Shipwreck Coast – Koalas, but no Whales

Back in 2003, one of the more memorable and visually stunning points of our trip was a day spent driving along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) southwest of Melbourne. But when it was time to return to Melbourne, we wondered: what comes after GOR? The answer? The Shipwreck Coast. And with a name like that, who could resist a trip to continue along the road and see what it’s all about?

The Shipwreck Coast stretches along the Victorian coastline from the western end of the Great Ocean Road to the South Australian border. It is so named (duh) because of the many shipwrecks that occurred there, which were caused by the exceptionally stormy seas of the Bass Strait, known to bedevil even the most seasoned captains. Gales would blow sailing ships directly into the miles of steep jagged cliffs that stretch along the coast.

We made our way via an inland route, skipping the more picturesque but winding Great Ocean Road but saving a half day of driving. We arrived in Port Campbell (where the Great Ocean Road ends) to see the famous Twelve Apostles rock formation, one of the most famous – and spectacular - natural landmarks in Australia.



From there we began the journey up the Shipwreck Coast. Our goal for the day (and where we stayed all weekend) was Warrnambool. Warrnambool (pronounced “Warrmbul” - and as one syllable) was a major whaling port in the heyday of whaling 150 years ago, principally because Right Whales and Blue Whales would winter and calve in the bay there – literally yards off shore. Nowadays, only the occasional Japanese “researcher” worries whales, and they have returned to shores of Warrnambool in such good numbers that people flock there July-September (winter) to catch a glimpse.

A few facts about Right Whales: They’re called right whales because whalers thought they were the “right” type to catch. That is, they’re big, blubbery, and float on the surface when dead. The females give birth to a calf every 3 years like clockwork. And they don’t eat the whole 3 months they’re in the bay calving. Sadly, we didn’t see any whales but we vowed to return until we spotted one.

That night we drove just 20 minutes down the coast to Port Fairy. Port Fairy is one of those seaside villages for which the term “picturesque” was invented. The charm of the town reminded us of places like Mystic and other places on the east coast of the US. We wandered around the main street (not one traffic light) and then headed to our dinner. We were lucky to score reservations at the Merrijig Inn, one of the best rural restaurants in Oz. Merrijig has just been granted an additional “chef hat” by The Age Good Food Guide, the Aussie equivalent to Zagat or Michelin. The extra ‘hat’ was well deserved -- we had a delectable meal.

Sunday we awoke to pouring rain. It’s not often we see this sort of rain – the cats and dogs type – in Australia. After 10 years of drought we’d normally be thrilled to see sheets of rain falling from the dark full clouds. However, we had been planning to hike in Mt Richmond National Park that day. Luckily we had an hour’s drive, and as we arrived at the park the rain stopped for the rest of the day. Even better, we were the only ones at the park – presumably because the day had started so miserably. We literally had our own national park. How cool is that?

One of the reasons for selecting Mt Richmond Park was to correct a nagging problem. We’ve been in Oz for a year and we’ve still never seen a koala in the wild. Sure, we’d seen them (repeatedly) at the animal sanctuary, but considering all the Koala Crossing signs we see on the road, we’ve been completely shut out every time when it comes to seeing one in the wild. Twenty minutes into our hike, we finally scored: a mother and baby sitting out on a branch plain as day. And then, with the curse broken, we started spotting koalas all over the park.




After another picnic lunch (olives, bread, cheeses, sausages, almonds and a shared beer) we headed to Cape Bridgewater. Cape Bridgewater is a moonscape along high cliffs with dramatic views of the coast. The wind was whipping the waves against the cliffs – easy to imagine why so many ships floundered, lurched and crashed here.

We made another attempt to see the whales. Same result, so we headed off to the main attraction when the whales are hiding: Flagstaff Hill and the Shipwreck Museum. Flagstaff Hill itself is a recreated whaling village and “not recommended” (aka dull as dishwater) although to be fair, they are supposed to have a fantastic light show at night (designed by the same team that did the Sydney Olympics in 2000). The Shipwreck Museum was great, however. They had a small but impressive collection of artifacts from and local shipwrecks. The most famous was a delicate, perfectly preserved 3 foot porcelain peacock made byMinton in England. It was intended to be displayed in theMelbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and was the only item to survive the other wise completely destroyed Loch Ard. Remarkable to think an item this fragile survived a storm that battered a steel ship to pieces is a mystery.

We also watched a fascinating home movie about a sailing ship rounding Cape Horn. It was filmed by a young man in 1929 – in 1980 the now elderly captain who did the filming added a narration. You really appreciated how daring (audacious?) one must have been to sail on those ships. He filmed during a storm from top of the masts (17 stories up). The boat was heaving and water was crashing over the deck – the ship completely disappears in the ocean at times. We practically got vertigo from looking at the tiny deck below. Oh, and did we mention he was hanging free? There were no safety lines at the time.

After that it was back to Melbourne, but for those of you planning a visit we now have the perfect one day itinerary on the Great Ocean Road and Shipwreck Coast.