Cape Schanck

This morning I decided to take a wee jaunt out in the car down to the Mornington Peninsula to the south east of Melbourne.

First stop was Arthur's Seat. A 20km scenic driving route leads you up the side of the hill to the summit. In what was another gorgeous Victorian day, the views to Rosebud in the south and Mornington to the north were spectacular. As I continued down the other side I came across the view that I made my extra today. Had to be done...

Then it was on to the main subject of my trip, the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. Built in 1859, it was the second to be constructed in Victoria behind Cape Otway. It was unique at the time in having stone stairs instead of the normal iron staircase. The image taken from the signal lookout to the west of the lookout shows the entire complex. From left to right we have the 1859 "White" Lighthouse Keepers quarters, the stables, the 1939 "Red" Lighthouse Keepers quarters and in front of the lighthouse itself is the 1859 Assistant Lighthouse Keepers quarters. The latter acts as the lighthouse museum today while the other quarters are used for holiday accommodation like many of the other lighthouses.

Turning right as I came out of the lighthouse road, I contained along the Flinders hinterland scenic drive on which Cape Schanck lies. Stopping off in Flinders for a bite to eat, I continued through Shoreham, Red Hill South and Red Hill before arriving back at Arthur's Seat and then onto the freeway back north. I diverted off to visit Mornington itself and picked up a few goodies (which reminds me, there should still be some ice cream left in the freezer) and then drove down the final scenic drive along the esplanade from Mornington, through Mount Martha and onto Safety Beach before hitting the freeway for the trip back. All in all, pretty much a lazy day behind the wheel taking in an awful lot of lovely scenery.