Points of Historical Interest
The Great Ocean Walk traverses the Otways, an area rich in fossils; including those of a dinosaur that roamed the area 105 million years ago. The area is also littered with various shipwrecks, including the ships Marie Gabrielle (in 1869) and Fiji (in 1891) at Johanna Beach and Wreck Beach respectively. To combat further shipwrecks on the Bass Strait coast and King Island, the Cape Otway light-station was built in 1848; standing 18 meters tall (at 90 metres above sea level). The lighthouse's first operator, Captain James Lawrence, only operated the lighthouse for several months, as he was constantly drunk and failed to keep the light shining. Besides that, ship captains hailed the lighthouse as ultimately successful in assisting them performing a dangerous manoeuvre they referred to as threading the eye of the needle, entering the western entrance of Bass Strait.
Johanna Beach, occasionally used as a site for surfing tournaments, was named after the Joanna vessel that ran aground there, on its maiden voyage from Tasmania in 1843. A single crewman was lost, with the survivors taking an entire week to travel by foot to Geelong, assisted by local aborigines.
The historic Glenample Homestead, built by pioneer pastoralist Hugh Gibson in 1869 from locally quarried sandstone, is situated at the end of walk. The homestead currently stands as a museum, and displays information about the Loch Ard shipwreck, in which survivors Eva Carmichael and ship apprentice Tom Pearce were taken to the homestead to recover. The homestead also contained information about early station life - including other shipwrecks and local pastoral history; however, the building has been closed indefinitely since 13 September 2007.
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