Category Archives: Australia

Mise Tales Forty-Four

For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

As mentioned earlier on the front page of my website, any photos or cartoons, or short bits of information, when it is removed from the front page, will also be included again later in the next Misc Tales. That way you can keep track of it, search for it, or copy it.

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10294509_805559479465065_7375517851873014253_n This is a cute Infographic to help teach your children about the Water Cycle

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The Lighthouse Keepers

 

 

This book The Lighthouse Keepers by Stuart Buchanan was brought to my attention by an Australian resident. It is small, only 282 pages, but according to this Google Books report it contains a lot of information:

Illustrated personal account of work and life on a Queensland light station – most of which are now unstaffed. Includes a list of 1200 Queensland light-keepers from 1857 to 1994 and the first issue of instructions to light-keepers issued in 1917. The author joined the Commonwealth lighthouse service in 1973 and worked with his wife as light-keepers along the Queensland coast until the destaffing of all Australian lighthouses began in 1982. – Google Books

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Oldest Wooden Lighthouse in America Is (still) for Sale in Poplar Point, R.I.

lighthouse-aerial-589x411

Does anyone have a spare $6.45 million US dollars to purchase it?

[private]

By Erika Riggs

For many years, the Poplar Point lighthouse was the beacon guiding ships in Wickford Harbor, a protected inlet in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Built in 1831, the structure — listed as the oldest wooden lighthouse in America — is left over from the era before satellites and GPS. And now, it’s for sale for $6.45 million.

Because of the size of the harbor, Poplar Point lighthouse wasn’t in service long. In 1882, the lighthouse was darkened and later sold at auction for $3,944.67 in 1894.

Gallery: Take a Peek at Poplar Point Lighthouse
view fullscreen

When the lighthouse was first built, the caretaker’s living area was a stone cottage, measuring just 40 by 20 feet. The home was slightly expanded in 1932, again in 1966, and when the current owners took over in 1987, they undertook the task of continuing to expand and renovate the entire property.

Today, the home in North Kingstown, R.I., is more than a stone caretaker’s cottage: It’s a full estate measuring 4,563 square feet with four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a detached guest house and garage. Although completely updated, the home still retains much of the original feel, says listing agent Judith Chase.

“It still has tons of the old charm and nautical detail of the old lighthouse,” Chase explained.

Spanning 1.66 acres on a private peninsula, the home juts into the harbor with spectacular views of the bay.

“It’s a beautiful front-row seat to everything that happens,” Chase said.

The home’s location in the picturesque town of Wickford only adds to the property’s appeal.

Chase describes Wickford as a “darling Nantucket-type town,” and the home is within walking distance of many of the town’s charms.

According to Zillow’s mortgage calculator, a monthly payment on the lighthouse would be $23,044, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage. [/private]

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lighthouse   eBay

 

Have you ever typed in the word “lighthouse” in eBay? Try it! You will get so many lighthouse related items it is amazing. Maybe there will be some you will want to buy. Great place to shop. eBay for Lighthouse Articles.

On the left is one part of 10+ pages of lighthouse related items. Great fun!

Night Photos and the Lighthouse

In August 2012 I published an article Lighthouse Under the Stars. Since then I have been very lucky to find night-time photos with  the stars and a lighthouse – not necessarily a Canadian lighthouse, but a lighthouse nonetheless. 

The first two are from Mike Salway who has given me permission to reprint them here. Please drop by and bookmark his page – some wonderful nighttime photography there.

lighthouse-milkyway5-3865

The Milky Way over Cape Leveque Lighthouse, Australia. Image credit: Mike Salway.

Continue reading Night Photos and the Lighthouse

Mise Tales Twelve

 

For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

Do You Want to Buy a Foghorn?

Aberdeen’s Torry Coo on the market for £5,000
Buyers lining up for foghorn

Published: 28/09/2012 Evening Express

A famous foghorn in Aberdeen has sparked a bidding war between prospective buyers desperate to own a piece of Scottish history.

And property agents revealed several offers made for the much-loved Torry Coo in Aberdeen were “well in excess” of the asking price.

The Northern Lighthouse Board put the 110-year-old horn and store building on the market in July with a price tag of £5,000, but several mystery bidders want to get their hands on the Category A listed structure. Continue reading Mise Tales Twelve

Book Review – The Light Between Oceans

A new book has been released about the adventures of a lighthouse family on an Australian lighthouse. The title is The Light Between Oceans. The lighthouse is fictitious as  the story is a fictional and moral adventure, but the reviews show that the author, Ms. M. L. Stedman has a masterpiece here. Read some of the reviews below and see what you think. If anyone has read the book, please comment.

When Tom decides to become a lighthouse keeper, he’s given a placement at Janus Rock. It’s a tough posting on a square mile of green, accessible only by boat, that ”dangled off the edge of the cloth like a loose button that might easily plummet to Antarctica”. The closest community is Point Partageuse, a town long neglected by the outside world until the outside world found use for its young men in 1914. http://www.smh.com.au  Continue reading Book Review – The Light Between Oceans

Travel – Australian Lighthouses

Shine a Light on Australia's lighthouses.

 

I came across this article that shows the life on an Australian lighthouse starting in 1971. A wee bit different than Canada I must say.

 

 

What got my attention were the requirements for a lighthouse keeper:

The job requirements of a lighthouse keeper were a car licence, an ability to climb to heights and an ability to get along with the other lighthouse keeper . . .

 The article is worth reading to illustrate the differences between Canadian and Australian lights (wildlife, for one), plus, on the page is a reference and a link to an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) website which is exploring some of Australia’s iconic lighthouses.

This new site is called Shining a Light and is an excellent documentary on some of Australia’s lighthouses. The map above shows the lighthouses mentioned.

There you go – two stories for one price. Enjoy!

“The Bride” – A Lighthouse Story

The Bride by Zia Garcia 

Illustration: Rocco Fazzari.

The lighthouse had not always been a lighthouse. Once it had been a beautiful bride but now she stood up tall and still, shimmering against the sky, her body clad in her white dress, silky smooth.

The bride stared out to sea with her one yellow eye, slowly searching for her groom. She had stood there for so long that her feet had become part of the rocks and sand that she stood on, attaching her to the ground forever.

It was a beautiful sunset. The sky was rosy pink, the wishing star was shining above and a cool breeze was gently blowing. The bride wished that her dress would swish in the breeze but she had stood there for so long waiting for her groom that her dress had become stiff and moulded to her body. Continue reading “The Bride” – A Lighthouse Story