Cape Leeuwin ( ? ) is the most south-westerly mainland point of the Australian Continent, in the state of Western Australia.

A few small islands and rocks, the Saint Allouarn Islands, extend further to the south. The nearest settlement, north of the cape, is Augusta.

In Australia, the Cape is considered the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean; however, the International Hydrographic Organization's definition places the northern limit of the Southern Ocean much farther south.

Use of name

Cape Leeuwin is often grouped with the next headland north, Cape Naturaliste, to identify the geography and ecology of the region. One example is in the name Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Another is in the use of the phrases Cape to Cape or the Capes in tourist promotional materials. The Royal Australian Navy's Leeuwin class survey vessel HMAS Leeuwin is named after the cape.

History

The first ship known to have visited the area is the Leeuwin, a Dutch galleon that charted some of the nearby coastline in 1622. Unfortunately the Leeuwin's log book has been lost, so very little is known of the voyage. However, the land discovered by the Leeuwin is recorded in Hessel Gerritsz' 1627 Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht (Chart of the Land of Eendracht), which appears to show the coast between present-day Hamelin Bay and Point D?Entrecasteaux.^[1] Cape Leeuwin itself cannot be recognised, however.

The first known sighting of the cape was by Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in 1791. D'Entrecasteaux thought the cape was an island, and accordingly named it Isle St Allouarn ("Isle of St Allouarn"), in honour of Francois de St Allouarn. Ten years later, Matthew Flinders visited the area, concluding that the Isle St Allouarn was in fact a cape: There are in fact a series of islands at the tip of Cape Leeuwin, and these retain the name Saint Allouarn Islands. Flinders name was retained for the cape itself. Flinders did not give an explicit etymology for the name, but he was aware that the coastline was known to the Dutch as "Leeuwin's Land", and it is presumed that the name is a reference to this.

Other explorers to sight the cape before the area was settled in 1830 include

• 1627 Francois Thijssen in the Gulden Zeepaard
• 1772 Louis Francois Marie Alesno de St Allouarn in the Gros Ventre
• 1801 27 May Nicolas Baudin the French named Cape Leeuwin as Cape Gosselin, but it was not adopted.

Cape Leeuwin

Sign at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

Lighthouse

Located on headland of the cape is the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and the buildings that were used by the lighthouse keepers. Opened with great ceremony by John Forrest in 1895, the lighthouse has since been automated. The lighthouse, besides being a navigational aid, serves as an important automatic weather station. The lighthouse's buildings and grounds are now vested in the local tourism body and the single (1960s) and double (1980s) communications towers that were north-west of the lighthouse, seen in older photographs of Cape Leeuwin, have been removed.

The nearest functioning lighthouse north of Cape Leeuwin is the much smaller Cape Hamelin lighthouse, just south of the Hamelin Bay camping area.

The International Lighthouse Day was celebrated at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse for the first time in 2004.^[2]

National Park

The hillside to the north of the lighthouse, and the land nearby is now part of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. It has extensive heath vegetation and thick scrub which supports a very high number of plant species and also bird species that utilise this habitat.

The bay just east of Cape Leeuwin is Flinders Bay, named after Matthew Flinders, the circumnavigating explorer of the early 1800s.

Wrecks

Shipwrecks within sight of this location include the SS Pericles an Iron Screw steamer built in Belfast in Northern Ireland, which sank after hitting an uncharted rock on a clear calm day in 1906. The wreck was found by Tom Snider in 1957 at - 34º 25. 33'S 115º 08.24'E. He dived on the wreck to recover the lead that was being carried by the ship.

Some shipwrecks are identified as being within the vicinity of Augusta, Cape Leeuwin or Hamelin Bay that might not be within visual distance of the lighthouse.

Notes

1. ↑
2. ↑

References

• CALM/DOLA 1996. Land Management Series Map Sheet 1929-3 Leeuwin Edition 11:50000.
• Eakin,Morgan (2003)Very Much on Watch - The Percy Willmott Photos Thornlie, W.A. Blackwood Publishing. ISBN 0-646-49939-4
• 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
• Fyfe, Christopher (1999) Uncharted end : the Pericles disaster An address to the Royal Western Australian Historical Society on 23 June 1999.

Lighthouse and cottages, Cape Leeuwin

External links

• Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
• - List of WA lighthouses - check link to Cape Leeuwin

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