Deal Island, Tasmania

Blog posts written during our caretaking stint on Deal Island, Tasmania, AU from December 2010 to March 2011

Squally Cove

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We took a walk to Squally Cove the other day. It’s a bit of a hike: lots of slippery switchbacks with ti tree leaves; and is completed by a rope attached to a tree for the final descent to the beach. There are lots of trail improvements: rock steps at several turns, a ladder cut into a log and a rope handle to use while slip sliding down the steep part near the beach.

There’s a wreck from the early 1900’s visible on the beach, the Karitane. There was a big salvage operation after it sank to recover copper in 1922. Last time we were here, Tim, with a little help from me, reclaimed the “old squally track”. It climbs way up before descending down to meet the main trail. We took it home and had beautiful views of the lighthouse and compound.

We had about 26 hours on our own before more visitors arrived. A group of “senior” kayakers from Tasmania. They couldn’t have been nicer. They camped on the beach at East Cove. I made a substantial apple cake and shared half with them when they came to say goodbye. They’re heading to Flinders Island at 0200.

We meet the nicest people here. It’s hard to get here, which makes the beauty all that more spectacular.

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The Easter Bunny found us

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Our basket is a bit different from the one in the States. All visitors have left because the wind settled down enough for their journeys. A sailboat left for Devenport, a motor yacht headed off to Melbourne and the group of hikers set off for Flinders Island. Our latest pair of sea kayakers left before dawn for Flinders Island.

So we are alone for the moment. But with this first break in weather, we are bound to see more boats.

Somehow in the flurry of departures, the Easter Bunny arrived with a basket of beer and chocolate and left it with the boaters to give to us. Sweet.

Off island

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Sort of. We dined aboard a yacht tonight in East Cove. It was lovely, albeit very rocky due to today’s high winds and sea surge. I almost did a face plant in the appetizer tray twice.

We had fresh grilled tuna caught outside Hobart, fresh salad and red wine, with good company and lots of laughs.

The island is chock full of visitors again. More kayakers, a group of hardy walkers from Tasmania, who are exploring every inch of the island, and four boats!

I made oatmeal currant cookies for everyone.

We ran into a few late, returning penguins when we got home after dark.

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A tree falls

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A large she oak tree fell on the track to Winter Cove. Never fear. Volunteers here. Tim got approval to use the chainsaw and off we went in the little Ute. We made quick work of it and have some firewood to boot.

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Meanwhile, I got to drive the Ute.

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That’s me on the right with the gear shift on the left. At least there are no other cars or right turns!

Skinks were out in big numbers the other day. They were on the entrance to the garden and all over the lighthouse steps. I think they may be the blue tongued variety, but none stuck out their tongues at me.

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We’ve added our home to the destination signs at the entrance to compound. 16,518 kms, unless you are trying to qualify for airline miles. Then it’s much less. Now they award “dividends”, a fraction of the distance traveled.

Mates4mates made it here after waiting a week for a weather window on Flinders Island. They are crossing the Bass Strait in sea kayaks to raise awareness for their organization, which supports wounded, injured and ill Australian Defense Force personnel. They are a group of 12 men, ranging in age from 25 to 66 years old and are in great spirits while they wait for today’s gale to blow through. Then they will be off to Hogan’s Island to the north and finally Wilson’s Prom, in Victoria.

We watched another boat drag anchor in West Cove, across the Pass, during this morning’s gale. We were able to contact them to discuss the anchorage but they hauled anchor and headed north. We’ll check later to see if they sought refuge in Garden Cove, on the north side of the island, which would have been protected from the southwesterly gale.

Never a dull moment on this “deserted” island!

All in a day

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We have some daily chores to perform before 9:00 am. We call them the numbers. First we raise the flag. I’ve repaired two now. This one was missing a grommet so I found a washer in the workshop and sewed it on with the handy sewing machine that is a new addition to the equipment.

Then we check on our solar array and battery status. There’s a beautiful ginormous group of solar panels that soak up more sun and create more power than we can possibly use.

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We check how clean they are and then see how much energy they collected the day before. We also note how much power we used, the oil heater really drives it up, and the battery status and whether the generator had to kick in. It never does so we run it once a month.

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The next data is the rainfall. We are required to report it daily to the Bureau of Meteorology. It drips into a beaker from a cone, we check the level and then fax that data and record it in a journal and several data sheets.

