Loch Ard Gorge is a number of kilometres to the west of the Apostles toward Port Campbell. It consists of a series of gorges punctuated by islands and headlands, and again is the result of the kind of coastal erosion discussed earlier.

There are three separate walks around the area. Taking all of them will take an estimated three hours. The first one takes you back east to a feature called The Razorback, and provides you with an overview of the geological forces that have shaped the coastline.

The second, which we took, takes you out along a headland to the Loch Ard Wreck lookout. This area was named after an iron-hulled clipper named, of course, the Loch Ard which was near the finish of a three month long voyage from Britain when it was wrecked near here in 1878. There were only two survivors; a male trainee officer named Thomas Pearce, who washed ashore into this gorge after the wreck occurred, and emigrant Eva Carmichael who survived by clinging to a spar for 5 hours, and who Pearce went out to rescue after hearing her cries for help. Both were 18 or 19 years old, depending on which version of the story you hear. After bringing her into the gorge Pearce climbed the sheer cliffs (there is a stairway now, but not then) and went to raise the alarm at a farmhouse which was then in the area.

The gorge is roughly in the centre of the walks, and sits on the right of the lookout headland.

To complete the tour we would have had to swing west from the car park to visit the cemetery, but unfortunately we were out of time for that. The western route also takes you along the cliffs to see some of the more interesting geological features like Thunder Cave. It's the longest trek at around 90 minutes.