Ninety Mile Beach – Stage 4

Morning – 2 April 2017

Joanne agree to drive me back at 06:00 to my previous day’s beach exit point, this having been marked on my Garman GPS. As the previous afternoon beach trekking had been very difficult, I thought it might be best to start the morning without the bike.
It wasn’t long and I came across the wreck “Trinculo 1879” and a man with a camera on a tripod next to the wreck. I’m not sure what he was doing, but for all the time as I approached the wreck, I never once saw him take a picture or check his camera. He seemed a little disappointed about something.

The barque Trinculo was proceeding to Newcastle for coal after delivering a cargo to King George Sound, Albury W.A. After encountering a south easterly gale in Bass Strait, it was driven ashore on the Ninety Mile Beach. A crewman managed to get a line from the wreck to the shore allowing the Captain, his wife and child and the remaining crew to reach safety. Seaman Lefevre received a silver medal from the Humane Society for his actions. As there was no tree or rock on the beach to which a line could be fastened, the only way was for those on board to lower themselves down into the surf, and then for those on shore to drag them through the breakers on to the beach.
This was a somewhat dangerous experiment, but it had to be done, and fortunately all escaped with their lives. Mrs Williams’ (the captain’s wife) was quite black in the face and insensible when she was hauled up on the beach, as was also one of the seamen, who could not swim. In order to save his child (about sixteen months old) Captain Williams fastened him on his back, but when in the surf one of the breakers threw him heavily on his back, at one time it was thought the child was killed, but although insensible when hauled on to the beach the child afterwards recovered.

It was shortly after passing the wreck, I came to the realisation that conditions were much better than I had expected, leaving the bike behind at Campsite C1 was probably a mistake. I waited until my next scheduled hourly reporting time to confer with Joanne. Reluctantly Joanne agreed to again leave her warm sleeping bag, she drove back down Shoreline Drive and delivered the bike to my then location, Campsite C9 at 07:30. This was a very good decision, sorry Joanne, I managed to get to Surf Edge Drive, at Golden Beach by 08:55 riding all the way at very good speed.

Given the conditions of fair winds, relative calm seas, I pushed on hard, knowing I was working against a incoming tide. Level with Golden Beach settlement, I had recorded travelling a grand total of 71.99km from the start, getting close to the half way point of my journey.
I continued to make relative satisfactory progress, by 11:58, I had completed 21.75km that morning, I was still 11km from my next daily finishing checkpoint of Lock Sport. I called Joanne and we arranged to meet at the 90 Mile Beach Retreat for lunch. I arrived a little before Joanne, so after reconnoitring the place decided to walk back down the 400m access track to the beach and collected my bike.

Jo’s Report

Tides were up so Chris called to say bike riding was impossible could I leave domestic duties of clothes washing at the Loch Sport caravan park and bring provisions and meet him down the road, again!.  Jan the hostess at 90 mile beach holiday retreat was super hospitable and let the free interlopers have lunch and made us a cup of tea.

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