The Cliffy Island Lighthouse is located atop Cliffy Island, a steep-sided island which is the summit

Summit (topography)

In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...

 of a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 submarine mountain in the Bass Strait

Bass Strait

Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...

. Cliffy Island is located about 32 kilometres diectly south of Port Albert

Port Albert, Victoria

Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, kilometres south-east of Morwell, kilometres south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census, Port Albert had a population of 248.Port Albert was one of the...

, and roughly 38 kilometres to the northeast of Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse

Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse

Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse is situated on South East Point, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia. From its pont on the peninsula, it commands almost 360° views of Bass Strait. The Wilson's Promontory lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse on mainland Australia. The walk from the nearest...

 in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The lighthouse warns approaching vessels of rocks in Bass Strait by emitting a flash of white light every five seconds. The focal plane of the lightsource and Fresnel lens

Fresnel lens

A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...

 is situated 52 metres above sea level. The site is managed by the Victoria Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, while the lighthouse itself is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations...

 (AMSA). The island is accessible only by helicopter, and the entire site is closed to the public.

History

Cliffy Island lighthouse was constructed on site in 1884 from granite quarried on the island. In addition to the lighthouse, there was a stone cottage for the head lighthouse keeper and his family. This structure was nearly identical to the one at Cape Nelson

Cape Nelson State Park

Cape Nelson State Park, near Portland on Victoria's southwest coast is a state park. Attractions include a clifftop walk and a visit to the Cape Nelson lighthouse. The lighthouse was completed in 1884 and today offers accommodation in the Light Station Keepers Cottages. Fauna include the Heath...

 (they were both built in the same year, probably from the same set of blueprint

Blueprint

A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan....

s). There was also a duplex wooden structure that served as the residence of the two assistant keepers and their families. The keeper's houses were demolished in 1971, when the lighthouse was automated; the stone walls that surrounded the houses remain.

Adjacent Lighthouses

• South West - Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse
  Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse
  Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse is situated on South East Point, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia. From its pont on the peninsula, it commands almost 360° views of Bass Strait. The Wilson's Promontory lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse on mainland Australia. The walk from the nearest...
  
  
• North East - Lighthouse at Cape Conran Coastal Park
  Cape Conran Coastal Park
  Cape Conran Coastal Park is a coastal reserve located near Marlo in East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The 11,700 hectare area was declared a coastal park under the National Parks Act in 1997. It is 420 km east of Melbourne and 530 km south of Sydney.-Flora and fauna:Much of the area...
  
  
• North East - Point Hicks Lighthouse

Further reading

• Diving Australia by Peter Stone
• From Dusk Till Dawn by Gordon Reid
• The Lighthouses of Victoria by Dacre Smyth
• The Melbourne Truth

External links

• Map showing location of Cliffy Island lighthouse
• Parks Victoria - Parks Victoria is the custodian of a diverse estate of significant parks in Victoria