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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ001127A
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00:32 This site is one of the greatest tragedies of the shipwreck 00:35 coast happened. It was here that the Lock Ard sank and only two 00:40 of the 51 people on board survived. Here is where a young 00:50 sea captain's last words were a message to his wife and where 00:55 a young girl lost her parents, three sisters and two brothers. 01:00 Today we remember their stories. 01:03 ♪ ♪ 01:31 The drama, beauty and wilderness of this part of Victoria's coast 01:36 line is breathtaking. Here the land doesn't gently slope down 01:38 to meet the sea. Rather the sea repeatedly attacks the cliffs 01:43 carving chunks of rock away until the land is left a 01:48 solitary pillar of rock. Eventually the pillar gives in 01:53 to the repeated pummeling of the waves and crumbles to join 01:57 the reefs below, reefs that seethe with foam and salt spray 02:03 in storms and give this area its other name, the Shipwreck Coast. 02:07 There are approximately 638 known shipwrecks along 02:16 Victoria's coast and only around 240 of them have been discovered 02:22 The small coastal traders and large ships carrying vital cargo 02:26 and immigrants between Europe, America and the new colonies of 02:32 Australia often battled severe storms not only in the 02:36 treacherous waters of Bass Strait but also at anchor in the 02:40 precarious safety of Portland Bay. This anchor was retrieved 02:54 by divers from the wreck of the Falls of Halladale. In 1908, she 03:00 joined the many ships that have come to grief on the reefs of 03:04 the Shipwreck Coast. On the night of the 14th of November 03:09 1908 a navigational error caused the Falls of Halladale to sail 03:16 through dense fog directly onto the rocks. The crew of 29 simply 03:21 abandoned ship and all made it safely ashore by boat leaving 03:24 the ship foundering with the sales unfurled. For weeks after 03:29 the wreck large crowds gathered to view the ship as she 03:33 gradually broke up and then sank in the shallow water. Today the 03:39 Falls of Halladale is a popular destination for recreational 03:43 divers. Some of the original cargo of 56,000 roof slates 03:48 remained at the site of the wreck along with corroded masses 03:52 of what used to be coils of barbed wire. Twenty-two thousand 03:57 slates were salvaged in the 1980s and used to provide 04:01 roofing here at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Not far 04:12 down the coast from where the Falls of Halladale sank is the 04:16 site to one of the greatest tragedies of the shipwreck 04:20 coast. It was here that the Lock Ard sank and only two of 04:24 the 51 people on board survived. The Lock Ard left England on 04:34 March the 1st 1878. The ship was under the command of 29-year- 04:41 old Captain Gibbs and was full to its capacity of 17 passengers 04:47 37 crew and cargo. On the 1st of June there was much excitement 04:51 aboard the Lock Ard as after months at sea the captain and 04:55 passengers were expecting to see land, the coast of Victoria. But 05:01 when the fog lifted at 4 a.m. Captain Gibbs discovered that 05:05 the ship was much closer to the cliffs of Victoria's Shipwreck 05:09 Coast than anticipated. Ordering as much sail to be set 05:13 as possible he desperately tried to turn the ship out to sea, but 05:19 the ship soon stopped. The anchors were dropped but failed 05:22 to hold and the Lock Ard was tossed and pulled by the waves. 05:28 Despite the frantic efforts of the captain and the crew the 05:32 Lock Ard struck a reef connected to Muttonbird Island. Waves 05:40 broke over the ship and the top deck was loosened from the hull. 05:43 Water flooded the cabins. The passengers screamed in terror 05:49 as the ship began to disintegrate. The mast and 05:52 rigging came crashing down knocking passengers and crew 05:56 overboard. There was pandemonium as the crew struggled to launch 06:01 the life boats. When one was finally launched, it crashed 06:06 into the side of the Lock Ard and capsized. Tom Pierce, the 06:11 young ship's apprentice who launched the life boat managed 06:14 to cling to its overturned hull and sheltered beneath it for 06:18 hours. He drifted out to sea and then when the tide turned at 06:23 dawn he was swept into what is now known as Lock Ard Gorge. 