Will
November 30,2008, Maatsuyker Is

The lighthouse lense rotation mechanism that was still operational. It is run by a chain weight system via gears and a spinning disc which lifts with speed (supports blurrred in pic) until it comes up to oiled stops which limit and regulate the speed. At some stage during the lighthouse history the mechanism was bypassed for an electric motor probably because the keepers became weary of pulling up the chain wieght every1.5 hours. The lighthouse light has been replaced by a small automatic (solar powered) light a bit further up the hill.

Comments [0] | | More

Will
November 30,2008, Maatsuyker Is

This shot shows a view over the shed and water tanks to South West Cape

Comments [0] | | More

Will
November 29,2008, Maatsuyker Is

We were lucky enough to experience some real weather with a day of 50 knots and gusts to 67 knots. This is a view of Alones Gulch on the leeward side with a fishing boat anchored to the right. The opening of crayfish season seemed to bring out the testosterone in the fishermen as there were about 8 boats in the area. The gulch is home to a seal colony but numbers were down on previous years. We kept our distance, knowing how easy they are to panic having seen a video of the arrival of several dinghy loads of the Friends Of Maatsuyker Island people climbing up the track. Some leopard seals are often found on a small beach to the right but none were at home while we were there.

Comments [0] | | More

Will
November 29,2008, Maatsuyker Is

At the end of each day, with a cosy brew,we watched the ever changing sunset over the Needles.

Comments [0] | | More

Will
November 29,2008, Maatsuyker Is

Maatsuyker is unusual in that it has no snakes and the only mammal besides the seals is a small antechinus (marsupial mouse) so there are no land based predators for the muttonbirds - that is unless you count the leeches which seemed to be in pretty high numbers near the summit of the island. Here the mob is in deleeching mode - and wondering what the leeches feed on when humans are'nt wandering around.

Comments [0] | | More