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Papakura Radio Club inc.& NZART Branch 65, Papakura.1 Great South Road, Papakura. |
ZL2SEA Lighthouse Activities. |
Next activity....
ZL2SEA with another callsign...
ILLW 2010 at East Cape Lighthouse. East Cape Lighthouse. I have to say I love it out here and have really enjoyed the weekend spent in the Lighthouse keeper�s house. What makes East Cape special? The location, its peaceful quietness. The birds: the Magpie�s warbling songs in the morning, Sky Larks, Bell birds, Paradise ducks to name a few. The great kitchen with views looking up to the lighthouse through the kitchen and dinning windows. The big handsome Black Angus bulls. The ewes with young lambs at foot. The seal colony. The flat fields and surrounding hills. The trek up to the lighthouse and the magnificent view of East Island and the lighthouse itself. But best of all is spending time with Nigel again after six weeks of separation due to his work in Thailand. Nigel specially flew back to New Zealand for the Lighthouse weekend. There was no way he was going to miss it! He had started organising our accommodation and access to the lighthouse before he was sent to Thailand at short notice to manage an engineering project. I couldn�t fly out with him at the time as my passport had to be renewed and that turned into a major stress that stretched into four frustrating weeks. Two weeks before Nigel was due back, the new passport was finally in my hands. A week before the Lighthouse weekend, the weather was extremely wet; Opotiki was flooded and slips were all over the place with AA road warnings for most roads in NZ. I was concerned we wouldn�t be able to get out to the lighthouse. Nigel flew into Auckland Tuesday lunch time and registered the trailer and Wednesday we started packing for the trip to East Cape, leaving early Thursday morning. 
Packing became quite a juggling act and I became quite muddled with it all. My case for Thailand had to be packed as we flew out early Tuesday morning after getting in from East Cape late Monday evening. We had things going in opposite directions (East south-east / North-West) with opposite needs (winter / summer) and I was also trying to finish sewing a summer dress and organise the food, so needless to say, my thoughts very scattered. I�ve never been so disorganised for a lighthouse! 
Kelly cat knew we were going somewhere. She wanted to be in on the action. Kelly checked under the tarp of the trailer for a place she could fit, but decided it wouldn�t be too comfy. She then inspected the car and perched herself on the back of the rear seats. After waiting several hours, she went hunting. Just to add to the excitement of a tight schedule, our land lord informed Nigel the glass house and shed where his dinghies were stored were coming down and the dinghies had to be moved out of the way. The Tuesday morning after the lighthouse weekend was already a tight schedule so it had to be done before leaving for the lighthouse on Thursday morning. Nigel put out a SOS call to Franc, ZL1SLO for assistance. Franc arrived an hour early, so at 0545 the dinghy move and the dismantling of the painting tent was started in darkness and completed at 0800. Franc�s assistance is really appreciated. There wasn�t enough time available to pitch the painting tent again, so both dinghies are only under tarps. With very little sleep travelling from Thailand, and an early start, Nigel was tired and soon pulled over for me to drive. He went straight to sleep and I was gaining a little more experience driving with a trailer. Nigel woke as we were entering a gorge and advised I take the sharp corners slowly to avoid the trailer sliding out. The drop into a fast flowing river was incentive enough to take it slowly! With Nigel driving again, the trip through Tauranga, Whakatane and Opotiki was uneventful, though evidence was plentiful of recent flooding and multiple slippages. White Island was visible and puffing out clouds of smoke as all active volcanoes do. The drive to Te Aroa seemed to take forever, though the coastal scenery was pretty. On the climb up the mountainside approaching the Moto River, the road narrowed to one lane. The east bound lane of the road was heading for the open sea. It had dropped by about 30cm and was isolated by safety cones. Later we had to stop at road clearance work where the east bound lane was open and the mountain side lane was still being dug out from under the major slip that had completely covered the road and continued over the guard rails. Mud and rock, in places, remained stacked on the guard rail. The river was a long way down! The last 21km of dirt road from Te Aroa passed quite quickly. Rounding a corner we were greeted by the welcome sight of the East Cape lighthouse brightly flashing on its hill. We continued to the end of the road to a solitary light that was waiting for us. The front porch light was on and we drove up the drive to the keeper�s house and let ourselves into the house. A note on the table let us know we needed to keep the house gate shut to keep the lame bull off the back lawn. He was also to be given a wide berth. Great! We unpacked the car, had a light dinner and fell into bed leaving the trailer till morning. 
