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Their diet tends to be meagre and monotonous and supplies are sometimes ruined in transit by being drenched with sea water and water has to be carefully rationed. Men serving on rock stations face not only complete isolation for extended periods but also the problems of living often in extremely confined spaces with two other men with no room for exercise and minimal recreational facilities (although television now seems to be standard equipment), sparsely furnished accommodation-including curved bunks-and sometimes primitive sanitary conditions. The lighthouse authorities have, however, been taking steps to renovate and modernise these dwellings.Ģ3. The working conditions on shore stations appear to be good in general, but living accommodation tends to suffer the defects of buildings which, for the most part, were put up a long time ago. The facilities for visiting the nearest centre of population are often minimal and, apart from the more obvious disadvantages of isolation, the education of children can present serious problems. Social and physical isolation are the main problems of the men, and more particularly of their wives and families, even on many shore stations.
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Undoubtedly the job calls for a particular temperament and despite some dissatisfaction over pay and conditions, there appears to be a widespread spirit of dedication to the service and men who survive the first few years tend to remain in it. Though we were able to visit only a handful of lighthouses, we formed some clear impressions of the life and conditions of work of the light-keeper. Reviewer bio: Glen Donaldson pens weekly and uniquely at both SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK and LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE.
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The Last Lighthouse Keeper by John Cook with Jon Bauer. Simply one of the best reads I’ve ever enjoyed.
#LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER PAY FULL#
The presiding tone of the book is summarized on page 55 when the author, referring to his first posting on Tasman Island, notes, “ Either people come here crazy or this place turns them that way.”įrom fisticuffs with fellow lighthouse keepers to removing his own rotten teeth with a wood punch to the microscopic gaps in brickwork that, via howling winds, could turn a lighthouse into an oversized whistle and drive a person insane with the sound, this book is crammed full of riveting anecdotes. It ends with his transfer to a third, Bruny, where he stayed on for another 15 years. The book centers chiefly on his time spent on two Tasmanian lighthouse islands, Tasman and Maatsuyker (the last spot between Australia and Antarctica). So began his decades-long love affair with ‘a life in the lights.’ Seeing an ad one day in the local newspaper, he applied for a position with the Australian Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. In the 1960’s, he was running a service station and picking up the pieces after a marriage breakup. John Cook spent twenty-six years as one of Australia’s longest serving lighthouse keepers. I wasn’t that fussed on it but it led me to seek out an autobiography of sorts published the same year called The Last Lighthouse Keeper.Įxhilarating, profound and exquisitely written, probably the highest compliment you can pay a memoir once you’re done reading it is think to yourself-even if it’s only for a few brief moments-”I wish I’d lived that life.” That’s how I feel about The Last Lighthouse Keeper.
#LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER PAY MOVIE#
Last year I went along to see an arthouse movie a lot of people were raving about starring William Dafoe and Robert Pattison called The Lighthouse.