NORAH HEAD LIGHTHOUSE AND FEEDING OF THE PELICANS

On Tuesday, March 9, Betty, Melanie and I went to the Nora Head Lighthouse located halfway between the townships of The Entrance and Budgewoi, on the stretch of the New South Wales coastline known as the Central Coast. It was a sunny day (I haven't had too many of those, either cloudy or rainy) and it turned into a hot day!

Built in 1903, Norah Head Lighthouse was the last manned lighthouse built in the State and the last major colonial light station constructed in NSW before ownership and control of Austalian coastal lights was passed to the Commonwealth. The lighthouse and the Lighthouse Keepers Cottages are heritage listed and restorations have kept the original feel of the cottages. The tower stands 27 meters high and there are 96 stairs to the top. The building is made of pre-cast concrete blocks made on site and local aggregate. The ground floor is tiled and there is a bluestone balcony and gunmetal railings.

On the rock platform immediately in front of the headland on which the lighthouse is located there is a unique rock platform which was formed in the Triassic to Permian era around 180 to 280 million years ago. From the top of the lighthouse tower a volcanic intrusion can be seen. This volcanic intrusion is channel made of darker rock which runs for some distance from one side to the other side of the rock platform. Waves have quarried out this channel because the basalt lava in the channel was softer than the surrounding granite. The lava came from an ancient volcano, probably Mt. Warrowolong, the large flat topped mountain to the west of Nora Head. The picture of the crab was taken as I was walking (very carefully) on the rock platform. It had washed up into one of the small indentations on the rock.

After leaving the lighthouse, we were all extremely hungry and hot! Betty, bless her heart, is extremely organized and packed a picnic lunch for us. We found a wonderful spot to enjoy lunch and try to get out of the sun. We were then ready to go for a swim at one of the Ocean Salt Water Baths that are plentiful in NSW. Salt water ocean baths emerged first in regional coastal ports, as Europeans with few surf and swimming skills sought spaces among the rocky shores where they could indulge in "the luxury of a bath" in comparative safety from the danger of waves, currents, sharks, and other wildlife. The Baths have lifeguards on duty and changing rooms with showers and restrooms.

Well, I have to tell you that when I stepped into the water, it felt like I stepped into a pond filled with a million ice cubes! To say it was cold just doesn't do it. After about 20 minutes of inching my way in, I finally got totally wet. Everyone else just walked up and dove in. I have to say I was pathetic!

To finish out our day, we went to The Entrance where we enjoyed one of the popular tourist attractions, the daily hand feeding of the Pelican's. The pelican feeding began by accident just over 20 years ago when staff from a local fish and chip shop would throw out scraps. It became such a ritual that whenever the staff was late in throwing their scraps out, the pelicans would cross the street and go up to the shop to be fed.