9/12/23 The Wreck Of The Ethel.

Let me tell you about the wreck of the Ethel, a 711 ton, three-masted iron barque which in 1904 ran aground on what is now known as Ethel Beach, between Cape Spencer and West Cape on the Yorke Peninsula.  This happened in the middle of the night and a 19 year old seaman volunteered (my cynical self suspects that he was volunteered) to swim ashore with a safety line, and that was the last that was seen of him. His death was entirely unnecessary as during the night the ship was blown further onto the shore and by morning the sea had calmed and everyone else managed to get to shore safely.  Of course, there was then the small matter of a cliff and a wilderness where the only lakes were full of salt water, but the Ethel was truly fortunate because the Ferret, of the Adelaide Steamship Company, happened to be steaming past when the Ethel got into trouble.  Unable  to offer help, the Ferret could at least report the shipwreck, which meant that rescue arrived before the survivors had to get too troubled about finding their own way to salvation.

Wouldn't you know it, sixteen years later the Ferret got into trouble and, foundering, ran a strong rope to the wreck of the Ethel in order to reach shore and safety.  Now the wreck of the Ferret is there on the beach with the Ethel, not that you can tell them apart at all.

 

 

An intimidating cliff,

which, in 1904, did not have a convenient, if steep and slippery, set of wooden steps.

We found out about the wreck of the Ethel because we couldn't sit in the cabin in Marion Bay forever, looking out at the rain and wind, without getting a severe case of cabin fever.   We put on our rain jackets and headed out to explore the Dhilba Guuranga-Innes National Park as best we could in the terrible weather, and that was how we found out about the wreck of the Ethel and even braved the steep and slippery steps to look more closely at the wreck/s. We had the Park pretty much to ourselves. All the campers had been kicked out for the preceding catastrophic fire day, and none of them had been silly enough to come back to camp in the gale force winds and cold rain.

As well as shipwrecks, the National Park contained Inneston, a ghost town which had existed to mine gypsum between 1930 and 1970. A railway from Inneston to Stenhouse Bay got the gypsum to the boats that took it to market.

Stenhouse Bay jetty.

We went for a quick walk around Inneston, trying to time it for a break in the weather. It was a short walk. There were a lot of ruins in Inneston, and among them were some beautifully restored cottages in which we could have stayed had we been willing to pay the asking price.  Which we were not.

Remnants of gypsum mining and processing at Inneston Lake.

We admired the views from Cape Spencer,

and walked out to Cape Spencer Lighthouse.

From Cape Spencer, looking further around the heel of the Yorke Peninsula toward West Cape.

On the way to West Cape we found an unnamed settlement, merely noted as 'Fishing Village' on the map.  Sure enough, it was another happy mish-mash of shacks and rusty beach tractors, most of them shuttered and waiting for their owners to arrive.

Main 'street.'

West Cape Lookout gave us a 360deg view out over Goblet Bay and across to the Pandalowie surf beach.

Pandalowie Beach was apparently one of the Yorke's premier surf beaches.  Not knowing a thing about surfing I had to rely on Roger's expertise as to whether that was true or not.

Pondering his opinion.

The road ended at Pandalowie.  Had I been on my bicycle I could have continued through the National Park and popped out at Gym Beach, of nautically-decorated shelter fame.  I wasn't on my bicycle however, and I had had quite enough of the wind and rain.  Home we went, dodging emu families which evidently thrived in the environs of the Dhilba Guuranga-Ellis National Park.  The chicks were grown up enough to roam off away from their dad, but not so grown that they had gained whatever modicum of sense can be expected from an emu (not much, if you ask me). We made it home without causing any emu fatalities, turned on the heater, and didn't stick our noses out of the cabin for the rest of the night. 

Shipwreck poses. Because the shipwreck was the highlight of the day.