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If you love a good shipwreck story, this is the place for you. Standing at the top of a long staircase descending the cliffs, you get a view of where a mighty struggle for survival by two young shipwrecked passengers took place more than 100 years ago.
We walked down the long staircase into the gorge and onto the sandy beach. There are plaques along the way telling the story of young shipwreck survivors Eva Charmichael and Tom Pearce after the passenger ship Loch Ard went down after sailing too close to the cliffs in heavy fog in 1878.
All but two of the crew of 37 and 17 passengers survived the wreckage. Ship apprentice Tom Pearce managed to survive after clinging to the hull of a lifeboat, emerging dazed and bruised from the waters. Hearing the cries for help from Eva, who had reportedly clung to a chicken coup after being washed off the deck by a wave, he raced to her rescue and battled for an hour to bring her to shore.
Eva lost her entire family in the wreck and returned to Ireland after her recovery. It is said the newly married captain of the Loch Ard grabbed Eva in the middle of the crisis, reportedly saying “if you are saved Eva, let my dear wife know that I died like a sailor.”
There is a large cave at the back of the cave, which is fenced off due to the risk of rockfalls.
Loch Ard Gorge is near Port Campbell, where we found the perfect cottage at The Reef View Holiday Cottages. It is the best accommodation we have yet found on our road trip and possibly the best over the course of our travels. We paid $80 for a fully self-contained cottage. It was built by the owners in a country cottage style, very cosy, with polished wooden floors and benchtops.
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