Woohooo the sun is shining

0900 Yes yes yes …. the sun is shining and the winds have backed off finally! Theres snow on the desert road, trapping people there, snow down to 200 metres & the sea line down south. Cooks Straight is experiencing 7 metres swells disrupting the ferries. Yes, winter has taken hold in New Zealand. An absolute mixture of climes as usual.

I was even cold in the heated pool yesterday! When the big sliding door opened a great gusting pillow of steam escaped into the outside air…brrrrrrrr of course once you got out of the pool it felt doubly cold. The Chef’s back in nz, will be paying us a visit tomorrow, showing us his pictures of his diving holiday in Oz, it’ll be good to catch up again. Not sure if Swiss Miss will be back though.

There could be a few changes in this household soon, but will update you later when things are confirmed. Russell Radio’s new operations room is almost complete and ready to be occupied. Capt Penguin has virtually been a one man operation with the alterations there. When I remember to take my camera, will be glad to take shots of the new “office” and its outlook. There’s a good feeling of excitement as the moving date comes slowly closer

1030 Doc have cut a “new” path to the Cape Brett Lighthouse, the following is an excerpt from the local rag (Bay Chronicle)

A stunning walk to the historic Cape Brett Lighthouse has been restored by Kerikeri Conservation Corp and Department of Conservation teams cutting 20 years worth of manuka and kikuyu from an historic track.

The track from the principal keepers hut to the lighthouse was one of the originals, probably cut when work began at the settlement in 1909.
“The teams cleared a lot of very dense manuka and kanuka, some of it two metres high,” says DOCs Bay of Islands Area Office historic ranger, Andrew Blanshard. “The thigh-high kikuyu was so dense that they were able to cut it and lift it off in mats.
“The result is a much nicer walk, in terms of both gradient and surface, than the track thats been used during recent years. There are also stunning views towards the Eastern Bay of Islands, taking in the Cavalli Islands off Matauri Bay.”
Andrew says the Cons Corp team stayed at the Cape Brett Hut for two nights while they helped at the settlement and enjoyed the chance to work in a beautiful location, on some of the heritage that DOC manages.
The teams also cleared kikuyu from around the hut, foundations of walls and other early structures, and removed a kilometre of wire and accompanying battens from a fence built 30 years ago.
The lighthouse settlement was a busy community for much of last century. Before automation of the light in 1978, three keepers and their families kept the light blazing after it was first lit in 1910.
DOC has been upgrading the lighthouse and the site for the last two years, and the next project will be to clean the inside of the lighthouse, which retains all the early workings of the system.

1115 and here’s the history of the Cape Brett Lighthouse. Which I found interesting.
LIGHT HOUSES OF NEW ZEALAND
CAPE BRETT K3709
Latitude: 35° 10′ South
Longitude: 174°20′ East

The light was lit for the first time on 21 February 1910, and the keepers withdrawn in 1978. The light now shines from a 4 metre highfiberglass tower, and is 146 metres above sea level. Its white light flashes every 15 seconds, and can be seen for 17 nautical miles (31 kilometres). The old classic tower now stands unlit.In 1906 it was decided to build another watched lighthouse along the stretch of coastline between Cape Maria Van Dieman and Moko Hinau Island, marking the northern approach to Auckland Harbour. Cape Brett, at the entrance to the Bay of Islands, was chosen as the site, and the light was first lit in February 1910. The cast iron tower was manufactured locally by the Judd Engineering Company of Thames, shipped to the site in sections and winched, by means of a specially constructed tramway, up a 22 metre-high cliff prior to construction.

The light itself was a new design, the first of its kind in New Zealand. Until then, revolving lights had been supported on wheels. The Cape Brett light used a float of mercury, which meant a heavier and more powerful light could turn around faster. This was an important breakthrough in lighthouse history, as it meant there could be more variation between the flashes at different stations. Cape Brett was an important site during the Second World War.

During this time, two naval coast guards were appointed to the cape to keep an around-the-clock watch on all shipping in the area. As fears of an enemy invasion grew, the navy and air force built their own station at the Cape, behind the lighthouse. The keepers were expected to help build this station as part of their duties. This was not acceptable to the assistant keeper, who wrote a letter of complaint to the Marine Department, resulting in the keepers being paid overtime for their extra work.

Unfortunately, the servicemen and lighthouse keepers were often in conflict over safety rules laid down by the keepers. This came to a head with the death of a sailor during a night landing of supplies. The young sailor had fallen while trying to scale the cliff from the landing block, instead of using the steps. The principal keeper wrote of the accident: “Ignorance, carelessness and stupidity have broken the good name of this station… keepers and their families have used them [the concrete landing block and steps] without mishap for forty years!”

This was the last night landing to be carried out on the Cape. With the end of the war the keepers returned to their normal routines. This included lighthouse duties, regular weather reports, and keeping a watchful eye on recreational boats. The station was connected to electric mains power in 1968, and 10 years later was replaced with a fully automatic beacon, which stands in front of the disused tower.