Day 18 Augusta – The meeting of two oceans

The weather has moderated a little today and our real goal today was the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. The lighthouse is still fully functional although totally automated these days but the grounds are open to the public and there are guided tours of the lighthouse. The grounds tour includes and audio device for each person which relates the key feature of each of the exhibits and provided a wealth of anecdotes and history, some being recounted by one of the last lighthouse keepers. 

Where's Dougal????

Yep is that bloody cold

Cape Leeuwin Light house

Water wheel originally used to pump waster to the lighthouse

Three of us went on the guided tour of the lighthouse. It was 138 steep steps but well worth the trip. My knee and back didn’t give me too much grief (managed to get some anti inflammatories to help). The point at Cape Leeuwin is the meeting of two oceans – the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean - with the lighthouse slap bang in the middle. Today they both seemed to be fighting for superiority. Once we ascended the steps and stepped out on to the platform around the light the wind hit us and it was ferocious but what an outlook. Well worth the money. The lighthouse is the highest in Australia and is still used as a navigation aid today. We had noticed, not for the first time, that the lights revolve during the daylight hours which seemed strange. The reasons, we have discovered, for this is that the light actually sits on a bed of mercury and so requires very little in the way of effort to keep it rotating and that if the prisms stop they can concentrate the rays of the sun on a spot and start a grass/bush fire. After the tour and walk around the grounds it was off to the coffee shop for coffee and scones – Coffee very good scones good.

After lunch with the weather looking ok Gaz, Laura and I went fishing (I guess you could call it that) of the beach near the van park. Lots of bites, lots of lost bait, 4 small bream safely returned to the briny sea. Very pleasant afternoon. Tomorrow we move on to Pemberton.