Koroit, VIC

Tue 17 Feb 1998

Returned to the Loch Ard Gorge to complete the visit cut short yesterday by inclement weather.

The Gorge is very deep and cliff bound all round. It is notable as the site of the beaching of the two survivors of the wreck of the Loch Ard. It is hard to credit that a cabin boy rescued an Irish woman from the surf, climbed out of the gorge and came upon two stockmen from the nearest property about 5 km away.

The other features of this site are The Blowhole, Thunder Cave and Broken Head, each matching its name. All are the result of erosion by the sea of the local limestone strata and all are spectacular.

On the way to Peterborough are The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands. Each distincly different from the others and each equally spectacular.

The only negative aspect of visiting these sights is the fact that this stretch of coast is the windiest in Australia. It certainly helps if the sun is shining as it was today.

Warnambool is clearly the commercial centre of the area. We shopped, had lunch in a beautiful park by a lake, and left Intending to visit Tower Hill tomorrow, we stopped at the nearest caravan park which turned out to be at Koroit, a little agricultural township a little way inland from the windswept coast