PHILLIP ISLAND, VIC TRAVEL
"How much further? I can’t see any shipwreck,” whined my 10-yearold daughter. Her patience was wearing thin as we threaded through thatches of grass onto a windswept bluff, the sea breeze turning her hoodie into a windsock. We reached the crest and peered over the clifftop, gazing east along the rocky shoreline, and there it was. The unmistakable silhouette of the SS Speke shipwreck, the vessel’s rusted skeleton pitched skyward in a defiant salute to Bass Strait.
I’ve visited Phillip Island — one of Victoria’s most beloved coastal playgrounds — many times, but I’d never before glimpsed the , a steel cargo ship run aground in 1906. That there are no signposts to this maritime relic, and little — if any — reference to it in the tourist literature, makes the an altogether thrilling side trip. The wreck, only accessible at low tide, can be reached via a 1km unmarked trail from Kitty Miller Bay. The final section is a short knee-jarring descent down a rutted dirt track, but we were soon rock-hopping over tidal pools and clambering up onto the exposed hull to peer’s decaying carcass.
