Cape Otway & The Shipwreck Coast

On January 17, 2006 we hit the Shipwreck Coast along the Great Ocean road. The first part of the trip we did a major hike to access a couple of shipwrecks (Nico already mentioned earlier) at Moonlight Head - the Fiji (1891) and Marie Gabrielle (1880.) All that's left of either wreck are the anchors. The sign claims it's 366 steps but we counted and they lied. It's really 380. Because of the long hike and the inaccessibility of Moonlight Head (only accessible via a long dirt road) we only saw three other people our entire time on the beach. The beach is dotted with rocks and you have to be careful navigating the rock shelves.

To combat the phenomenon of wrecks a lighthouse was erected at the northern tip of the Eye of The Needle - an 84 KM gap between King Island and Cape Otway - in 1848 (nearly 50 years after the first ship entered the straight.) How can an 84 KM gap be called the eye of the needle? Well, if you think about it in nautical terms (1000's of KMs) 84 KM is a tiny space to fit a boat through without hitting something in the dead of night and without modern technology.

I can't imagine being the lighthouse keeper in that era...utlimate isolation...beyond that which even than the basement Damo would desire. The only contact with the outside world occurred every 6 to 12 months when supplies were delivered. It wasn't until the 1930's that it was accessible overland by road. The second lighthouse keeper

Even today it seems so isolated on the tip of the second most southern point in Australia with cliffs dropping away to trecherous ocean. Rock shelves and breaking waves even a kilometer out. One could see how shipwrecks happened a lot. The views from the lighthouse and the point itself were stunning and its well worth the admission fee of $11.50 Aus.