Rotate to landscape to view slideshow
Built in 1848, the Cape Otway lighthouse sits 90 metres above the sea looking out over the Southern Ocean on Victoria’s Southern coast.
Known as “the shipwreck coast” because of the number of ships that floundered in this area, the lighthouse guided the boats into Bass Straight.
It was a beacon of hope for many thousands of 19th century migrants, who spent months travelling to Australia by ship, with Cape Otway their first sighting of land for months.
Cape Otway lighthouse is a great stopover if you are visiting the Twelve Apostles. There’s an information centre at the entrance gate and, as well as the lighthouse, there is the complex of lighthouse keeper cottages on the site.
Keep your eye out for the colony of koalas alongside the road into Cape Otway.
Email from Ben: “I plan to climb Cradle Mountain when we visit the area in a few weeks – better start training”. So I reduced my alcohol consumption to one glass of wine a night (well, most nights) and did a bit of walking (on the flat) at weekends, so when we started our trek on a fine February day I was completely unprepared for what lay ahead.
Oatlands, a small town on the Midland Highway between Hobart and Launceston, contains great examples of Colonial Georgian buildings.
Once used to take copper ore for the Mt Lyell Mining Company from Queenstown to Strahan in Tasmania, the railway now carries tourists.
The old village of Tamerza was abandoned in 1969 after 22 days of heavy rain destroyed the traditional mud brick structures.
A favourite place for Parisians and tourists to rest awhile from busy life.