Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributors. Used under Creative Commons licence.
About Wadjemup Lighthouse
Completed in 1849, the original 20-metre (66 ft) Wadjemup Lighthouse (also known as Rottnest Island Light Station) was Western Australia's first stone lighthouse and was built to provide a safer sailing passage for ships to Fremantle Harbour and the Swan River Colony.
A second and larger replacement tower was built on the same site in 1896. It is the fourth oldest extant lighthouse in Western Australia and was Australia's first rotating beam lighthouse. A shipwreck that was partly caused by poor communications and misunderstood signals from the lighthouse prompted the construction of Bathurst Lighthouse on the island in 1900.
Location
Wadjemup Lighthouse is located in Western Australia at approximately -32.00754°, 115.50399°. A map pin at these coordinates will take you to the approximate lighthouse site — note that some historic lights are on active marine reserves, islands or private land, and visiting may require a boat or permit.
Visiting Wadjemup Lighthouse
Access to Australian lighthouses varies widely. Some are on publicly accessible headlands with car parks and interpretive signage; others are on remote islands that require chartered boats. Most operational lights managed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) are not open to the public interior, but the grounds and keepers' cottages at heritage-listed stations are often open during daylight hours.
If you're planning a visit, check with the relevant state parks service or heritage body for current conditions, access restrictions and opening times. Many of Australia's finest lighthouses are within national parks, and fees may apply.
Further reading
Read more on Wikipedia → — used under CC BY-SA 4.0. This article includes contributions from the Wikipedia community.