Cape Schanck is a locality at the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, approximately south of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located within the

Shire of Mornington Peninsula The Shire of Mornington Peninsula is a local government area in southeastern Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of the Melbourne City Centre. It has an area of 724 square kilometres and in June 2018 it had a ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Cape Schanck recorded a population of 569 at the 2021 census. Cape Schanck separates the wild ocean waters of

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

from the slightly calmer waters of Western Port. The most recognisable symbol of Cape Schanck is the

Cape Schanck Lighthouse The Cape Schanck Lighthouse was built in 1859 as the second coastal lighthouse in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located on Cape Schanck, at the southernmost tip of the Morningto ...

. The lighthouse was built in 1859 and was the second lighthouse built in Victoria. A prominent rock outcrop is Pulpit Rock and stands out at the very tip of the cape. Cape Schanck is also home to the RACV Resort Cape Schanck on Boneo Road which includes an eighteen-hole golf course and The National Golf Club on Cups Drive. British-Australian artist

Georgiana McCrae Georgiana Huntly McCrae (15 March 1804 – 24 May 1890) was an English-Australian painter and diarist. Early life Born in London, she was the illegitimate daughter of George Gordon, the Marquess of Huntly, son and heir to Alexander, 4th Duk ...

produced many of her paintings at Cape Schanck. A keen artist–traveller in the Romantic tradition, Nicholas Chevalier concentrated on effects of atmosphere, mood and dramatic lighting in his depictions of the iconic natural wonders he found at Cape Schanck.

History

The traditional Boonwurrung name for the cape is ''Tunnahan''. The location was given its European name in 1800 after Captain John Schank, R.N. (note spelling with only one 'c') by Lieutenant James Grant sailing on the '' Lady Nelson''. Schank had designed the raised keel (or centreboard) on the ''Lady Nelson''. The spelling of the locality as 'Schanck' (two c's) is a misspelling of Schank. Nicolas Baudin called it Cap Richelieu when he sailed past on the Géographe on 30 March 1802. , cited in Bird (2006) Cape Schanck Post Office opened around March 1879 and closed in 1962. In 1893 a steamship, the SS ''Alert'', sank off the coast at Cape Schanck during a storm. It was rediscovered after 113 years on the ocean floor in June 2007.

Flora and fauna

Albatrosses ( black-browed,

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, yellow-nosed, etc.) are occasionally spotted off the cliffs as are

short-tailed shearwater The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in A ...

s (particularly during their spring migration), black-faced and

pied cormorant The Australian pied cormorant (''Phalacrocorax varius''), also known as the pied cormorant, pied shag, or great pied cormorant, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. It is found around the coasts of Australasia. In New Zealand, it ...

s, kelp gulls and Australasian gannets. The shrubs decorating the area are frequently home to

brown thornbill The brown thornbill (''Acanthiza pusilla'') is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to long, and feeds on insects. It is brown, grey and white. The species has five subspeci ...

singing honeyeater The singing honeyeater (''Gavicalis virescens'') is a small bird found in Australia, and is part of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The bird lives in a wide range of shrubland, woodland, and coastal habitat. It is relatively common and is wi ...

s and a number of other passerines. The elusive striated fieldwren has also been known to inhabit the area. Some flora include cushion bushes.

References and notes

External links

*Website fo
Cape Schanck Lighthouse
{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs Mornington Peninsula Western Port Coastal towns in Victoria (Australia) Schanck

History

Flora and fauna

See also

References and notes

External links