2Cape du Couedic Lighthouse site

2. Cape du Couedic Lighthouse site

2.1 Location

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse lies off the coast of South Australia on Kangaroo Island. As Australia’s third-largest island, Kangaroo Island is approximately 4405 kilometres-squared in size with its largest settlement being the township of Kingscote on the north-eastern coast.

The lighthouse is located on the far south-western shore of Kangaroo Island on Cape du Couedic Road, approximately 95.2 kilometres south-west of Kingscote, and approximately 209.9 kilometres south-west of South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide.

Lighthouse coordinates: 36° 03.4780' S, 136° 42.3250' E

Satellite map showing Australian continent, a red marker indicates location of Cape du Couedic on south coast.

Figure 3. Location of Cape du Couedic Lighthouse within Australia (Map data: Google Earth, SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO. Image: Landsat/Copernicus)

2.2 Setting and landscape

The lighthouse is situated within Flinders Chase National Park. Comprised of three parcels of land, the park has an area of approximately 326.61 kilometres-squared.

The lightstation, constructed on a far south-western promontory of the island, consists of the lighthouse tower, three former keepers’ cottages and store room. The collection of buildings are all within close proximity to each other on the promontory, and contribute to the visual aesthetic of the region. Although the lighthouse tower is the only building to have retained its original function, the site demonstrates a relatively intact lightstation.

Satellite map of Kangaroo island, red marker indicates location of Cape du Couedic on south-west coast of island.Figure 4. Location of Cape du Couedic Lighthouse along Kangaroo Island coast (Map data: Google Earth, SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO. Image: Landsat/Copernicus) Satellite map of Cape du Couedic, red marker indicates location of lighthouse.

Figure 5. Location of lighthouse on Cape du Couedic (Map data: Google Earth, SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO. Image: © 2022 CNES/Airbus, © 2022 TerraMetrics)

Fauna and flora

Kangaroo Island is considered a sanctuary for a number of floral and faunal species. Most species observed today were introduced around the turn of the 20th century. Flinders Chase National Park is also classified as an International Union for the Conservation of Nature Category II Protected Area.

Faunal species include:

Tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
New Zealand fur-seal (Arctocephalus forsteri)
Western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)