06:27 He left the boat and swam to shore. Bruised and dazed, he 06:32 found a cave in which to shelter He was all alone. Eva Carmichael 06:43 was immigrating to Australia with her mother, father, three 06:47 sisters and two brothers. While waiting to board a lifeboat she 06:52 spoke with Captain Gibbs. He said if you are saved, Eva, let 06:57 my dear wife know that I died like a sailor. Eva was then 07:02 washed off the ship and into the sea, floating in the waves, 07:08 terrified, calling out for help. After five hours in the water 07:14 Eva was near unconscious and was carried by the waves into the 07:19 gorge. Tom Pierce saw her and swam out to bring her in. There 07:25 was a case of brandy washed onto the beach which Tom used to 07:28 revive her. Tom then climbed out of the gorge and found help from 07:34 nearby Glen Apple Station. There with much care and attention 07:40 the two shipwreck survivors gradually recovered and were 07:44 nursed back to health. Tom and Eva were the only two survivors 07:49 of the 54 people on board the Loch Ard. All the other 07:53 passengers and crew perished. Eva lost her parents, three 07:57 sisters and two brothers. Despite heroic efforts only five 08:05 bodies were ever recovered from the wreck of the Loch Ard and 08:09 four of them are buried here in this Kistop Cemetery above Lock 08:14 Ard Gorge. The fifth was buried on the beach where it was 08:17 was discovered. Eva was devastated by the loss of her 08:23 entire family on that fatal shore. She was now alone in a 08:27 foreign land and longed for her extended family back in Ireland. 08:32 However, she was devoted to Tom and forever grateful to him for 08:36 rescuing her. Tom Pierce became a national hero and was awarded 08:42 the gold medal of the Humane Society in front of 5000 people 08:46 on June the 20th 1878 at the Melbourne Town Hall. The 08:52 romantic sentiment of the time was that Eva and Tom should 08:55 marry. But this was not to be. Within three months Eva had 09:01 returned to Ireland and they never saw each other again. Two 09:15 days after the shipwreck a wooden packing crate washed onto 09:18 the beach of the gorge. It contained a life size sculpture 09:22 of a peacock. Here at the Flagstaff Hill Marine Village in 09:28 Warrnambool we can see the magnificence of the Lock Ard 09:32 peacock. It's the centerpiece of the museum's collection of cargo 09:37 that was salvaged from the wreck of the Lock Ard. The _ 09:45 peacock was the largest and grandest of the items in the 09:46 Lock Ard's cargo which was destined for display at the 09:50 Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880. The cargo 09:53 carried by the Lock Ard revealed much about the affluence of 09:57 Melbourne in the era of the gold rush. Items such as perfumes, 10:02 pianos, clocks, linen, candles, confectionary, umbrellas and 10:08 straw hats were on board together with heavier more 10:12 industrial items such as railway irons, lead, cement and copper. 10:17 At 144 cm. tall the peacock is quite big and very fragile. But 10:25 That something so fragile could have survived the violence of a 10:29 shipwreck is quite remarkable. I like to think it represents 10:33 the hopes and aspirations of so many of those migrants who came 10:38 out in similar circumstances aboard a ship and those of 10:41 course who didn't make it. About 15 meters off Warrnambool break 10:50 water there is the La Bella Reef. The reef got its name when 10:55 the La Bella sank here. On November 10th, 1905 the La Bella 11:01 approached Warrnambool at the end of a 37-day voyage. She was 11:05 carrying a cargo of timber from New Zealand. The seas were heavy 11:09 and mist hung low over the bay. As the captain steered La Bella 11:15 into the channel here the ship was tossed onto its side by 11:18 heavy breakers and ran aground on the reef. The sea was so 11:23 rough that it wrenched the one- and-a-half ton anchor from the 11:28 vessel. Several attempts were made by volunteers in lifeboats 11:32 to rescue the stricken sailors but the rough conditions were 11:35 too difficult and the boats returned to shore. 11:38 The La Bella's crew became exhausted and sailors were being 11:43 washed overboard one by one. By sunrise only five of the 12 crew 11:49 still clung to the wreck. Twenty five-year-old Willian Ferrier 11:55 was a local fisherman who wanted to help. In the morning he rowed 11:59 his small dinghy through the heavy seas and managed to rescue 12:03 the captain. A volunteer lifeboat rescued a further 12:07 three sailors. There was one terrified sailor left on the 12:11 wreck. William made a final attempt and was able to reach 12:15 the sailor just before the ship broke up and sank. 12:18 The weather was stormy, no moon, all they knew that the waves 12:24 were very hard breaking over the reef. (Ms. Avis Quarrel) No 12:30 lights, of course, there wasn't electricity to have search 12:33 lights out playing on the water or anything so at 3 o'clock in 12:37 the morning it was very dark. I think Willian Ferrier was the 12:42 who had the least to loose. Never took orders from anybody. 12:47 Did his own thing completely and he just left the life boat 12:52 when the first two attempts turned them back and that's when 12:56 he got his own little skiff. He went out to the wreck twice. 