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Fly Ted Down Under Journeys through the land of Oz

The Great Ocean Road

The same view, looking a bit further out to the arch on Mutton Bird Island.

AUSTRALIA | Sunday, 20 March 2011 | Views [321]

The same view, looking a bit further out to the arch on Mutton Bird Island.

Huge swells roll along the cliffs before the narrow entrance to the Gorge, before which they usually catch on a rocky outcropping and are thrown back out. Spray easily reaches up to the top.

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The Loch Ard crashed into these cliffs on the night of May 31, 1878, with 54 people on board. They had been celebrating the successful end of their three month voyage from England, or so they thought. They were due in Melbourne the next day, but there was thick fog and visibility was likely nil. The captain stayed on deck through the night but at 4am the fog lifted and they were right under the cliffs. The captain tried to turn the ship away and almost succeeded, but she ran aground on a reef and stuck fast. The waves quickly smashed the ship to bits and prevented lifeboats being launched. The ship sank in about 15 minutes, and in the end only two people survived, an 18 year old boy, Tom, and 17 year old girl, Eva, who survived by clinging to wreckage and were rescued 5 hours later. Bear in mind this was June, heading into winter. The water was cold enough in March!

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