Loch Ard Bay from the air, April 2002: Muttonbird Island in the front-left, Loch Ard Gorge and beach in centre-back and the recently collapsed Island Archway on the right. (Photo by 'Roffy')
Way back in February 2006 I visited Loch Ard Gorge for the first time. The water was calm and clear. Ridiculously calm and clear. I departed from the Great Ocean Road with two plans forming in my mind. First, to get a kayak that would be easy to carry down the steep coastal paths and launch in order to travel under those beautiful arches and second, to dive on the wreck of the Loch Ard.
Exceptional calm in Loch Ard Gorge (February 2006)
In the following months I sourced a charter boat that takes divers to the incredible Arches site as well as to the Loch Ard, when weather permits. Also, on a trip to Canada in March, I investigated inflatable kayaks and later in the year I received the Innova (Gumotex) Helios II. Then we waited and waited and waited for a string of northerlies that would bring the calm conditions that I’d encountered on my first visit…
Eventually, in March 2008 we took a trip down to Port Campbell. The water was calm, but not like before. Even so, we launched from Loch Ard beach and paddled out the choppy entrance and through the archway in Muttonbird Island. Pretty soon we got uncomfortable in the swell and surge and thought we should get back through the entrance before things got much worse.
Kayaking through the arch in Muttonbird Island (March 2008)
I’ve been hoping ever since that we’d be able to go back and travel through the rest of the arches and explore the coastline. But it’s changing so fast. In April I took my parents along the coast and saw how huge the waves can really get. After seeing the pounding waves and how much some of the rocks had eroded, compared to my photos from a few years before, it was not too much of a surprise to learn last week that one of the archways had collapsed.
Island Archway, March 2008
Island Archway, May 2009
Island 'Archway' June 2009 (Photo by Glen Hunter)
WOW, WOW, WOW!