Cape Naturaliste

Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

Location	Cape Naturaliste, Western Australia
Coordinates	33°31′S 115°00′E / 33.517°S 115°E / -33.517; 115
Year first lit	1904
Construction	Limestone
Tower shape	Cylindrical
Markings / pattern	White
Height	23 meters
Focal height	123 metres
Original lens	1st order Chance Brothers Fresnel lens
Intensity	930,000 cd
Range	25 nautical miles (46 km)
Characteristic	Fl. (2) 10 s
Admiralty number	K1790
NGA number	8880
ARLHS number	AUS-040

Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape. Also the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and the Cape to Cape hiking track were named after this location.

Settlements

The nearest settlement is Bunker Bay – a community that evolved from holiday shacks to very expensive housing for wealthy residents. Further east, across the Bay, is Dunsborough – a much older settlement. Busselton is located still further east from there.

Lighthouse

Naturaliste Light house

Cape Naturaliste is also the site of a lighthouse which was activated in 1904. It is a 20 m high cylindrical tower built of limestone that still uses its original first order Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers. The light characteristic is “Fl. (2) 10 s”, i.e. a group of two flashes every ten seconds, the focal plane is at 123 m above sea level. Another precious lens optic is displayed there, the second order Fresnel lens of the Jarman Island Light, as well as the original Great Sandy Islands beacon. Both items were originally used on the Pilbara coast further north.

The lighthouse was constructed of limestone quarried from nearby Bunker Bay, which was also known as the “Quarries”.

References

• Fornasiero, Jean; Monteath, Peter and West-Sooby, John. Encountering Terra Australis: the Australian voyages of Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, Kent Town, South Australia,Wakefield Press,2004. ISBN 1-86254-625-8
• Marchant, Leslie R. French Napoleonic Placenames of the South West Coast, Greenwood, WA. R.I.C. Publications, 2004. ISBN 1-74126-094-9
• Rowlett, Russ. “Lighthouses of Australia: Western Australia”. The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/wau.htm. 
• “The Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse”. Lighthouses of Western Australia. Lighthouses of Australia Inc. http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lights/WA/Cape%20Naturaliste/Cape%20Naturaliste.htm. 

External links