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On sunny days we open and air the lighthouse, no easy feat since it is a hike away; the second house; and the schoolroom. We also keep track of visitors and their boats. We’ve been contacted in the past when someone has not made it to port as expected. Despite our remote location, we’ve had over 100 visitors in 3 weeks with more to come.

There’s a veterans’ group, Mates4mates, who have been waiting for a decent weather window for a week, to kayak from Flinders Island to Deal Island. They called last night and said they will be here today. I think it may be part of a celebration for the 100 year anniversary of Anzac Day. April 25 is the day veteran’s are remembered each year and, in 1915, was the day Australian and New Zealand armies landed at Gallipoli. As a new nation, it was their first military engagement and nearly 8,000 soldiers died during the drawn out occupation.

Beyond that, I heard on the radio that two boats arrived last night at Winter Cove, which is fairly remote from the compound. I am not sure if we will see them or not. Two new kayakers stopped by last night, one from near Toronto(!), and plan to head out this morning. The catamaran from Port Albert is collecting their group of 12 walkers and heading out this morning. It looks like a lovely day.

Chasing rainbows

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We try to air the lighthouse in sunny, breezy days to prevent mold and algae growth. It takes at least an hour to walk there and back. Tim opened it in the morning and I closed it before dinner.

To my delight, I saw several rainbows during my walk.

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When I got to the lighthouse, sea squalls looked like clouds rising directly from the ocean.

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And there were more rainbows arising from the sea.

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Magic.

Marooned

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We’ve had visitors across Murray Pass, on Erith Island, since Wednesday. There are two sets of kayakers passing in the night, I so to speak. One group is heading north, the other south. We had two days of gale winds and squalls and, in the morning, we saw the sailboat anchored in a different spot from where we left them at night.

Today they crossed the Pass to get internet weather forecasts. When we saw them getting tossed around in the sailboat, as they plowed through standing waves, we knew they would pay us a visit. So I defrosted a batch of Anzac cookies and put on a pot of tea.

It turns out the sailors did drag anchor in the night at the height of the storm, when the wind was 50 knots or so. They held by about 0100 in the north end of the bay. We had tried to hail them on the radio, to no avail, but they learned of the only good holding ground when they visited the kayakers ashore. They had trouble hauling their anchor and think they were caught on part of the railing of the Bulli, a steam driven coal ship which sunk there in 1877.

Bulli had 450 tons of coal on board, anchored during a gale, thought the weather improved and set off again, it hadn’t, and they returned to the cove where it hit a rock and sunk. All crew got off the ship before it sank and were rescued the next day. Salvage efforts were not successful.

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This is a drawing of the Bulli I found in a book of Tasmanian shipwrecks.
Here is the piece of railing they recovered. I can’t be sure what ship it is really from because when I tried to find information from the diary of the keeper during the Bulli’s sinking, I found accounts of at least one other boat in the same location. The wreck of the Bulli is a “popular” dive site.

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Dramatic weather

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The gale forecast for this weekend arrived last night with 50 knot winds, rain, and perhaps a little hail. The house shuddered, the windows rattled but remained intact. Knock on wood, the roof isn’t leaking as it did our last visit but word is, it needs to be replaced.

We kept an eye on one boat anchored across the way, in west cove on Erith Island. We had tried unsuccessfully to hail it on the radio to talk about the limited, good holding ground there. Happily this morning they are still anchored, although not where we saw them last. Must have been a harrowing night.

I’m not at home until I’ve waxed the floors

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It’s true. On my hands and knees. My kids will tell you how treacherous life was after I applied butcher’s wax to our wood floors. A brief walk in socks could send you flying.

Same is true here on Deal Island. What struck me the first time we were here was how the floors shined. They were clean this visit but not gleaming. While Tim was off clearing nasty nettles off the track to Winter Cove, I got busy.

First I washed and stripped, the floors. I looked forward to using the 1950’s era home floor polisher again. Just like the ones used in commercial spaces but smaller, and fun!

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Then I applied two coats of wax. Now I can call the Caretaker’s house home.

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We had some fair weather and aired the lighthouse and buildings. I took some nice shots of the living compound during our walk.

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We stay in the group of buildings in the distance, to the right of center. It’s about a 40 minute walk to the lighthouse from there.

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Today there’s a gale wind from the northwest. I’ve done the best I could to protect the plants in the garden. Time will tell.