Mad as a hatter

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After waking to a rather grey morning we drove back to Byron Bay to visit the old lighthouse at Cape Byron. We timed it well for the free tour around the lighthouse. The light was built in 1900 following 85 shipwrecks. The light has clearly been successful as there have been no further wrecks. The light house, like all in Australia, is now automated from Canberra but uses rotating bulbs to prevent call outs from Brisbane for repairs. The light is the brightest in the Southern Hemisphere and uses a fresnel lens floating on a liquid mercury bearing. In the past the mercury when heated by the reflecting light on the prisms, caused the lighthouse keepers to go mad from heavy metal poisoning. There is now a mercury monitor which indicates when the lighthouse is too dangerous to enter as the levels are too high. The light is now continually rotating preventing the need for the light to be curtained off to prevent the prisms setting light to the surrounding vegetation as it is feared they would work rather like a magnifying glass can set fire to leaves.

Asides the rather annoying Australian family with the incredibly rude and pushy children who they encouraged rather than scolded, we enjoyed our visit. We even saw some dolphins frolicking in the waves by some kayakers.

Our next destination was a rest stop at Burleigh Heads where we walked around the Head or forested bar, home to many aboriginal legends. The beautifully laid out wooden walkway gave us a great view of the bay while walking under the giant roots of the mangrove forest and their inhabiting bush turkeys.



We checked in for the night at Nobby's Beach Resort. A rather extortionate $37 it did provide us with hot shower to make us presentable for our visit to Andrew's second Aunt's house the next day who was putting up his Granda at the time. The rest of the evening we sat listening to ABC radio (the local equivalent of Classic FM) and reading. I can readily recommend John Grisham's “The Appeal” as a great holiday read.

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