By the 1830’s Bass Strait became an important part of the sea route between Europe and New South Wales, with many ships passing Cape Otway.
The Cape Otway Lighthouse was built in 1848, commissioned by the New South Wales government to help ships cross the hazardous entrance of Bass Straight from the Southern Ocean. Many ships were wrecked along the coast of Cape Otway including SS Casino (1932), SS Shomberg (1855), Marie Gabrielle (1869), Loch Ard (1878), Eric the Red (1880) and Fiji (1891).
Anchors from the Marie Gabrielle and Fiji are embedded in the rocks at Wreck beach and can be seen on low tide.
You can read more about the shipwreck here.
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Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Great Ocean Road region the Wadawurrung, Eastern Maar & Gunditjmara. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We recognise and respect their unique cultural heritage and the connection to their traditional lands. We commit to building genuine and lasting partnerships that recognise, embrace and support the spirit of reconciliation, working towards self-determination, equity of outcomes and an equal voice for Australia’s first people.
