Cape Woolamai is a town and headland at the south eastern tip of
Phillip Island in
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 ...
. It is home to Cape Woolamai State Faunal Reserve and the
Phillip Island Airport
Phillip Island Airport is a small private airport on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia.
See also
* List of airports in Victoria, Australia
This is a list of airports in the Australian state of Victoria.
__TOC__
List of airports
The lis ...
. Cape Woolamai contains a subdivision also called Cape Woolamai (formerly known as Woolamai Waters and Woolamai Waters West).
History
The cape was named by
George Bass (but spelt "Wollamai") when he kicked it on his whaleboat voyage in early 1798. ''Wollamai'' is the snapper fish (''
Pagrus auratus'') in the language of the
Eora
The Eora (''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sy ...
Aboriginal people of
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
, where the fish is found. Bass, who had learnt some of the Sydney language from the Eora leader
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong serv ...
, thought the headland resembled the head of that fish.
In 1826, during the establishment of Fort Dumaresq, near
Rhyll
Rhyll is a small fishing town on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the north-east corner of the island. It is named after Rhyl, a holiday resort in Denbighshire, Wales. At the , Rhyll had a population of 568.
The first ...
,
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
was reported to have been found in the vicinity of the Cape.
The area was purchased from the government in 1868 by John Cleeland, sea captain, publican and owner of the
Melbourne Cup winner of 1875. He then built Wollomai House and ran
merino sheep from
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. In 1910 his son, John Blake Cleeland, noticed the sand was shifting due to erosion, so he planted rows of
Marram grass, still evident today.
In 1959, of farmland was sold and subdivided into housing estates for beach shacks and holiday makers. It was then named Woolamai Waters and Woolamai Waters West, and later renamed Cape Woolamai. Cape Woolamai had a Post Office from 1970 to roughly 1974 which was open only during summer. A Woolamai Post Office was open from 1911 until 1974.
The roads were sealed in the late 1980s and beach shacks gradually turned into more substantial houses. Today Cape Woolamai has a world-renowned surf beach, Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club, and a popular Safety Beach.
Environment
The headland contains remnant vegetation and wildlife such as an important breeding colony of the
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 ...
, also called the Australian muttonbird. Volunteer groups such as the Cape Woolamai Coast Action Group conduct regular improvement and maintenance works including weed control and revegetation. It lies within the
Phillip Island Important Bird Area, identified as such by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because of its importance in supporting significant populations of
little penguin
The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name .
The Australian lit ...
s, short-tailed shearwaters and
Pacific gulls.
Gallery
Image:Cape_Woolamai_1.jpg, View from the cape looking toward San Remo/Kilcunda coast
Image:Cape_Woolamai_2.jpg, View from the cape looking south
Image:Cape_Woolamai_3.jpg,
Image:Cape_Woolmai_4.jpg,
Image:Cape_Woolamai_5.jpg,
Image:Cape_woolamai_6.jpg,
Image:Cape_woolamai_7.jpg,
Image:Capewoolamaisurf.JPG, The surf club at Cape Woolamai
Image:Capewoolamaishelter.JPG, The gazebo on The Esplanade
Image:Capewoolbeach.JPG, A nice, sunny day at Cape Woolamai Surf Beach
References
External links
Bass Coast Shire WebsiteDownloadable map of Cape WoolamaiOfficial Profile at Phillip Island Nature ParksProfile at VisitPhillipIsland.com
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Phillip Island
Woolamai
Important Bird Areas of Victoria (Australia)
Towns in Victoria (Australia)
Towns in South Gippsland
Bass Coast Shire