Record level rain recorded by me

February 4, 2011 / one2travelfar / 3 Comments

Our one official job is to check the rain gauge daily and report it by fax to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, fondly referred to as BOM. It rained so much yesterday, we read and emptied the gauge several times. This morning, while Tim walked the lighthouse road, in the pouring rain to see how the ditch drainage work held up, I took the fourth and final reading: a whopping 60.0 mm of rain in 24 hours: 2.4 inches. I don’t track the rain at home so don’t know how it compares but it was coming down thunderously. When I looked through the rain records for Deal Island, I found it is the most rain recorded in one day since 2009 when they had 79 mm.

As a result, we have clothes and the flag hanging up to dry and buckets strategically placed throughout the house to catch leaks.

When I needed drinking water for coffee this morning, I had to don my foulies to go out to the water tank. I probably should have just let the pot outside to catch the rain directly instead of runoff from the roof.

This means I don’t have to water the garden today and I can work on my knitting and spinning. I’m finishing a pair of socks and spinning some alpaca. But first, time for another batch of yogurt.

Here’s how the sky looked yesterday before the rains began. Maybe it will look that way again tomorrow.

Morning over the swashway of Dover and Erith Islands

I took a shower in a shower today

February 4, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Rain is predicted for today and tomorrow and lots of it. They were right about today. We had early morning visitors from the SV Enterprize, a replica of a local cargo ship from the 1800’s, headed to Hobart for the wooden boat festival. A few passengers walked up to the lighthouse and the rest poked about the museum. We went down to the cove to get photos of the ship and were met by a crew member in a dinghy who invited us aboard for tea. Another adventure.

She is a beautiful boat, made from Huon pine and salvaged timbers, all authentic. The spars are plantation Sequoia’s grown in Australia. The boat held 8 passengers and 8 crew; the passengers were recovering from rough seas. The ship’s Master, Kevin, couldn’t have been nicer. Unfortunately the rain began right about when we got aboard so we didn’t explore too much topsides. One of the passengers must have been really sick because he wanted to know if I was from Melbourne, Australia. I assure you, I have not gained an Australian accent.

When we returned to the house, we were drenched to the bone but somehow my camera escaped unscathed My waterproof (not) watch has some condensation below the “crystal”. I hopped out of all my clothes and then heard a voice near the living room. I though it was from outside. I jumped into a dress and headed there to be greeted by one of the passengers, who had just returned from the lighthouse, standing in the living room looking for the rest of his shipmates. I may have been fully dressed when I got there.

Nothing like a good wallaby wrangle to start the day

February 2, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

The local wallaby population has been gradually increasing and this morning we had the chance to shoo a few out. First we open the driveway gate then position ourselves so we head them in the direction of the gate. We managed to get four of seven out. I feel like a shepherd or I guess walherd. Tim was waving the Australian flag like a matador. Here’s a flame robin outside the sunroom.

The other night, possums were fighting over the barbecue. Tim shooed them away and closed it up and the next day asked me if I had scrubbed it clean. I hadn’t. They did. Maybe they should stay. I could invite them into the house to clean.

The sun came out and there was a fair wind, all the visiting boats we can see have left. Time to do laundry. I can’t convey how good these sheets smell!

We are all just visitors here

February 2, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Once again as caretakers, we realize we are the visitors here. This was so well put by the last caretaker at Seguin Island, where we were this fall. Many of the boats who stop here have been here many times. They have seen the changes and improvements on Deal Island. Some met the last lighthouse keepers.

The past couple of days, we had three boats with people who had never been here before and then we get to share the magic of Deal island with them: lovely island, wonderful walks, historic buildings and views. There is a wooden boat festival about to take place in Hobart and many beautiful boats stopped here on their way south. Today’s boat reminded me of the African Queen. They had to leave one crew member behind because of the large cyclone, Yasi, that is about to hit Cairns, near his home.

There is a fence around the compound, in theory, to keep the wallabies out. In reality, they find their way in and at the moment we must have about a dozen in the outer compound. They and the Cape Barren Geese will be here long after we are gone. We are all fenced in together.

Who's visiting?

We hope to replicate a table built by a previous caretaker when we get home. i have taken photos of it and we will put it in our living room as a reminder of Deal Island. I think we will leave out the goose head though.

How I procrastinate digging ditches while Tim works

February 1, 2011February 1, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

We heard an Air-Sea rescue the other night on the VHF radio. Someone fell overboard, we don’t know where or from what sort of boat because we never heard the distress call. But a Coast Guard boat and a helicopter went to the scene to search. We could hear them talking to each other. The people on the boat could initially hear the person but not see them. The chopper flew away for a bit to let the boat listen and they managed to pull the person out of the water. Nice.

We are on our one day on, one day off schedule for clearing the ditch along the lighthouse trail. The other day, I walked up to the lighthouse to open it up, mop up water and let it air before I started raking. This gave me an hour reprieve. I have to confess I was listening to Michael Jackson on my iPod, who really knew how to write dance music. So i danced on the lighthouse hill in the wind. Nice. It is a good thing the helicopter wasn’t hovering nearby because they may have thought I was in distress.

