LOCATION: Eddystone Point, Tasmania, Australia
Early shipping feared the notorious Bass Strait – that stretch of water separating Tasmania from the mainland. Lighthouses were established at key points to assist navigation but even so, northbound ships were still be wrecked by sailing too close to the northeastern coast of Tasmania.
This finally prompted the construction of the Eddystone Point lighthouse – a tower constructed of pink granite & designed to protect shipping from the hazardous Georges Rocks.
Apparently, the site was never easily accessible from the land, with all servicing coming from the sea. It was not that easily accessible to photograph either & clambering over large & slippery rocks in the pre-dawn is not my idea of fun.
But once I had found a perch on which to set up & focus on the structure, the whole rationale of protecting shipping became very real to me.