Lighthouse and the scary night…

One of the items on my list of things to see in Port Macquarie was the popular lighthouse ‘Tracking Point Lighthouse’. Tracking Point Lighthouse was built in the year 1879 and is the third oldest lighthouse in Australia. It marks the end of the 9 kilometres Coastal Walk from Town Beach to Lighthouse Beach. And is a popular spot for whale watching.

For fun big things to see on the way, read 11 big things to see in NSW.

Since there was no public transport and I was traveling alone, I decided to take a taxi. My plan was simple and had systematic steps; take the taxi at 3 PM, be at the lighthouse by 3:15 PM, spend an hour at the lighthouse, call in a taxi at 4:30 PM for 5 PM pick up and reach my hostel by 5:15 PM. Perfect plan? If only I followed what I planned which seems to be my huge problem.

First part of the plan worked well, my taxi picked me from my hostel (I stayed at Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers, an awesome place to stay) at 3 PM and the drive was through the rainforest at Sea Acres National Park to the lighthouse. The rainforest was beautiful and the 15 minutes drive was quite enjoyable. I reached the lighthouse at 3:15 PM (Incredible, going as per my plan). The lighthouse was on a rocky elevated platform, with the background of the ocean and the beach. It was quite busy with many cars parked and people visiting the lighthouse and the beach.

There was a green patch and a rock behind the lighthouse, where few people seemed to be enjoying a view of the ocean. On getting involved with the conversations, I realized that they were looking at a whale which was putting up a show, it was breaching. I was delighted and excited to see the whale, even though it was at a distance. It was a good photographic opportunity, but my lens could not zoom in much and I captured only the water splashes.

After an hour of whale watching, I realized that the sky had started to change colors. The sun was setting. I have always been elated by Sunsets. I took this opportunity to take many pictures with different manual settings.

When I was done with my photographic experiments, I noticed that the place had become less crowded and quieter. It was getting dark faster, more than the normal I thought (It was winter, my inner conscious taunted). And I had not booked the taxi.

By the time I called in to book a taxi, there was nobody at the lighthouse (absolutely nobody). “Can you please come as soon as possible? I am really scared and I am alone here“, I told the taxi driver. All I heard was the sound of the waves. It was scary! All the ghost stories that I had heard in my life started to cross my mind (my mind never misses an opportunity to scare me). The lighthouse started to look scarier in the light of the moon. My heart was beating faster, I could hear it, seriously! Praying to God and promising him that I would never ever repeat this mistake again, I shook my head and distracted myself with the Bollywood songs I knew.

Finally, after 30 minutes of being alone at a lighthouse on a cold winter night, my taxi arrived. I have never been that happy to see a taxi in my life. I was thankful that I was alive and not locked by a ghost inside the lighthouse. This is definitely one of my unwanted adventures that I can never forget in a really long time.