Day 192 - Ninety Mile Beach, Seaspray to Golden Beach

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We had a pleasant nights sleep at The Honeysuckles with the surf just audible to us camped at the back of the dunes on the Ninety Mile Beach.

The Ninety Mile Beach is one of the longest uninterrupted beaches in the world. Because a significant portion of the beach is only accessible by boat it is also one of the most natural and unspoilt beaches in the world. Boat access is available from either Bass Strait or from the Gippsland Lakes.

We took a drive along the coastal road that runs parallel to the Ninety Mile Beach and stopped at Golden Beach for a coffee. There are now many more houses here than when I last visited and the "town" can justify a couple of cafes and a real estate shop. This is the most southern part of the Ninety Mile Beach (which has road access from Seaspray to near Loch Sport). After a pleasant coffee, we were hoping to use the showers at Golden Beach but each of the cubicles was over-run with mosquitoes (and they are huge here in Gippsland) so we shelved that idea.

We returned along the same road and stopped at a different camp site which looked less used (there was grass). After lunch we took a walk on the beach to the wreck of the Trinculo. The wreck site was approximately one kilometre from where we were camped.

The Trinculo was built in England in 1858. The iron sailing barque was on it's way to Newcastle when gale force winds blew it ashore on 30 May 1879. The hero of the day was crew member Thomas Lefevre who jumped overboard with a long line with a purpose of swimming to shore. This was no mean feat as the ocean was fierce that day with a strong undertow and heavy breakers. All lives were saved including the captain, his wife and their young child and a crew of nine.

The Paddlesteamer Paynesville was also lost close to this spot on 20 March 1881. The vessel was slow and unreliable and sprang a leak on a return voyage to Melbourne. It was beached but broke up and was claimed by the sea.

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