Cape Wickham is the most northerly point of King Island, Tasmania. From here, it is 90 kilometres (56 mi) to Cape Otway on the Australian mainland. In the 19th century, ships coming from Europe would sometimes attempt to sail between Cape Wickham and Cape Otway to cut down on the required travelling time to Sydney, however the trip was dangerous and the price of failure high; usually shipwreck on the unforgiving King Island coast.