My work site

We think we only have three days left of work on the road. In the meantime, I found an old map, which says there are five more cairns on the island besides the three we have already seen. I know what we are doing on our off days. I was a whirlwind the other day. After I worked on the track I came back and cleaned the whole house.e think we only have three days left of work on the road.

This included taking out the vacuum (for the first time since I sucked up the huntsmen spider from the shower). I began very gingerly and made sure the suction was on right away. When I was done, I changed the bag so we can incinerate the old one, which was full. To my horror, there is no flap, the paper towel I stuffed into the hose may have been the only thing between it and me.

I have opted to exclude any more spider photos for fear of losing my son as a reader. Then of course when I went to open the lighthouse today, an insect not a spider, was waiting for me and jumped on me when I opened the door. I let out a nice scream. I’ll show a photo of a lizard instead. I have a photo of the insect and while it’s not a spider, it is pretty scary looking.

Our food is holding out if you are not reading the food blog, but we didn’t bring enough chocolate or snacks. The next batch of beer, which was fortified with extra sugar and took forever to stop fermenting, will be ready this Friday. The garden is lush. We’ve finally had our first tomatoes. Yesterday, I transplanted a bunch of seedlings and then we had 30 knot winds for two days. Nice timing. Today I went back and propped up the ones that fell over.

This is what I do while Tim keeps working. I look for nice shots of the lighthouse and have been trying to find the site of a house, the halfway house, which used to be between the compound and the lighthouse. I found a clearing today, but it may just be an old tip. There were relics of bricks there though. While Tim works

Archaeological site

Mowing the tracks from a sardine can

January 30, 2011 / one2travelfar / 2 Comments

We spent part of yesterday mowing and today working in the workshop. Tim drove the Ute and looked as if he was shoehorned in the truck. There are no seat adjustments and both our feet hit the bulkhead. I went along as copilot.

Getting ready to mow Tim stuffed into the truck

We walked down to Little Squally Cove and surf was crashing.

Little Squally faces the southwest and collects all the debris from the sea. Today Tim cleared the track leading down to the cove. Only a few visitors seem to walk her but it’s a dramatic cove and there are all those treasures washed ashore.

Today we spent some time working in the shop. I am working on a new invention and Tim was changing a flat. It’s a well equipped shop, usually has what you are looking for but you might have to check every bin.

Words of wisdom in the shop

Bush bashing for cairns

January 27, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Flag Hill

Sounds like bowling for dollars. We’ve been clearing drainage ditches along the lighthouse road and my body only lets me do that every other day, so we explore or relax on the off days.

We’ve (mostly Tim) cleared the major tracks and have looked at old maps and surveys and found other places to explore. One map shows two cairns on a hill near the house. I had read somewhere that in the 1800’s when they surveyed this area, they placed two survey markers (maybe cairns?). The cairn on Barn Hill on the southwestern bluff is easy to find and has a track to it. I’m not sure when these were placed but the Parks Ranger confirmed they were there and they would mark the north.

Back in the fold

Before we started, we wrangled a baby wallaby out of the inner compound. It was trapped inside while its mother was still outside and they would hang out on either side of the fence near one another. The mother didn’t seem too concerned. We had to get her near one of the gates to lure him out. Once reunited, he tried to get back into the pouch, or at least stuck his head there.

So off we went, bush bashing. We worked our way through tussock grass to the trees on top of the hill. We passed a tree with what looked like funnel spider webs to me. I wonder if other spiders spin funnels? Funnel spider? face Flag Hill southern cairn

The first cairn was easy to find.

Then we walked along the plateau and saw other perspectives of Erith Island.

A new perspictive of Erith Island

Aboriginal cave

We think we could see the entrance to the cave on the northern end of the island. An archeaologist, Rys-Jones, found evidence of aborigines living there 7,000 – 10,000 years ago.

There used to be a mountain range connecting Wilson’s promontory in Victoria, northwest of the Kent Group of Islands, and northern Tasmanania, to the southeast. The range included these islands and Flinders Island to the southeast. These mountains were occupied by aborigines until the sea rose and isolated it from both the mainland of Australia and Tasmania. Now they are islands and the water is about 50 meters deep. The findings in the cave and elsewhere, suggests the land bridge closed thousands of years later than originally thought.

Lunch lichen

Lichen growing on a tree near our lunch spot. Gnarly old man rock

Gnarly old man rock.

We continued north, over two saddles and found the second cairn. Pulpit rock

The bonus is that we think we also got a glimpse of the elusive Pulpit Rock. We missed that during our previous bush bash to Pegleg Cove.

We ran into the three stooges on our way home. Apres cairns A good time was had by all.

American lady on Deal Island

January 25, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

That’s me. We use the VHF radio to communicate with local boaters. We provide weather information and sometimes they just want to check in with us. Then when they leave, they bid farewell. Yesterday, a group tried to hail me on the radio by calling, “American Lady on Deal Island, American Lady on Deal Island”. I must have been away from the radio because other boaters told me about it. Then I was referred to last night as the siren in Bass Strait because the majority of people on the radio are male. People come in lashed to their masts! I don’t get it. We’ve both been referred to as the crazy Americans on Deal Island. They’ve got that right.

