Gog and Magog Gibson Steps, Great Ocean Road, Victoria , Australia

Gog and Magog Gibson Steps, Great Ocean Road, Victoria , Australia

 

Blue-sky-at-Gog-and-Magog-Great-Ocean-Road

 

Gibson Steps - 12 Apostles 

 

Port Campbell National Park, Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell, Victoria, 3269

 

 

In local vernacular, Gog and Magog are the names given to the two offshore stacks that may be viewed from both the viewing platform and  (tide and sea permitting) from beach level. These are not considered part of the 12 Apostles. The steps were carved into the cliff by local settler Hugh Gibson who worked on traditional access used by the traditional owners the Kirrae Whurrong people of the Eastern Maar nation.

 

Be dwarfed by the 70-metre high vertical cliffs and marvel at Gog and Magog, the nicknames given to the giant limestone stacks rising up out of the sea. Weather permitting, make your way down to the beach via the 86 steps that were carved into the face of the cliff by local settler Hugh Gibson, who worked on the route originally used by the Kirrae

 Whurrong people.

 

Location: Great Ocean Road, Princetown (5 km west of Princetown township)

 

How many of the 12 apostles are left in Victoria?

Only eight of the original Apostles are left, although there are 30 rock formations along this stretch of the coastline.

 

 

Gog and Magog sea stacks in Victoria, Australia

 

Gog and Magog sea stacks in Victoria, Australia

 

The state of Victoria's shores form the southernmost stretch of Australia's coast, with hundreds of miles of picturesque coastline flanking the metropolis of Melbourne. There's no better way to experience it than the Great Ocean Road, a 150-mile seaside highway winding westward from Melbourne's suburbs to this region called the Shipwreck Coast—aptly titled for the more than 600 vessels its depths have claimed. When the hungry waves are calm, this spot just below the Gibson Steps—a cliffside staircase leading 230 feet down to the beach—is a great place to take in a sunset framed by the coast's signature sea stacks. These twins are often mistaken as part of the famous Twelve Apostles formation nearby, but they're actually a separate group named Gog and Magog.

 

portcampbellnationalpark

The 12 Apostles

 

Embark on a scenic 4.5-hour drive from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road and arrive at the wondrous 12 Apostles. Rising out of the Southern Ocean, alongside Australia's famous Great Ocean Road, you'll find these spectacular, 45m (150ft) tall, limestone pillars that were once connected to the mainland cliffs.

 

12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Victoria © Visit Victoria

 

Loch Ard Gorge

Loch Ard Gorge, Great Ocean Road, Victoria © Greg Snell Photography

 

 Victoria’s most famous shipwreck, was smashed against Muttonbird Island in 1878 with only two young survivors.

 

The surrounding natural attractions

Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park, Victoria © Greg Snell Photography

 

Witness the stillness of the water under The Grotto, learn about the history of the London Bridge which collapsed in 1990, and marvel at the surrounding Bay of Islands.

 

Rock stacks from sea level

Great Ocean Walk, Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Victoria © Visit Melbourne and Mark Watson

 

Witness the magnitude of the Gog and Magog rock stacks (not considered as part of the 12 Apostles) from ground level. Climb down the 86 stairs of Gibson Steps to the beach and take a stroll along the soft sand which is backed by 70m (230ft) limestone cliffs. 

 

 

The Shipwreck Coast, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

 

The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia stretches from Moonlight Head to Cape Otway, a distance of approximately 130km. This coastline is accessible via the Great Ocean Road, and is home to the limestone formations called The Twelve Apostles. 

 

Limestone formations east of Loch Ard Gorge, Port Campbell National Park, Victoria Australia.

Over 50 shipwrecks are commemorated in a Historic Shipwreck Trail beginning at Port Fairy.

 

The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia stretches from Cape Otway to Port Fairy, a distance of approximately 130 km. This coastline is accessible via the Great Ocean Road, and is home to the limestone formations called The Twelve Apostles.

 

Explorer Matthew Flinders said of the Shipwreck Coast, "I have seldom seen a more fearful section of coastline."

 

There are approximately 638 known shipwrecks along Victoria’s coast, although only around 240 of them have been discovered. The Historic Shipwreck Trail along the Shipwreck Coast and the Discovery Coast shows some of the sites where gales, human error and, in some cases, foul play caused these vessels to be wrecked.

 

 

Australia’s Shipwreck Coast forms part of the Great Ocean Road, spanning from Moonlight Head to the small fishing village of Port Fairy.

The Most Famous Shipwreck

 

Perhaps the most famous shipwreck story is that of the Loch Ard, which disappeared on its way to Melbourne from England. Caught up in fogs along the coast, the captain thought he was miles away from the cliffs of the Australian mainland, but in fact, he was fatally close.

 

The huge ship hit Mutton Bird Island on the 1st June 1878, killing 52 of the 54 people on board. The only survivors were Eva Carmichael and cabin boy Tom Pearce, who managed to spend the night in a cave before climbing the cliffs and finding help once the bad weather had cleared.

 

 

 Shipwreck Coast so dangerous

A fierce wind that blows in from the Antarctic which causes huge swellings in the waves that crash against the shore.