GROUP TOURS

This page contains information about tours of the Museum and the lighthouses associated with the Museum

Click here to see the Lighthouses section of the page

Museum tours

The Museum conducts guided group and school tours of the Museum. Tours take approximately 1 hour and can be tailored to suit specific groups.

Our guides are local people who have an extensive knowledge of the maritime history of Queenscliff and southern Port Phillip and they make the tours interesting, informative and exciting.

Tour bookings should be made at least 2 weeks ahead so that we can organise our guides.  Once a tour is booked at a time to suit, we arrange a guide/guides to conduct the tour

Tours may be booked by contacting the Museum by phone between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday (03) 5258 3440 or contact us by email.

When organising a school tour please advise the approximate number of students and their age so that the guide can tailor the tour to suit. The Museum can provide worksheets for the students if requested or you may design your own worksheet with the help of information we are happy to send to your school prior to the visit.

Hours of opening and the price of admission including tour prices are given on the Hours of Opening page on our web site. Teachers, assistants and bus drivers are not charged an admission fee.

All Museum tour guides have current Working With Children Checks

School Tours and Educational Resources Defiance Work Sheets

Payment

Tours can be paid for by cheque on the day or a Tax Invoice can be issued

Amenities

Car/coach parking close by, wheelchair friendly facility, toilets, nautical gift shop, short walk to Queenscliff shopping precinct, Historical Museum, Railway Station, Fort Queenscliff, harbour, pier and ferry terminal.

LIGHTHOUSES at QUEENSCLIFF and POINT LONSDALE

Click here for details about tours of Point Lonsdale Lighthouse.

Queenscliff Lighthouses

The first lighthouse at Queenscliff commenced operating around 1844. at Shortland’s Bluff as a leading mark for ships entering Port Phillip.  The original Shortland’s Bluff Lighthouse had a lantern platform 35 metres above sea level, the main light being produced by 8 oil burners.  Another burner projected a powerful beam towards the entry from the ocean. The sandstone structure fretted in the salty atmosphere and extreme weather conditions and it soon became necessary to build a wooden structure around it for protection.

The upper lighthouse (Black Lighthouse) situated in the grounds of the Fort was built in 1863 of solid bluestone from the Maribyrnong district.  This lighthouse (known as the High Light) still stands today and is the only black lighthouse in Australia.  The wooden tower it replaced was moved to Point Lonsdale.

Soon after the completion of the High Light, the building of another lighthouse commenced. This lighthouse was called the Low Light. The High Light (black) and Low Light (white) are navigation lighthouses and when these lights are in transit (that is, in line), they form the main lead for ships entering Port Phillip.

Point Lonsdale Lighthouse

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse is a landfall Light. The concrete structure was built in 1902 replacing the wooden lighthouse which had been shifted from Queenscliff.  In 1950 the base was altered to provide for an observation and shipping  control operations room in the Lighthouse.  The tower is 22 metres tall, the walls at the base are approximately 2 metres thick, and at the top about one metre thick.  The light is 37 metres above sea level.

The control room of the Lighthouse is staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year by communications officers of Port of Melbourne Corporation.  A visual and radio watch is maintained as well as monitoring and advising shipping passing through the entrance to Port Phillip.  Visual and radio back up is provided to small craft.

POINT LONSDALE LIGHTHOUSE TOURS

Access to Point Lonsdale Light is by pre-booked guided tour only

All tours take approximately 1/2 an hour

Tours are available on Sundays throughout the year between 9.30 am and 1.00 pm

Tours for schools and other groups can be arranged for other times

SAFETY is important whilst visiting the Lighthouse

• a reasonable level of fitness is required to climb the steep stairs inside the tower

• people with pacemakers are not permitted

• appropriate footwear is essential - no thongs, slip-on shoes, crocs or high heels

• children must be at least 5 years old and a minimum of 95cm tall

• a limit of 8 people per group applies

All Lighthouse Tour Guides have current Working With Children Checks and Certificate 2 First Aid

Amenities

Parking and toilets nearby

Advance bookings are required for all Lighthouse tours

Please phone between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday (03) 5258 3440 / 0419 513 007 (message service) or contact us by email info@maritimequeenscliffe.org.au

GROUP AND SCHOOL TOURS

SCHOOL TOURS

Children must be at least 5 years old and a minimum of 95cm tall; a maximum of 8 children and 1 teacher per tour

Cost $4.00 per student ( We do not charge for teachers or accompanying adults)

ADULT GROUP TOURS

Cost : Adult Groups $6.00 pp    Concession Groups $5.00pp