Cape Tourville Lighthouse at Freycinet

Since we were in the area for the Wineglass Bay walk, we decided to do another short walk to see the Cape Tourville lighthouse.  The kids each chose a ‘baby’ to bring along.  I guess I had one too! This was the view from the lookout before you reached the lighthouse.  Quite pretty.  The rock on the left is called Lemon Rock.  The mountain just to the right of the middle of the picture is Mt Freycinet.  If you follow the slope of the mountain down to the right that’s where Wineglass Bay is. I sound all knowledgeable don’t I?  It’s the sign.  I’m not the only one who takes pictures of the signs, right? They’re even nice enough to tell you how to pronounce Freycinet! The clouds were making nice shadows on the water.  We got rained on while we were here.   The water was such a beautiful blue that day.  We were up quite high on the cliff. I thought the walkway was quite stunning against the vegetation.  They obviously considered the design carefully.  I know that’s a weird thing to mention but it’s the kind of thing I notice. The unexpected part was the measurements for various sea creatures.  Seals, dolphins, whales, etc.  I stood at the beginning and the others stood at various spots along the way with SkeeterBug down at the end.  I guess someone was watching TurboBug since he’s not in the picture.  😉 The biggest was the sperm whale at 18 metres.  I assume all the ones they included are found in the Tasman Sea. I imagine many of the people who do this walk miss the turnoff for the lighthouse.  The walkway makes a circuit around the lighthouse but there is heavy vegetation preventing you from getting to it unless you head up the right path.  I would have missed it but thankfully Sean noticed it.  This was a busy place yet we were the only people at the lighthouse itself. This lighthouse was built in 1971.  It’s an automatic light which means it’s unmanned.  Not the prettiest of lighthouses but I’m sure it does the job! We went back to the walkway and took in more of the magnificent views.  Remember Lemon Rock?  That’s it in the distance. When we came around the bend we could see these bright orange rocks in the distance.  It was such a striking colour against the blue of the ocean and the green of the vegetation.  We kept hearing seals in the distance, at least we think it was seals.  We wondered if they were out on these rocks but couldn’t see anything moving.  When I zoom way in on this picture I think there might be some on the smaller, flat rock in between the two large ones.  It’s hard to tell. These ‘babies’ provide endless entertainment for the kids.  All kinds of pretend play happens with them.  I’m so glad they each had room to bring a few along on our trip.  JitterBug’s fox is named Vern.  Sometimes he goes by Veronica when they need another female in whatever game they’ve got going on. 🙂 A view of the lighthouse from the walkway.  See all the vegetation? I’m guessing LadyBug took this picture since I’m holding her Elsa.  This princess has quite the dirty face but she’s been cleaned up since then. More shadows from the clouds.  I could just sit and stare at the ocean all day. Some information on the history of the area.  Tasmania was first charted by a Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman.  Later the French visisted and decided they didn’t want the land since it was already inhabited by Aborigines.  The name Freycinet and Cape Tourville come from the French.  But it was the British that claimed the land.  (Never mind that there were already people there.)  Tasmania was first used for its natural resources and as a place to send convicts.  Ah, the chequered past of this great land. On a lighter note… Here’s the location of the lighthouse.  We’re slowly making our way south.   Freycinet was named a national park in 1916, one of the first two in Tasmania.  I’m so glad we were able to visit, I’d heard much about the beauty of the area.  The coastal landscape did not disappoint.