Port Campbell Visitor Information Centre

Local, regional and state wide information to help you make the most of your stay. The 12 Apostles Visitor Information Centre specialises in tailoring itineraries to suit the needs of individuals and industry. Contact to find just the right property for a romantic getaway, a haven for the family or make use of the vacancy reporting to check on availability in peak times.

Ask about the fabulous and free award winning Craters to Coast Discovery program. Borrow an eight inch Newtonian Reflector telescope, binoculars or delight the kids with activities like Wind Hunter and Crater Quest.

Loch Ard

Visitors are invited to view the wonderful display of artefacts from local wrecks including the Loch Ard, Schomberg, Fiji, Falls of Halladale and Newfield. Read the stories and connect to the tales of heroism and tragedy that are woven into the very fabric of the region.

The Wreck
The Loch Ard clipper left England on March 2 1878. Aboard were 54 people.

The voyage was a good one. The ship was favoured with fair conditions. As the ship approached Australia the passengers were jubilant.

After almost three months at sea, the passengers celebrated with what turned out to be an ill fated 'End of Voyage' party on the 31st May 1878.

The Loch Ard Ship was wrecked on June 1st 1878 when it struck Mutton Bird Island.

The captain thought the ship was 50 miles out to sea. When the mistake was realized the anchors were dropped, but the boat continued to drag shoreward and struck Mutton Bird Island. Of the 54 on board, 52 lost their lives.

The Survivors
The two survivors were an 18 year old cabin boy, Tom Pearce and an 18 year old passenger Eva Carmichael. Eva a non swimmer clung desperately to a chicken coop before striking out for a timber spar. The waves washed her into the mouth of a narrow gorge where her feeble cries for help were at last heeded.

Tom Pearce, the only other survivor had battled his way through the wreckage to the shore where he was wandering dazed on a little beach at the end of the gorge. Hearing a faint cry, he took to the water again, dodging flotsam to reach Eva, he dragged her onto the beach, both exhausted. Tom opened a bottle of brandy and gave it to her, he then got some grass and made a bed for her to lie on.

They both fell asleep in a cave to the west of the beach. Upon wakening Tom left Eva in the cave and went for help. He struggled out of the gorge by clambering up the steep cliff face. After walking a short distance he luckily ran into a stockman on a horse from the only homestead in the vicinity, Glenample. The men from Glenample descended into the gorge and Eva was rescued. Both Tom and Eva were taken back to Glenample homestead where Eva spent eight weeks recuperating at the homestead in the care of the Gibsons. They both made a full recovery.

Life Continued
Eva braved another sea journey back lo Ireland to her extended family and married a doctor. Tom left for Melbourne soon after the wreck, where he was celebrated for his gallantry and on behalf of the Government of Victoria he was presented with a gold watch as well as the 1st gold medal from the Humane Society of Victoria. He went on to pursue his career as a seaman and married the sister of a fellow apprentice sailor who had lost his life aboard the Loch Ard. They had three sons and two sons were lost in shipwreck disasters as well as surviving another shipwreck himself.

The Legacy
Only four bodies were recovered from the shipwreck. They were the bodies of Mrs. Carmichael, her daughter Ruby and two other sailors, Reginald Jones and Arthur Mitchell. The bodies were hauled up the cliff in an open shell and then placed in coffins fashioned from piano cases washed ashore from the wreck. A lock of hair was cut off for relatives before the victims were buried on the cliff top overlooking the gorge. This cemetery can be visited still today.

The beach in the gorge was covered with wreckage and cargo more than 2 metres high. The wreck of the Loch Ard lies in depths ranging from 10 to 25 metres to the south west side of Mutton Bird island. The bow remains relatively intact with the anchors lying nearby but the stern was broken up and disappeared. Cargo and artefacts are still visible on the sea floor include railway iron, rolls of lead and zinc, marble tiles, pewter mugs, inkwells, etc.

Call in and see them in Port Campbell and let the friendly staff show you why there is so much more than just 12 reasons to stay. Together they will create a holiday to remember from craters to coast, rainforest to rolling hills and lakes to luscious treats.

Looking for a special souvenir or gift to remember your trip by? Or perhaps a shipwreck book to curl up and read with a glass of local red?

Opening Hours:

9am - 5pm daily. Closed Christmas Day only.

Location

26 Morris Street, Port Campbell 3269 Map

✆ (03) 5598 2500 / 1300 137 255

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Web Links

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