13:02 After he'd got the first fellow off, he brought him back round 13:07 the breakwater into Lady Bay and handed him over and just 13:12 promptly turned around and rowed back again. And he knew he was 13:19 capable of doing that. He didn't want to interfere. He was his 13:24 own man, he could do it, so he just went and did it. 13:28 William Ferrier became a national hero. He was awarded 13:37 the silver medal for bravery by the Royal Humane Society and was 13:42 honored by the prime minister and the governor. Ferrier's 13:46 rescue efforts are one of the most heroic in Victoria's 13:49 shipwreck history. The wreck now lies in 13 meters of water and 13:54 is home to an abundance of marine life. William Ferrier 13:59 eventually left Warrnambool and became a lighthouse keeper. 14:02 Lighthouses were the savior for thousands who journeyed along 14:08 the Shipwreck Coast. Cape Otway Light Station is the oldest 14:22 lighthouse on the Australian mainland. It's operated 14:26 continuously since 1848. Before Bass Strait was discovered by 14:34 Matthew Flinders around 1799 ships had to sail around 14:38 Tasmania names Demon's Land back then taking an extra week 14:43 to 10 days. But the path between King and Flinders Islands and 14:48 the mainland is still treacherous. Crew on sailing 14:52 ships call it threading the needle. In the Bass Strait the 15:07 mighty Southern Ocean is forced through a passage nearly 90 km 15:12 wide and up onto the continental shelf where the sea bottom 15:16 becomes relatively shallow. In these parts the wind blows and 15:22 swells of 10 to 20 meters aren't rare. On a typical day, the 15:28 swell is about six meters. During the 1840s increased 15:39 immigration and direct mail services from England meant that 15:42 shipping through Bass Strait was on the increase. The number of 15:46 wrecks along the Bass Strait coast clearly indicates the 15:50 urgent need for a lighthouse. But action to build one wasn't 15:55 taken until after the 1845 Cataraqui wreck. This immigrant 16:01 ship ran onto the west coast of King Island and all 399 16:06 passengers and crew died. It remains Australia's worst marine 16:11 disaster. And then the Cape Otway Light Station was built 16:15 between 1846 and 1848. The lamp was finally lit on the 29th of 16:25 August 1848. It was manufactured in London and was brought ashore 16:30 at Cape Otway through crashing surf in small boats. The light 16:35 mechanism consisted of 21 polished reflectors and lens 16:40 mounted on a frame. Originally it was filled by whale oil then 16:46 kerosene and later electricity. The light shown nearly 50 km 16:53 out to sea and gave a really bright light. It's brightness is 16:58 equivalent to one million candles. About 30 ships were 17:04 wrecked of the coast just out from Cape Otway from the 17:08 lighthouse. Two of the most significant of these ships were 17:14 Jennie and Eric the Red. Jennie was sunk in 1854. Now just a few 17:23 years after this lighthouse was completed in 1948, gold was 17:29 discovered in Ballarat and workers throughout Australia 17:33 went AWOL as they searched for their fortune at Ballarat. They 17:39 left their jobs and even some of the assistant lighthouse keepers 17:43 here at Cape Otway left their position, left their post and 17:48 made their way to Ballarat. Now it was during this time that the 17:53 head lighthouse keeper had taken full responsibility for 17:54 head lighthouse keeper had taken full responsibility for keeping 17:57 the lamp burning and during this time one morning while walking 18:02 on the nearby beach he found a large section of fresh mast and 18:08 knew that a ship had sunk. He then went searching and sure 18:11 enough at a beach not far from here he discovered the survivors 18:16 of the Jennie. He brought them back here to the lighthouse 18:20 station at Cape Otway and cared for them using his own supplies 18:24 until help was provided. In 1851 Victoria had a population of 18:37 77,000 people. By 1861, just 10 years later, the population of 18:45 Victoria was 540,000 people which was half the total 18:49 population of Australia. People were rushing to Victoria in the 18:54 hunt for gold. Most of them arrived by sea with ships 18:59 carrying people and ships carrying the supplies they 19:02 ordered in from overseas and ships carrying the gold they 19:05 dug up and sent back to England. Each of these ships faced the 19:10 same treacherous conditions along the shipwreck coast. Each 19:14 of the passengers and crew knew all about the tragic shipwrecks, 19:18 but they had no other option for travel so continued their 19:23 journey placing their faith in the captain and hoping that the 19:26 weather would be mild and they would make it through the 