No 14 Cape Banks - Sept 2012 SA near Carpenter Rocks

A part of the history around Port MacDonnell relates to Ben Germein's role in saving passengers and crew from the Admella.  I will go into this further in a minute. 

Some facts:

• built in 1883
• Original height was 7.5 metres high
• Made of local limestone
• The lantern was taken from the original Port MacDonnell lighthouse that was demolished in 1882

A little bit of trivia You may or may not know but the original lighthouses often had different coloured lights which could only be seen at certain distances. Red, green and white.  The closer you got to the Lilghthouse the different light could be seen alerting the captain to their nearness to land.

In May 1928, Cape Banks was raised to 15 metres. With this upgrade the light was demanned and the keeper's cottages have since been demolished. Until 1976 the light was run on a Dalen Acetylene Gas system which mixed the gas with air and also rotated a lens. It was then converted to electric in using the lens from St Francis Island.

Sorrow and death is so often associated with Lighthouses and our harsh australian coastline.  At this spot one of Australia's worst maritime disasters occurred where 89 people including 14 small children lost their lives.  The SS Admella had been recently built, bragging it's sohisticated 3 chamber steel hull making it almost unsinkable.  One passenger was so confident of it's safety he tore up his will before setting sail from Adelaide to Melbourne. 

Unfortunately it only took 15 minutes after the Admella hit a reef off Carenter Rocks for the steamer to break into 3, exactly where the 3 sections had been joined.  The passengers and crew didn't all drown initially, many died over a period of eight gruelling days whilst people watched on the shore, helpless to assist. In 1859 things were very different. Ben Germein payed a significant role in saving many of the 24 survivors.  When many others gave up, he continued until he was able to get a lifeboat out to the broken steamer to rescue those still allive.  Many had died or gone insane due to having only saltwater to drink. One comment from a rescuer was "...more like statues than human beings; their eyes fixed, their lips black, for want of water, and their limbs bleached white and swollen through exposure to the relentless surf..."
This is an interesting link with more detail Learn more about the Admella story.  The Corio was one of the ships who came to the rescue but was unable to get close enough to assist due to the horrendous conditions.  Amazingly enough the Corio sank in exactly the same spot in the 1950's.

Trvia for my grand-daughter Isha Isha loves horses so this little bit of trivia is for her.  Where so many perished, one passenger survived against all odds.  Hurtle Fisher was transporting 4 racehorses.  Both he and his champion racehorse 'The Barber' survived.  This horse made it to shore and became an Australian legend even though he never won another race.

What can go wrong but it's an adventure.....Dan keep smiling...we will get through this....

Not all our trips go to plan and this day we got a little bogged in Beachport Conservation Park.  Our second sand bog since we have started my Lighthouse quest. Once again I was all ready to provide suggestions of how we could get out of the situation...always looks so easy on TV shows.  Eventually rang the RAA who were unforgiving of us not being prepared.  When you are in a situation like this you aways call the Publican.  A quick call to the Beachport Pub to see if a local farmer wanted to earn some money and assist us and immediately the Publican's son was out to help.  Such a lovely thought and he appeared to know what he was doing with his 4wd ute.  30 minutes later who was in more trouble than us!  

Next call was to the SES who were located in Victoria doing some training ops which turned out to be us!! 4 men and one tough lady along with 2 mega tough long based Nissan Troupe and 20 minutes later they had our rescuer out and another 15 minutes later we were out...No charge and they seemed happy to be called out to do real rescuing rather than pretending to rescue people.  Anyway we really appreciated the fact that our trip to the Beachport Conservation Park had ended 200 metres into the real sand and two hours later we were nursing our pride.  That night we went to the Beachport Pub for tea and bought up in appreciation of the local lad trying to assist us.

We learnt a few things on this day.  Make sure your vehicle is suitable for real 4wd.  Our vehicle had a very low under carriage clearance and if we were serious about 4wdriving we need to upgrade our car.

Still it was an adventure and we learn more about working together under pressure the more we move out of our safe little suburban life and out in to our amazing country.  Australia is a pretty amazing place with so much to see in our backyard.

Griffiths Island Lighthouse, Port Fairy Victoria - August 2013

Since 1859, the Griffiths Island Lighthouse has faithfully guided ships into the security of historic Port Fairy located on the Moyne River.  Originally the lighthouse location was Rabbit Island but the lighthouse has never been moved but Islands joined.

What a statement to be made about a building made of blue-stone 11 metres high.  Has 'faithfully guided' would be something you might like on your tombstone not something you expect to be said of a lighthouse.  In saying that you do need to consider the life of a lighthouse keeper and their families.  The last lighthouse keeper manned this lighthouse for 25 years until 1959.  Quarter of a century ensuring the wick was lit and the prisms were in order.  Today the lighthouse is automated with solar energy, wind power and battery bank.  During that time Port Fairy was known to have one of the largest fishing fleets in Australia.  This sleepy little town was once the hub of the fishing industry and was primarily a whaling community, these days the fleets focus on crayfish, shark and abalone.

What are the characteristics of a lighthouse keeper? A 25 year dedication to the role and so much more...
Hugh Haldane was the last lighthouse keeper and although this dedication is something admiral, Hugh is known for something much greater.  Hugh and his two brothers decided to build a boat.  Not just any boat but a boat that changed the tuna industry in Australia for ever.  

The best way to learn about these three amazing brothers is through a a link at the bottom of this page. The Haldane brothers made a boat in Port Fairy over a period of 7 years from Australian hardwoods such as blue gum from the nearby

Otways.  They named this boat the Tacoma and in 1951 this boat made Australian history.  The boat was based on the plans from a ship building company owned by Harvey Pettridge in USA.  These 3 country lads had seen a photo of a deep sea boat made by Western Building company and had saved up $500 pound and sent it to Harvey Pettridge asking if they could buy a copy of the boats plans.  Western Building company replied that they didn't sell their plans to anyone but would send a copy to the brothers for luck.  Seven years later the Haldane brothers introduced the Tacoma to the Australian boating world and this boat is still a functioning fishing boat in Port Lincoln today.

The Haldane brother's had a son each and these boys manage the Tacoma and maintain the history that their fathers built.  It is the thing I love about my quest to photograph every Australian lighthouse.  Each lighthouse is unique and they generally have a bit of folk lore attached.

This lighthouse really appealed to me. At times when we make the trek to photograph a lighthouse I must admit, we can be a little disappointed.  Man has the capacity to make somethings just ugly and lacking character.  But there was no disappointment today when we took the 4 klm hike around the perimeter of Griffiths Island, saw the surfers out on the reef being pulled up onto the waves by jet skis, the island full of wildlife and steeped in history and this small but beautiful light.

The photograph to the right shows the Lighthouse keepers cottage which was demolished in the 1956 due to vandalism.

Ref: Three Men and a Boat - Landline - ABC