Low Head is a rural residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of George Town in the Launceston LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about north of the town of George Town. The

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

recorded a population of 572 for the state suburb of Low Head. It is a suburb of George Town, on a peninsula at the mouth of the Tamar River. It is a popular snorkel and scuba diving area during much of the year, with extensive wide, unspoiled beaches. The area also has a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

, beaches and a colony 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 (''Eudyptula minor''). The foghorn, a Chance Brothers "Type G" diaphone at Low Head Lighthouse, is the only operable foghorn of its type and is popular with tourists as it is sounded at noon every Sunday.

History

Low Head was gazetted as a locality in 1967. The first Low Head Post Office opened on 12 September 1887 and closed in 1894. In 1996 the ran aground on Hebe Reef, off Low Head, causing the worst oil disaster in

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 ...

's history.

Geography

The waters of the Tamar River estuary (also known as ''Port Dalrymple'') and

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 ...

form the western to north-eastern boundaries. The George Town Aerodrome is within the locality.

Climate

Low Head has a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen: ''Cfb''), bordering on a warm Mediterranean climate.

Road infrastructure

Route A8 (Low Head Road) runs through from south-west to north-west, where it terminates.

References

External links