Cape Wickham Lighthouse is Australia’s tallest at 48 metres and stands on the windswept northern tip of King Island where the Southern Ocean collides with treacherous reefs and fierce currents of Bass Strait. Since it was first light on January 1, 1863, it has served as a vital navigational aid, guiding mariners through one of […]

Table Cape Lighthouse stands at the edge of a spectacular circular headland, rising nearly 180 metres above the treacherous waters of Bass Strait. Located just five kilometres from the town of Wynyard on Tasmania’s northwest coast, this lighthouse has guided countless vessels through some of Australia’s most challenging maritime waters for over a century. The […]

Cape Sorell lighthouse stands on one of Tasmania’s most exposed and treacherous headlands, marking the entrance to Macquarie Harbour halfway up the rugged west coast. Perched on a low headland rising from the Southern Ocean, this lighthouse has guided vessels through some of Australia’s most dangerous waters for over a century, bearing witness to countless […]

Emerging from the Tarkine wilderness it was something of a shock to land in Stanley, a quaint seaside village in the shadow of a massive round headland, but there was something missing…people! Despite all the beautifully maintained victorian cottages and well kept gardens there was no sign of life. It reminded me of the Scottish […]

Realising Maatsuyker wasn’t going to happen and having had a chat with Macca it was time to say goodbye to Cockle Creek. In relative terms this was going to be a big days drive, north to Hobart and then west clear across Tasmania to Strahan midway up the west coast. Six and a half hours […]

Maatsuyker Island was named by Abel Janszoon Tasman in 1642 who was the first known European to reach Van Diemen’s land (which he also named in honor of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies) and the lighthouse that stands on it is Australia’s southernmost lighthouse and surely one of the most remote and challenging […]

…Well, Australia anyway! It’s easy to get seduced by the unspoilt nature and pristine waters of Tasmania’s north east coast but as I travel south from St. Helens and pass through Beaumaris I’m reminded that for all its beauty from time to time Tasmania has a dark and malignant past. A young life taken, a […]

Perched atop the windswept cliffs of Bruny Islands southernmost point, the Cape Bruny Lighthouse has stood against the ferocious Southern Ocean for nearly two centuries. Constructed in 1836 it rises 13 meters above the rugged landscape with its beam reaching 26 nautical miles across some of the world’s most treacherous waters. The lighthouse’s construction came […]

Standing at the treacherous entrance to the Derwent River near Hobart, the Iron Pot lighthouse has faithfully guided mariners to safety for almost two centuries. Established in 1832, it holds the distinction of being Tasmania’s first lighthouse and the third oldest in Australia. This modest structure, rising just 9 meters from its rocky islet at […]