Friday morning Nigel�s alarm went off at 0500. He eagerly suggested hiking up to the lighthouse to watch the sunrise. I wasn�t so excited with the idea and tried going back to sleep for another hour before getting up. I found a beautiful big Angus bull camped outside the lounge window. He left behind his calling cards when he wandered off to feed. He wasn�t lame. We had two Angus bulls and, without my glasses on, what looked to be invisible fences! Super! The morning sky from the kitchen window was showing tints of pink, then slowly, the sky glowed brighter near the lighthouse and eventually the sun broke over the ridge with the promise of a beautiful clear day for photography. Now, I wanted to get up to the lighthouse! Hi. But Nigel wasn�t ready!! He wanted breakfast and to get his aerials up and everything unpacked. 
We made the hike up the 700 steps before setting up the spaghetti poles. The track started off well, and then continued up rugged �steps�. Nigel waited for me at one spot and we decided that it wasn�t a good idea to haul the radio gear to the top. We�d need at least 4 trips up, which meant 4 trips down as well, then would have to bring everything back down again� 16 times in all. We decided against setting up at the lighthouse. The wooden �steps� were wet and slippery at times, there were minor slips in places and the going got quite steep. At night it would be somewhat riskier and we had no real or urgent need of being on the track at night. We now understood Dave�s (ZL1DK) advice against setting up at the top! Hi. We still had the option of using the small 817 radio and flexi pole we take on �walk-about� at the top if we wanted; and working QRP. 
Reaching the final approach to the lighthouse I looked up to see the lighthouse glowing in the morning sun and Nigel taking photos. The sun was reflecting off a glass panel of the light room which made it look as though the lighthouse was still lit. As lighthouses go, East Cape Lighthouse is beautiful. It is made of cast iron plates shipped in from London and was first lit the 9th of August 1900. The lighthouse has an interesting but tragic history, right from the start. Four sailors drowned when the government steamer capsized while bringing construction materials to the island. Life was very hard for the three Keepers as the soil was poor for grazing and gardening, the currents around the island were swift and the island unstable and plagued by earthquakes. East Island is the resting place of the four sailors, three lighthouse children and a ship�s captain who was washed ashore seven days after wild seas as tall as the ship�s masts over turned his vessel near the island. Years later, in 1921 it was decided the lighthouse had to be moved from East Island before it was claimed by unstable land, slippages and the sea. The light was extinguished 22nd April 1922 and the lighthouse was dismantled, lowered down the cliffs, loaded onto the government lighthouse tender �Tutanekai� which transported it to the mainland and the lighthouse was moved in pieces to its current position on the mainland. 
East Island has been returned to native vegetation, predator free status, with the reintroduction of some bird and insect species, but further conservation developments for the planned introduction of endangered Tuatara has been halted due to disputes over island ownership. I spent nearly 2 hours at the lighthouse both taking photos with the trusty Canon and learning how to use the new Canon camcorder. Using a decent sized tripod was also a new experience in amongst the bushes. Got some nice photos and missed a few too before working out how to shoot �still� on the camcorder. Lighting was great and the high cirrus cloud formations coming through added to the beauty of the lighthouse photos. I was enjoying myself immensely! Between us Nigel and I had 7 cameras with us this time, with two as �sacrificial cameras� for the �trainer� Radio Controlled model aeroplane. Now we were really mixing our interests! Amateur Radio, photography, radio controlled aeroplanes, lighthouses and the best Amateur Radio event of the year. Mixed together, it was one fun weekend. 
Nigel left before I did with the request I give him a hand putting the aerials up when I got down. My legs were turning to jelly by the time I got back to the house. I found Nigel mending the radio controlled plane. He had been flying while waiting for me and crashed when it flew over the hill. The batteries had sprung out the action-cam camera on impact and so no video. 
Nigel had also laid out the ropes and had pole sections out of their bags and the heavier spaghetti pole almost ready to go. The tripod took care of the camcorder, and between us, the main pole went up and was secured to the fence and the ropes were all pegged out. The next pole up was by the old lighthouse keeper�s office, come radio shack and library. The third pole went up outside the fence in the lower paddock. Then the balun and cable went up the pulley and were secured in place and the radio end passed in through the dinning window. 
Later the surf casting rod was used to shoot a line over an old electricity pole in the paddock for the end of another aerial Nigel had running crosswise to the first. Nigel tells me I got my east /west and north/ south aerials mixed up while recording, but not to worry, its amateur photography, mistakes in reading, directions and all, but a lot of fun. Nigel needed another pole to hang the other end of his wire on and put the extension ladder to work for that purpose. He had me tighten the supporting ropes while he held the ladder. Interesting! But it worked� more ways than one!! 
