Jen and I took off down the coast for a taste of some touristy locales. Luckily, the sun came out for the first time during my trip. I was starting to wonder about it!

We visited the Twelve Apostles, which are huge rock formations hundreds of feet off the beach. I believe the cliffs are limestone or sandstone, so they’ve worn away pretty easily over the past few hundred years, leaving big hunks in the middle of the water. Weird.

The neatest part of the day was visiting Loch Ard Gorge. The Loch Ard was a ship that travelled to Australia from England in the 1878. It spent three months at sea, with 54 passengers and cargo valued at more than $100k. When the passengers spotted land, they held a big party, for they knew they’d be landing in the morning. Trouble is, overnight was foggy, and the ship drifted towards what is now known as the “Shipwreck Coast.” At 4am the captain spotted this trouble, and used every evasive manuever to avoid the coast. Unfortunately, the iron hull struck the rock, and the ship sank in 15 minutes, killing all but two on board.

The two who survived were both 18, Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael. Tom saved Eva from the wreckage and earned a medal for his heroism. Eva, unfortunately, lost seven family members and immediately returned to England. Tom went on to sail ships until he died at the age of 47.

This story is a yawn unless you actually see Loch Ard Gorge. It’s a great place to be smashed to bits on the rocks even in the nicest of weather conditions. The “beach” (what few feet of it there is) is surrounded by steep 50 meter cliffs that are at a beautiful 90 degree angle. Tom had to climb the cliffs and search to find anyone to help him save Eva, who was passed out on the beach below. It’s a true miracle that anyone survived. Only four bodies were ever found, although pianos and champagne and other precious cargo washed ashore.

Needless to say, I fell in love with the story.

We stopped at the supermarket for dinner, and prepared for an evening of Druno. This would be Drunken Uno for those not initiated. It was a wonderful thing that I’d managed to grab several bottles of girly drinks at the supermarket, too, because if I’d just been drinking Chardonnay there’d have been a lot of puking going on.

Feeling incredibly happy and incredibly drunk, we watched “Supertroopers.” Unfortunately for me I only managed about half the movie before knowing it was definitely time for bed. That’s alright though - more sleep for me!

In love with Cointreau’s “Aura”,
michelle