Lady Bay Lower Lighthouse teams up with her Upper sister to guide boats into Warrnambool harbour. No access to this lighthouse which is part of the Flagstaff Hill Village
My experience at the lighthouse
For my experience at Lady Bay Lower Lighthouse, and for some of the historical stories picked up from the Trove website, you can go to the blog entry for the Lady Bay Upper Lighthouse here.
Sadly you can’t access Lady Bay Lower Lighthouse but you can walk around the base and get pretty close to it.
The lack of access may have something to do with the fact that there appears to be no internal spiral staircase, but a metal ladder rising diagonally up the side of the lighthouse, so I imagine health & safety is a factor. Lady Bay Lower is also different in that it is square rather than the usual round tower. The original lighthouse was made of wood and stood on the beach itself but was moved to this more elevated position so that it could be better seen by ships out to sea.
Lady Bay Lower works in conjunction with the Lady Bay Upper Light to guide boats into Warrnambool harbour.
Practicalities
Access to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village is $18 each though there are deals for families, and concessionary fees, too.
You can see the lighthouses from outside the perimeter fence, and certainly from the harbour (!), but it’s nice to be able to walk right underneath Lady Bay Lower, even if you can’t actually go inside. And different angles from different viewpoints show the lughthouse in very different lights.
The Village is open 9am-5pm daily (if you want to see the lighthouses outside these times, you can walk to about 50m away from Lady Upper outside the perimeter fence, from which Lady Bay Lower can also be seen)
You can stay in the Harbour Masters Cottage next to the lighthouse. Lovely old building (renovated in 2002, so not vintage like the actual keeper cottage). Great thing is you get to see the lighthouse flashing after dark. You can hear the waves, but it does seem a long way from the ocean if you had to deal quickly with an emergency…And there are the architect’s plans for Lady Bay Lower on the wall of one of the rooms.
What are your experiences at Lady Bay Lower lighthouse?
Does anybody else have stories to tell of their own visits in and around Flagstaff Hill Village and especially the lighthouse? Has anybody climbed those stairs up to the light and the balcony up top of Lady Bay Lower? If so, I’d love to hear, so send a comment in below.
Other links and writings on Lady Bay Lower lighthouse
This website has an entry for Lady Bay Lower with photos and technical specifications, in case those are what rock your boat…