Radios set. Food for lunch and the next day organised. Cameras worked out and plane ready to fly. We went flying again. The road made an excellent smooth runway. Nigel remembered he hadn�t switched on the action-cam and had to land the plane. I think this landing was the only one of the week end that came in on all wheels! Seconds later the plane was in the air again and having a great flight. I found the camcorder was easier to use free of the tripod. Trying to follow the little plane was challenging, especially when zoomed in. It got a bit wild at times. The Paradise ducks didn�t like the intrusion in their patch and were quacking loudly in alarm. Coming in to land, the plane suddenly nose dived into the corn field� the old electricity wires across the runway trick�! The action-cam had turned itself off on impact, so no film. The plane was inspected for damage again. The wing had some damage and the propeller needed replacing and the motor had to be freed of its mud collection. That was all fixed and it was in the air again with the action-cam. Its flying was a bit erratic. This time it came down in a boggy patch near the remains of one of the houses. No film again, and a longer list of repairs to be made, including the rear wheels to be reattached. It was a wonder the electric motor would ever work again it was so chock full of mud! It was found that the battery had shifted its centre of gravity and the pine tree had blocked the radio signal contributing to the crash. Saturday morning was overcast and threatening to rain. I was so glad I took so many photos while the weather was so good! It rained on and off till lunch time before holding off for several hours. Angus and se�or El Toro provided the entertainment for the morning when we found we had a teri-bull problem! They had apparently wanted a part in the Lighthouse Weekend activities and thought this radio thing was join-a-bull. As to the ladder being upright in their sleeping patch, well, that was unfathom-a-bull. In trying to work out if it was function-a-bull, the ladder was found to be move-a-bull. It was also work-a-bull and scratch-a-bull, but not listen-a-bull. The ropes were found to be trip-a-bull and remove-a-bull resulting in a lean-a-bull structure that looked crash-a-bull. In reality the whole thing was laugh-a-bull. 
From the perspective of the camcorder it only got funnier as Nigel attempted to coax the bull away from the leaning ladder by playing �peek-a-bull� around the corner of the house. This really got the bull scratching his head! The lame bull had long given up and limped across the slushy paddock to feed, loosening the lower rope as he brushed passed it, while El Toro was still trying to get it all figured out. Luckily the corner of the house withstood the head scratching. Hi. 
After lunch Nigel and I, in gumboots, went for a walk back towards Te Aroa then crossed the paddock on a sheep trail to the ocean. We crossed the fence and Nigel disappeared into the sand dunes. He reappeared shortly after with a quiet, urgent �Come and have a look at this!� There on the edge of the dune was a resting seal. Looking down the beach towards East Island, we saw there were seals all over the place! How exciting! The camcorder got busy, and with its wonderful zoom, I could get in real close without disturbing the seal that was now awake and wondering what we were doing. It would have been great if I had the tripod to hold the camcorder steady, but it was back at the house. The seal busied itself with cleaning its fur and having a good scratch. Another seal lazily stretched and held its flipper up in a cooling off position before letting it fall to its side. Somewhat disturbed at our presence the first seal opened its mouth to show it was armed and dangerous and not to be fooled with. �Ok! I take the hint�� We moved back to the fence and slowly walked down the fence line to look at other seals, careful not to get too close. They have the most beautiful quizzical faces with amazingly clumsy action on land and such fluid musical movement in the water. We stopped and watched another group of seals for a short time before I noticed what looked like a patch of brown fur lying in the grass. It appeared to be remains of a dead seal. Curious, I walked over for a closer inspection. The seal was alive and breathing but in a deep sleep, oblivious to the world, lying stretched out on its back. We�d found a seal pup that was about 2/3 of a metre from nose to toes. How sweet! We photographed the adult seals as they scurried off and stepped closer to the pup. It slept on undisturbed, so we quietly left him sleeping. We returned to where we had crossed the fence and continued home thrilled with the seal encounter. From the seals we hiked in gumboots back up to the lighthouse and took more photos and enjoyed the scenery and changing evening sky before heading down the track while light remained. My legs were jelly this time and I was sure they would be stiff in the morning. 
