a light marking the craggy shore. The water roiled in the passage, but as we neared our proposed anchorage, things calmed down significantly. Something hopped on a white sand beach...a wallaby or two maybe. A rusted tin roof on an old deserted building stood in contrast to the dun-colored bush on the hillside.

Under different circumstances, we would have been anxious to get ashore, but this night, we just wanted to lick our wounds and get some sleep. Tomorrow's another day.

A little Tassie trivia: During the ice age, a land bridge joined Tasmania to the Australian mainland through Furneaux Group of islands.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Super Bowl Sunday

What can I say? Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.

The Day the Music Died

On this day in 1965 the plane in which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were flying, crashed killing three of America's rock'n'roll legends. After the Super Bowl, give Don McLean's American Pie a listen.