Loch Ard Gorge is a famous stopping place along the Great Ocean Road here in Victoria.
The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser 27 Jan 1880 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18944119
The Loch Ard was a ship that sank in a storm in 1878 with only two survivors, Thomas Pearce and Eva Carmichael.
Thomas swam to the shore and took shelter in a cave. Eva clung to some wreckage and was washed into the gorge. Thomas, hearing her cries, swam back out and dragged her to shore. After a few hours he climbed up the surrounding cliff and walked over three miles for help.
I remember this story from my childhood, having travelled there on family holidays. We have taken the kids there ourselves when we have been travelling along the Great Ocean Road.
Below is a photo I took in 2008 at Loch Ard Gorge on a beautiful day, after climbing down the nice steps and leaving our car safely parked at the top.
It is amazing to stand there on the beach and think of poor Thomas and Eva, having survived the wreck, somehow making it through the small gap in the cliffs and onto the tiny beach, only to find themselves alone with no idea of where they were or if anyone would find them.
54 other people died that night, although there was one other amazing escape from the wreck. A life-sized Minton porcelain peacock, perched on a rock, brilliantly coloured and clearly well packed was washed up and found to be undamaged. It is now on display in the Maritime Museum in Warrnambool and is estimated to be worth $4m.
A fascinating story.
As a child I was always disappointed that they didn’t end up married and living happily ever after, it was like fairytales weren’t even real!!!
I’m not awake yet. I read this and was going to comment and then somehow didn’t.
Oh well.
I’ve been down on that beach too and it really does feel as if so isolated and unforgiving.
Even when you are surrounded by busloads of camera toting tourists it still feels remote. It certainly was an amazing feat of survival.
I always love the thought of the person who packed the peacock finding out that they had done such a good job that it arrived safely regardless. It is a beautiful thing too, the colours are so amazing. Have you ever seen it?
Yes, that peacock represents a tiny piece of immortality for the person who packed it. And no, I haven’t. My sister-in-law and I took our kids there and they were too little to appreciate museums… or to be let loose in them.
The museum that holds it these days is fantastic for kids. It is Flagstaff Hill and is very interactive.
When you walk in the door it is as though you are out at sea, the floor stays still but the walls around you are moving as though you are on a heaving ship. Your legs just want to fall you straight over as you stagger to the door at the other end! It has lots of things to look at inside and when you get outside it is into a small heritage village similar to Sovereign Hill.
It is just beautiful and has a puzzle trail for the kids to follow, ending with a box packing puzzle in the bottom of one of the boats floating out in their pond. We were very lucky when we took the kids, it was mid-week and we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves for most of the day.
It is so nice that many museums go out of their way to cater for kids now.
Wow! I’d love to see all that myself. Maybe I can talk the 20 and 30 something ‘kids’ to go again?
The Man and I really enjoyed it too, and they do a night show where you get the story of the Loch Ard projected over the small lake in the Heritage Village. Wear a jacket!
Sounds lovely.
Fascinating story. The guy manages to make it ashore alive and then goes out and rescues the woman. He then sets out three miles to get help. I’d imagine after either, a) making it to shore or b) rescuing someone, you’d be pretty well exhausted at that point. Never mind having to go for a walk of three miles to get help.
The peacock part of the story – well, that’s just one of the oddball
… quirks that come along every so often. Makes the whole incident even more captivating.
It is a great story. Tom didn’t even know where to go, he just walked until he found hooprints, followed them and stumbled upon some horsemen. He told his story and they rode for help. Amazingly he then walked back to the cave where he had left Eva. You would have thought they could have lent him a horse.
Once he finally made it to Melbourne he was feted as a hero, he certainly deserved it didn’t he!
I’ve never heard of this sad story (sad for the 54 who didn’t survive). That’s a great photo, kind of give the reader an idea of what Pearce and Carmichael went through.
It is a sad story. That part of Victoria is called the shipwreck coast. The famous Great Ocean Road follows along some of the most spectacular coast line, incorporating the Twelve Apostles, and when you see the wave smashing against those rocky outcrops just standing out at sea it is hardly a surprising name.
I’m glad you liked the photo, I had to stand out on the beach for ages and wait for all the tourists to move on before I could get the appropriately empty beach shot. It wouldn’t have been anywhere near as effective with 50 camera wielding people in the shot!
Amazing story and the peacock ending is fabulous!
It is just a perfect ending, isn’t it! The peacock is absolutely splendid too, every time I see it I marvel at its survival. I know that is what it is famous for but it is almost inconceivable that such a large piece of porcelain made it through a shipwreck in one piece.
I know I have photos of it somewhere but I spent ages searching through my photo files and couldn’t find a single one….grrrr….. If you google Loch Ard peacock you will have no trouble finding it though.