Since there isn’t a lot going on, we and all boaters, are big eavesdroppers. Boats hail one another, or us, on Channel 16 and then switch to another frequency to chat. Yesterday, we heard a boat we knew, arrange to offload fuel from a large ship (I guess the wind wasn’t in their favor and they ended up motoring more than planned). We get weather reports by radio when the internet isn’t working. We can hear boats check in with the volunteer Coast Guard service. They report their positions and ETA’s and are actually tracked. One radio man we enjoy listening to is at Tamar Coast Guard. Everyone in Bass Strait knows Brynn, the Welsh radio man. He broadcasts the weather four times a day and takes position reports and passes on messages. He is a legend, I think in his 80’s and a comfort to hear even when the weather news is bad.

Yesterday we enjoyed a dinner at the BBQ down by the pier with good company. Boats are passing through on their way to a wooden boat festival in Hobart. There were beautiful boats and fun people. We’ ve exchanged contact information with many. The group yesterday included a former caretaker from the 1990’s. He never thought he would make it back here and delighted in the island and the many improvements in the compound and quarters. I wonder if we will ever get the chance to come back here.

Ditch Digging in Paradise

January 23, 2011January 23, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

We both agree that one project we want to compete while we are here is clearing the drains along the lighthouse track. This track is about 2.5 kms long and climbs 305 m. There are several steep sections and when it rains, as it has over the past few days, we get an inch at a time, water comes cascading down the hill and the track. Since the lighthouse was built, more than 150 years ago, there have been various drainage schemes installed. The most basic is a ditch along the side of the road, with various places for water to run off the road into the ditch. That’s where we worked yesterday, clearing sheoke needles from the drain and digging deeper where it overflows. The road is a macadam surface and there are culverts across it, some concrete lined. There are culverts under the road made of steel, cement and most recently PVC. Our mission if successful, will be to clear all those drains, dig deep when needed and do our bit to prevent the road from eroding further.

I would like to say I was there merely as the official photographer but I wasn’t. We raked and carried and dug. I have the aching back to show for it. We were able to clear two sections of switchbacks and build up the ditch in a couple of areas.

At one point, Tim cleared an area and revealed a huge jack jumper ant colony. I steered clear of that and we avoided getting bitten.

One day we have to go up the track when it’s raining to see the weak spots. But I had a hard enough time going outside today in the rain to get our drinking water from the tank.

We have had several boats and visitors ashore despite the rain and wind. The kayakers are still here but may get a weather window tomorrow to head southeast to Flinders Island. I can’t even convey what it must be like to kayak across the Bass Strait. Big seas, wind and currents. One man’s kayak was sinking on the way from Hogan Island to here because water was getting in via a through hull for a rudder cable and he wasn’t sure it would make Erith Island. He said he can now tick “Terror” off the emotions experienced during the trip.

Lightning Strikes

January 22, 2011 / one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Weird communication zone, weather and spouse induced. Nice weather precludes the internet. Yesterday was fine and windy and we didn’t have internet all day. So, I enjoyed working in the garden, baking and a walk up Barn Hill.

Barn Hill with South Bluff in the background

Barn Hill is my favorite place of the week. It’s close to the house with tall cliffs and great views. Dragon's Tail Perhaps a man?

I explored the southeastern side with views over Dragon’s Tail.

And perhaps a man rock.

Today, there has been front after front rolling by with thunder, lightning and buckets of rain. Tim had just unplugged his computer when lightning struck the house and we saw a bright flash in the living room, where the phone, VHF, HF, internet, computers, fax, TV and copy machine live. The phone was out briefly but everything else seems to be in working order. Today, Tim is doing me a favor and won’t let me use the internet in an attempt to save my computer. In the meantime, he’s been surfing for hours.

There are two groups of kayakers hunkered down on the islands. Three are over on Erith Island who can’t go anywhere because of the weather and a lone kayaker is camped here, waiting to go to to Flinders Island. There is a strong headwind predicted for the next couple of days, 25-30 knots, so they will probably be here for the next few days. They arrived under their own power, 35 miles off the mainland, with another 35 miles to Flinders Island and then island hopping to the Tasmanian coast. In the meantime, the wind, rain and lightning keeps sweeping over the islands.

Yesterday, however, was fine. Fine is a legitimate term in Australia. It can be mainly fine, fine and windy, partly fine. I think it means clear or perhaps sunny. Two of the kayakers visited us yesterday and we were talking about brewing beer.An Australian company, Coopers , sells beer brewed in the bottle, which is not clarified. They use the slogan, “Cloudy but fine”. We wouldn’t get it in the states.

The garden started by the caretakers before us continues to produce. We’ve been eating carrots, beets, silverbeet, cabbage, lettuce, radishes, peas and beans. Tomatoes, cucumbers and corn are on their way. I only hope we do as well for the next caretakers.

Beans, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce Beetroot, sliverbeet, carrots, spring onions and tomatoes Corn is sprouting