"Cape Otway" a Cape Otway Travel Page by eviltooth

Cape Otway, originally named Cape Albany Otway by Lieut James Grant in 1800, is located at the southern most point on the west coast of Victoria, Australia.

The 84 kilometre gap between, Cape Wickham on, King Island and Cape Otway is known as the "Eye of the Needle." It is the Western entrance to Bass Strait. Sea captains would hug the Victorian coast, to avoid being driven into King Island in bad weather, resulting in many wrecks.

Due to concern over shipwrecks on the Bass Strait coast and King Island, pressure was exerted on the government to build a lighthouse at Cape Otway.

Access was a problem in establishing the lighthouse and after 3 attempts the Cape was finally reached by land. A site was selected and after great difficulty a road was cut.

Construction began in 1846 with the light being lit in August 1848 making it the second light to be established on the mainland coast.

In 1859, one of the earliest telegraph stations in Australia was added to the facility, soon connecting Tasmania to the mainland through Cape Otway and Melbourne.

First whale oil, then kerosene, was used to keep the light burning. Later changes included diesel generators, electricity, radio and global positioning satellites.

With the introduction of satellite navigation systems, the light was decommissioned in January 1994 after being the longest continuous operating light on the Australian mainland. It has been replaced by a low powered solar light in front of the original tower.