With the sun set for the evening we turned our attention to the radio. Nigel got busy calling CQ and I got busy with the camcorder and lighthouse list. We were particularly interested in catching lighthouses, but any contacts were appreciated. It was good to see home stations joining in the fun of catching lighthouses too. I found it highly amusing when a call went out and 2 or even 4 replies came back in all jumbled over each other. That took a bit of concentration sorting out, but Nigel got there in the end. I was glad it was him and not me operating the radio. I was content checking and high-lighting the lighthouses we contacted. The high-lighter made it so much easier to see who we had contacted and which ones we were still looking for. The most distant lighthouse contact we got was Faro Cabo, Santa Maria, Uruguay, UY0004. He came in reasonably clear, scoring a 5/7 both ways. We were working at a steady pace making contacts until Nigel accidentally came across a Lighthouse Weekend Net organised by Kevin (VK2CE) and his International Lightship Lighthouse Weekend team and hosted by Gavin. Calls came thick and fast then, Hi! It seemed everyone on the net wanted a ZL lighthouse as they were thin on the ground. The net was also a source of amusement as to how the guys managed to get �the most Southern lighthouse in the world� out of� �the most Eastern lighthouse in New Zealand, and, the most eastern lighthouse in the world.� I dunno!! Anyway, East Cape Lighthouse was a big hit. 
We met up with the NZ lighthouse stations on the Counties and Awards Net where we were able to check off all but Bean Rock and Rangitoto lighthouses on the New Zealand list. Between our start at 5:58UTC and 12:58UTC when we quit for the night, we picked up 28 lighthouses as well as non lighthouse contacts in Portugal, Spain and Japan with 109 contacts all up. It was an extremely late night for us when we fell into bed after 01:00 NZ time. They say you can�t keep a good man down� well, Nigel was back at the radio at 06:20NZ time in his pyjamas, having checked the bull magnet was still upright. It seems the bulls had lost interest in it overnight and slept elsewhere. 
Sunday morning we picked up a few more lighthouses, including Bean Rock, but the one that really stands out is VK3ATX on Gabo Island. The radio operator would have to be the most enthusiastic I heard regarding the location of the lighthouse. He was from Sydney and with another operator had made the effort of travelling 300km south, the boat trip out to the island and set up radio camp. He was totally wrapt with the birds, marine and wild life he found on the island and did not want to leave. Top marks, I enjoyed listening to his commentary on the island when our radio was left on his frequency while we repaired the plane for flying again. 
Our funniest contact was with Nigel VK6CNL at Cape Naturaliste, Western Australia. AU0010. He thought he heard wrong when he was speaking to Nigel ZL2SEA, East Cape, NZ0010. We laughed at the fact our lighthouses shared the same number and operator names and were New Zealand�s most eastern lighthouse speaking to one of the 3 most western lighthouses in Australia. What a great coincidence. Hi. We later contacted Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse which was further west than Cape Naturaliste and were informed they were Australia�s most south-western lighthouse. Unfortunately, we didn�t get to contact The most western Australian lighthouse at Point Quobba, WA, activated by Amateurs from Chinchilla, inland QLD. Great effort guys!! We also missed contacting Cape Byron, Australia�s most eastern point and lighthouse. But we did get Point Perpendicular and my favourite, the sweet sandstone Barren Joey Lighthouse. Flying for Sunday ended with a spectacular crash that had the plane nose dive into the corn field and remain like a winged javelin where it crashed, until pulled out of the dirt. The �long time Press� camera was on this flight and amazingly, we have some footage that survived the crash! The last frames are of blades of grass and beep, beep, beep of the controls. The crash was due to the aircraft battery coming between the radio signal and the remote control transmitter. Nigel now knows you don�t try and land while standing directly in front of the plane! Hi. Sunday afternoon was pretty thin for Lighthouse contacts as it seems a lot of the Australian guys had packed up and were heading home, some with long distances to travel. Gabo Island was still on air and we ended up talking to each other several times, just to acknowledge the call. We did catch Rangitoto Lighthouse, ZM1AOX thanks Ian for the effort you made to go out marine mobile in not such fantastic weather. One thing I noticed was so many folk thought the Lighthouse weekend was a competition rather than a fun event to raise the profile of lighthouses. A lot of home stations thought they were intruding when really they weren�t. One home station we contacted was so excited with the 34 lighthouses he�d contacted. Hey! He was doing better than us at that stage and good on him for getting involved! When no lighthouse is coming back to the CQ, a home station is great to talk to. We spoke to home stations from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Japan. Counties and Awards Net was another active time for Nigel at the radio. Nearly everyone wanted East Cape. But that is half the fun of it all. Monday morning we packed the car, pulled the spaghetti poles down and packed the trailer, tidied the house and hopped in the car ready to go. Turned the ignition key and Uuurrr rrr rr u. No flat wheels this trip, just a flat battery! Hi. We unhitched the trailer and pushed it aside then set to work on getting the car clutch started, thankful the house was on a rise. Nigel steering and I pushing, we got the car started. Manuals are so forgiving! 
