During our very first visit to Australia in 1994 we visited a lighthouse that I had very fond memories of and I mentioned to Lou that I’d like to visit again. And so off we went heading north for about an hour’s drive. This section of New South Wales is called the central coast and it starts at the Hawkesbury River. The river separates the Sydney metropolitan area from the central coast area. The central coast area where we are is full of waterways, predominantly Brisbane Water, a tide-dominated estuary. It seems that everywhere we look we see water, either Brisbane Water or the ocean. It’s very lovely and so driving anywhere in the area is really interesting and scenic.
Norah Head Light is an active lighthouse located at Norah Head, a headland on the Central Coast. Norah Head Light is of national cultural significance because it was the last colonial-built lighthouse on the central NSW coast and as such marked the completion of a chain of lighthouses along the NSW coast which was necessary to keep the maritime track open. The importance of maritime safety to Australia’s commercial and national development was a recurring national theme and reinforced by the creation of the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service in 1913.
The Norah Head Lighthouse was the last to be built in the classical James Barnet style that had marked the erection of lighthouses throughout the later part of the 19th century in New South Wales. Barnet was a colonial architect in Sydney. He completed thousands of NSW public projects including defense works, lighthouses, courthouses, jails, post offices and police stations.
The original light source was a vaporized kerosene burner and mantle with a bivalve dioptic Fresnel lens with 700 prisms generating a light intensity of 438,000 cd, visible for 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi). The original mechanism was a grandfather clock-type mechanism with the counterweights going down 100 feet (30 m) central column. The weights went down gradually as the light turned and had to be wound every half an hour. The light revolved every 10 seconds, and was floating in a mercury bath of more than 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg) to lessen the friction. The high speed of rotation made operating the light while it was active very difficult.
In 1923 the light source was upgraded to a Ford-Schmidt kerosene burner with an intensity of 700,000 candlepower. It was changed to revolve every thirty seconds in 1928, to ease the operation.
In 1961 the light was electrified, with mains electricity (general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric) as the power source, and an intensity of 1,000,000 cd (candela, a measure of light intensity). The drive was replaced with a 0.3-amp electric motor. At the same time the staff was cut from three lightkeepers to two.
The light was automated and de-manned in 1994. It was one of the last stations in Australia to be de-manned, after over 90 years of being staffed.
The current light source is a 1000 Watt 120 Volt tungsten-halogen lamp, which flashes white every 15 seconds(Fl.W. 15s) and can be seen for 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi).
The lighthouse is a 27.5 meters (90 ft) tower, made from concrete blocks. The concrete blocks were made on the ground using a local aggregate, lifted and cemented into position and finally cement rendered inside and out with deep ashlar coursing, and painted white. This technique was used in the period to reduce the cost of construction. On top of the tower is a bluestone gallery and balcony with gunmetal railings. The lantern room is atop this gallery, made of metal and glass, encircled and protected by Plexiglas and aluminum panels. It has a decorative iron catwalk encircling the glass to allow for cleaning. The lantern house is the original 3,700 millimeters (150 in.) cast iron and copper lantern house, one of about 21 known to exist in Australia.
There is a staircase down to the beach and rocks below. Of course Christine and I went down, leaving Lou and Banjo at the top. There is a beach below the lighthouse as well as a rock shelf and a large tidal pool. It was a lovely day to wander around the rock shelf. The temperature has been quite a bit cooler than the 100 degree plus days they’ve been experiencing. Today it is partly sunny and in the low 70s. A channel cut through the rock shelf added a bit of excitement as waves pushed into the channel. Unsuspecting people looking into the channel got wet when the waves crashed into the end of the channel. We steered clear of that. We just love hearing the surf and seeing all the waves. I don’t know what there is about the sound of waves, but it is so enjoyable and soothing to me.
After our visit to Norah Head we found a nice little cafe with an outdoor seating area in the shade. The cafe served all-day breakfast and we enjoyed an early afternoon breakfast. Yummy food!
On the way home we stopped for a dip at the Haven in Terrigal. One can see the effect of the fires with soot on the beach and stuff in the water. But it was still nice to to cool off.
Upon returning to Lou’s house, his brother Michael and his once-per-week carer stopped by to deliver a strawberry rhubarb pie that Marilyn, Michael’s wife, baked. Michael, who is just Christine’s age, is unfortunately suffering from Pick’s disease, frontotemporal dementia. His carer Dale, a really nice young man, comes once per week to take him out, which gives Marilyn a bit of relief.
For dinner, Lou fixed up some frozen pizzas. It was the first time we had ever had beetroot, spinach, basil and goat cheese pizza and it was delicious. And then the strawberry rhubarb pie was scrumptious. Thank you Marilyn!
And so another wonderful day.