The wreck of the Clonmel

Since leaving Eden we've been meandering our way through Gippsland, while we get back into our nomadic groove.

We stopped in Lakes Entrance, Gunaikurnai country, for few days before making our way to Yarram, in Brataualung country. Yarram is the self-proclaimed "centre of everywhere". It quite sure how they work that out, but it's certainly very pretty and surrounded by rainforest, lush pastoral land, and the ocean. There's also 25 huge murals painted on walls and other structures dotted around town.

Yesterday we went to Port Albert, about 12km out of town and found a beautiful coastal hamlet that has a lot of history about it, including being the site where the paddle steamer Clonmel was wrecked. We do love a good shipwreck.

The Clonmel was built in Birkenhead, England, and she was to be the flagship of a paddle steamer fleet providing passenger and cargo transport between Sydney, Melbourne and Launceston. She was a luxurious boat and with state-of-the-art equipment on board, was capable of sailing from Sydney to Melbourne in just 24 hours. Imagine! There'd barely be enough time to get seasick.

On just her second voyage, the Clonmel left Sydney bound for Melbourne with 80 passengers and crew on board, along with a cargo of banknotes and expensive drapery. At 3:00am on 1 January 1841 she hit a sandbar on the coast east of Melbourne and down she went. Fortunately all the passengers and crew made it to shore in the ships whaleboats and quarter-boats.

Around the same time as the Clonmel's watery demise, pastoralists in the region were looking for a port to provide easier access to markets in both Melbourne and Tasmania. Word spread, from the rescued crew and passengers, about the deep water off Corner Inlet at the mouth of the Albert River (apart from the paddle-steamer-wrecking sand bar. Not very deep there). News of a potential new port reached Melbourne, prompting the formation of the Gipps Land Company, which mounted an expedition to the area, and later established a trading depot. And so Port Albert became a thriving commercial hub and was one of Victoria's first and most important ports. It's no longer used as a port, but appears to be something of a weekend playground for cashed-up boating and fishing enthusiasts from the big smoke.

It's a beautiful spot with perfectly maintained buildings, boat ramps, jetties and parks, and there's fish and chippery in the old customs building. We're assuming it's good fare because the line-up was way too long for us.

Here's a selection of photos from the past week, including just a few of the very cool murals around Yaram. This part of Gippsland is well worth a visit if you're in the area.