Nigel then backed up to the house and re-hitched the trailer and we headed for Auckland, stopping for one last look at East Cape lighthouse before continuing on our way. The slips had been cleaned up and the road section that was slumping towards the sea had been outlined with rock to prevent traffic venturing onto the unstable section. White Island was still emitting clouds of smoke in the distance. The coast roadpic13was even prettier with sun shining. It was a pity we had to go back to the city, but we had an international flight to catch. Our weekend�s effort: Contacts: 163 International Lighthouses: 1 Uruguay. International Contacts: Japan 1, Spain 2, Portugal 1, USA 3. NZ Lighthouses: 8/8 Australian Lighthouses: 33/57 VK Contacts including lighthouses: 108 ZL Contacts including lighthouses: 41 And Nigel, don�t worry if my numbers don�t add up� I�m still sorting out your log book! Many Thanks to all who were involved in organising the International Lightship and Lighthouse Weekend, the Lighthouse Net and the Counties and Awards Net and all the lighthouse and home radio stations that participated in the event.. Without each of you, including the bulls, it would not have been so much fun. We are looking forward to next year�s Lighthouse weekend, with hopefully even more lighthouses on air. for the full stories on articles shown below, just click on the links. 
This adventure entailed many dusty kilometres on Pohutukawa lined, narrow winding dirt roads, fantastic scenery that rivalled the Bay of islands for beauty, sheer drops into rocky surf, a gold mine tour, five days camping, another of New Zealand�s Great (long) Walks, rock climbing, penguins, dolphins, 3 hours at sea, hornets, paper wasps, wetas, geckos, Saddlebacks, Bellbirds, ducks and� the lighthouse. Curvier Island Lighthouse for the full story.. click on this link. 2009Mokohinau Islands Lighthouse Adventure. December 27th, 2009.Wow!! What a fantastic time!!The Mokohinau Lighthouse adventure was so much fun; I don�t know where to start!! Camping over Christmas, hiking mystery trails, abundant birdlife, beautiful surroundings, great weather, great company. The poor little Canon worked overtime, we had a great time on the dive boat, the lighthouse is simply gorgeous and the cloud formations that came in only added to its beauty. And all that came as a bonus for calling CQ� CQ� Mokohinau Island - 27th December, 2009 for the full story.. click on this link. Labour Day weekend 2009. Tiritiri Matangi was on Sunday 25th October The car has just been unpacked and it�s raining heavily in New Plymouth, but it is good to be home again. Nigel and I have had a wonderful weekend away together and the visit to TiriTiri Matangi Island is the highlight of the trip. Tiritiri Island - 25th October 2009 for the full story.. click on this link. Weekend 15-16 August 2009 International Lighthouse Lightship weekend Nigel and I were so impressed by our Cape Brett experience we had originally planned to return and activate Cape Brett lighthouse for the 09 Lighthouse weekend. But Nigel�s work had progressed slowly and was at a stage he couldn�t leave. Deciding cost, weather and time wise, it was a bit risky to proceed with Cape Brett, we chose to go with .............. International Lighthouse Lightship weekend 15-16 August 2009 for the full story.. click on this link. Weekend 6 -9th March. Taranaki Anniversary Nigel and I have returned from another great lighthouse weekend away. It was a stressful week for both of us and the time away almost didn�t happen due to Nigel�s work. But everything was paid for so we were not letting the Taranaki Anniversary long weekend pass by without a lighthouse! That was the easy .............. Sunday 8th March 2009 Castlepoint Lighthouse It was closer to 4pm when Nigel met me and we headed off to Palmerston North and Castlepoint.. Following the �short cut� directions on the print out was interesting. We became slightly geographically disorientated getting through Palmerston North then a place name for heading cross country on the back roads totally disappeared off the map when needed! We missed the turn off. Castlepoint & Cape Paliser Lighthouses for the full story.. click on this link. Sunday 8th March 2009 Cape Palliser Lighthouse We took the Masterton-Castlepoint road and found it good bitumen all the way into Masterton. Nigel had planned we go cross country using the AA GPS directions before getting into Masterton. That was ok, the instructions were out and I had read through them and had alerted Nigel to which road we had to look for and turn off. The GPS was packed in with the radio gear. We took the turn when we saw the road and frustratingly the next set of signs didn�t include Castlepoint & Cape Paliser Lighthouses for the full story.. click on this link. Waitangi Weekend Lighthouse Adventures!
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How to contact us:
Papakura Radio Club inc.
1 Great South Road, Papakura
P.O.Box 72397, Papakura 2244
(09) 2989297
E-mail [email protected]
