The edge of the world: why this convict-built lighthouse is a Tassie must-see

On a blue-sky, brink-of-summer day, it's hard to imagine why Cape Bruny Lighthouse was ever needed.

That's Tassie for you (perfect one day, untamed the next).

Over the centuries, too many ships have come to grief around the state's coastline and islands. Several terrible wrecks prompted Governor George Arthur to commission this 13-metre-high clifftop beacon, built by convicts and first lit in 1838.

After shining its way into the record books as Australia's longest continually manned lighthouse, it was decommissioned in 1996. Today, it's the only southern Tasmanian lighthouse open for tours.

Even if you don't climb the lighthouse's cast-iron spiral stairs (guided tours are $25 a person), you can explore a tiny museum and their families, and roam the scenic spot.