19:29 dangerous waters safely. When the weather was rough every 19:34 person on board would strain their eyes to see the light 19:38 shining from the Cape Otway lighthouse, the Lady Bay 19:41 lighthouse in Warrnambool and the other lighthouses dotted 19:46 along the shipwreck coast. We're all on a journey of some 19:56 kind hoping that we'll have good conditions as we make choices 19:59 about work or study or family as we travel through life. 20:05 Sometimes our journey is through thick fog, the waves are rough, 20:09 there's a storm and you're feel in your bones that danger 20:13 must be close by, but you just can't see it. Then the bright 20:17 beacon of a lighthouse cutting through the mist and showing the 20:21 way is a savior. John chapter 8 and verse 12 says: 20:36 ♪ ♪ 22:06 Like the passengers and crew on the ships that sailed along 22:09 the Shipwreck Coast to thread the needle to reach Melbourne 22:12 you may feel you're traveling in a dark storm or thick fog. 22:16 Whatever storm you may be facing right now remember that 22:21 Psalm 119 verse 105 says: 22:29 Today Jesus is still seeking and rescuing the lost and calling 22:36 men and women, boys and girls everywhere and offering to take 22:40 them to a place of peace and safety. If you feel you are 22:44 drowning under the burdens of life, if you are being tossed 22:47 about in a stormy sea of despair and heartache, if you are being 22:52 blown around by the winds of strife and pain, then remember 22:57 Jesus offers security, happiness and fulfillment. And what a 23:02 great difference that makes to a person's life. If you would like 23:06 to experience that difference in your life, if you'd like to be 23:10 part of the greatest rescue story and have Jesus rescue you, 23:14 why not ask him right now as we pray? 23:18 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and goodness to 23:24 us. The Bible is one big story of your rescue plan and it takes 23:29 the whole Bible to tell this story, the story of our rescue. 23:34 And in this story Jesus is always at the center because he 23:39 is our rescuer. Father we're often buffeted by the winds and 23:44 storms of life. Thank you for loving us so much and for 23:49 sending Jesus to rescue us. We want to be part of your rescue 23:54 plan and have you save us and take us to a place of safety and 23:59 security in Jesus. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. 24:07 ♪ ♪ 24:24 We all love rescue stories and we all love heroes. They stir 24:28 our emotions. Some of the most dramatic, amazing and exciting 24:34 rescue stories ever are found in the Bible. The stories of Daniel 24:39 Noah, Jonah, Joseph, Rahab and others have been shared, told 24:45 and loved for generations. They never lose their appeal and are 24:50 as popular today as ever. But the most amazing and incredible 24:55 story is when Jesus Christ rescued you and me. We are 25:01 part of the greatest rescue story and he is our rescuer. 25:06 Jesus offers security, happiness and fulfillment and what a great 25:11 difference that makes to our lives. If you'd like to 25:14 experience that difference in your life I'd like to recommend 25:18 a free gift we have for all our viewers today. It's a booklet 25:23 called Finding Courage to Meet Life's Challenges. There's no 25:27 cost or obligation. Finding Courage to Meet Life's 25:31 Challenges is absolutely free. There is no cost or obligation 25:35 whatsoever. So please, don't miss this wonderful opportunity 25:41 to receive the free gift we have for you today. Here's the 25:45 information you need: Phone or text us at 0436333555 or visit 25:54 our website: www.tij.tv to request today's free offer 26:00 and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with no 26:04 obligation. So don't delay. Call or text 0436333555 in 26:12 Australia or 0204222042 in New Zealand or visit our website 26:21 www.tij.tv to request today's offer. Write to us at: 26:44 Don't delay. Phone or text 0436333555 in Australia or 26:53 0204222042 in New Zealand to request today's free offer. 27:00 Call or text us now. If you've enjoyed today's journey, be sure 27:10 to join us again next week when we will share another of life's 27:14 journeys together and experience another new and thought 27:18 provoking perspective on the peace, insight, understanding 27:22 and hope that only the Bible can give us. The Incredible Journey 27:27 truly is television that changes lives. Until next week remember 27:34 the ultimate destination of life's journey. Now I saw a new 27:38 heaven and a new earth. And God will wipe away every tear from 27:42 their eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying 27:46 There shall be no more pain for the former things 27:49 have passed away. 27:52 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2020-09-23