The wreck of the Ethel
March 2021
Mother Mature has almost totally reclaimed the Ethel.
As a child, on our visits to Yorke Peninsula in South Australia we would often visit the wreck of the Ethel. Back then to us as small children the wreck was like a playground. We could climb on and go in and out of the wreck.
We probably should not have been climbing on the wreck but it was a different time. Come to think of it, if the ship were to wreck there today you would never be allowed near it and the Government would have it removed.
The Ethel was a 711-ton, three-masted iron barque which ran aground in a storm while en-route from South Africa in 1904.
Do a Google image search to see some older photos of the wreck. The SA Government is inviting anyone with old photos to send them in and they are creating a time lapse of the wrecks return to nature.
Yumi walking from the wreck to the sea.
When the Ethel ran aground those people would have been very much alone. The beach is a beautiful place to spend a quiet afternoon listening to the ocean pound the shore. You can see a storm approaching during our visit which added even more atmosphere to our time there.
View of the wreck from the steps into the bay.
As we climbed the steps back up the cliff face I wondered if there would much of the Ethel to see next time I visited. Certainly not I think if it is more than 20 years from now. As you can tell from the footprints in the sand, the Ethel gets many visitors.