And this Cape Woolamai pink granite has a number of admirable characteristics - it is water resistant, an attractive colour and amenable to a fine polish.

Consequently, in 1891 a granite quarry was established on the northern side of the cape, on Cleeland Bight, to provide stone for Melbourne buildings.

Today it is still possible to visit the quarry, but only at low tide.

Visitors can see on some granite blocks the drill holes used to split the stone, a method called “plug and feather”. Holes with a 1” diameter and 4” deep were drilled by hand, and possibly by power driven drills, which were available at that time. Steel “feathers” (like a pipe cut in half) were put into the hole and then an iron “plug” pushed between the feathers. The plug was then hammered until the rock split.

A jetty was built of granite blocks from which to load ships. The remains of this jetty can still be seen. Vessels would come in on the high tide. At low tide granite blocks would be brought on trolleys along a tramline and loaded with a crane.

With the return of the high tide the ship re-floated, and the cargo taken to Little Dock, near Spencer Street, Melbourne, a two-day trip.

The Kermandie had left the quarry with a load of granite in its hold and also strapped on the deck. She then had a cargo of wool loaded in San Remo. After sheltering from bad weather at Rhyll for a few days, she set out for Melbourne despite further dire weather forecasts. Possibly due to the weather, or because of shifting cargo, or a combination of both, she disappeared.

It was soon after the sinking of the Kermandie that the quarry was closed.

It appears that the Cape Woolamai granite that did reach Melbourne was used for only one building – the Colonial Mutual Life building built by Equitable Life Assurance of the USA, on the corner of Collins and Elizabeth Streets.

Cape Woolamai granite was used in the base-courses and also in the impressive portico.

Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 1960, one of the many fine old Melbourne buildings which suffered this fate at that time. Some of the salvaged pink granite is at the Melbourne Museum and the statue from the portico is now at Melbourne University, near the Baillieu Library.

Colonial Mutual Life Building, Melbourne