Shipwreck Trail 

King Island is surrounded by the treacherous waters of the Bass Strait, which has seen the shipwrecks of many vessels attempting to do as George Bass and Matthew Flinders did in 1798; cross the strait and shorten the travel time to Sydney. Sadly, many of the attempts failed, hundreds of vessels and thousands of passengers/crew never made it to the shores of Sydney Harbour.

Today, the Shipwreck Trail, as it is known, begins at the southwest of King Island and can be followed full circle. There are interpretive sites along the way to educate and tell the stories of the shipwrecks.

Things to do

• Cataraqui- The wrecking of the Cataraqui in 1845 remains Australia’s worst civil and maritime disaster: 400 emigrants drowned when the ship struck rocks just a hundred metres offshore on the west coast of King Island.
• Netherby- The outcome for passengers aboard the Netherby was a happier one: the crew managed to get all the passengers safely on shore after the ship ran aground.
• Loch Leven- Rushing the first wool clip of the season from Geelong to the early London wool sales, the Loch Leven was only two days into her journey when disaster struck.

Things to do

• British Admiral- The British Admiral, on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, struck a reef off the coast of King Island on 23rd May, 1874 at 2.30 a.m. and was sunk before 3am. Only 9 people survived of 88 passengers and crew.
• Blencathra- Visit the site of the Blencathra wreck. Maybe you’ll stumble upon some undiscovered flotsam and jetsam.The ship’s cargo included a large amount of alcohol: 800 cases of whisky were salvaged from the wreck, but 75 of these ‘evaporated’ overnight, despite an armed guard.