The Victorian Ships' Graveyard was the official dumping ground for Melbourne's unwanted hulls: an unregulated 'outer Heads' area used from about 1900, and from 1932 the proclaimed Commonwealth Area No. 3, a 6 km circle about 10 km south-west of Barwon Heads in 40–60 m. More than 46 vessels were stripped, towed out through The Rip and sunk with gelignite between 1913 and 1971, and all are protected historic shipwrecks. Bunyip was one of the oldest vessels in the ground: an iron steam bucket dredge of 317 tons, 48.9 m (160.5 ft) long, built by W.

Simons and Co at Renfrew and launched on 24 January 1879 for the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commission, two years after the Trust was formed to make the Yarra navigable. Her 78 ft bucket ladder dug the first deep channels into the river. Long superseded, she was cut down to a coal hulk and lighter, and on 20 November 1954 she snapped her moorings in a fierce storm and went adrift in Hobsons Bay – the same fate that condemned the Malaita a generation earlier.

Judged not worth keeping, she was towed out and scuttled on 13 April 1955. She lies in about 58 m at the far south-western edge of the field, one of the most remote wrecks in the Graveyard, and the Scuba Doctor calls her an interesting deep technical dive – a Victorian-era dredge with industrial equipment still recognisable, though the great bucket ladder was presumably removed when she became a hulk. Deep-water sponges and sea whips grow on the iron and ling, boarfish and large crayfish live in the structure; visibility at this end of the ground, far from the Barwon, is often 15–25 m.

At 58 m the Bunyip is a trimix or rebreather dive with 45–55 minutes of decompression at the end of a 50-minute boat run, and she is among the least-visited wrecks in the ground. She suits experienced technical divers doing the south-western trio – Bunyip, D McLennan and White Pine, all within a kilometre – and anyone with a taste for the oldest machinery in the Graveyard.

Boat only. The western end of the Ships' Graveyard sits 8–12 km south of Barwon Heads and is normally reached from Queenscliff Harbour (Red Boats, Dive Victoria Group technical charters) – a 40–60 minute run out through The Rip and west along the Bellarine coast – or occasionally from the Barwon Heads river ramp in a small boat when the bar is flat. Drive Melbourne–Queenscliff via the Geelong Ring Road and Bellarine Highway (about 1 h 40 min).

Technical charters usually load at the harbour before dawn to get the wreck dived before the afternoon sea breeze. Private boats need a reliable sounder and the published GPS marks, as nothing shows on the surface.

Fully exposed Bass Strait. South-westerly swell is the killer: most charters will not run on a forecast over about 1.5 m, and anything from the south or west over 2 m makes the site undiveable and the passage through The Rip dangerous. Northerly and north-easterly winds flatten the sea; a calm morning after several settled days gives the best visibility (often 15–25 m in autumn and winter).

Surge is felt on the wreck in any swell over 1 m. Tidal streams outside The Heads are weaker than inside but still run; charters aim for slack water at Port Phillip Heads or a favourable tide for the transit. Winter westerlies close the site for weeks at a time.

The wreck sits in or near the shipping approach and pilot boarding ground, so a shot line, surface cover and a delayed SMB are mandatory.

Shot onto the hull. Locate the bucket-ladder well and the remains of the dredging machinery, run to bow and stern, and ascend the shot at 20 minutes with 45–55 minutes of staged decompression.

Technical (decompression) dive. Trimix only (18/45 or 15/55) with EAN50 and oxygen deco; a 20 min bottom time typically needs 45–60 min of staged decompression. CCR-friendly with a bailout plan sized for the full ascent.

Drop a weighted shot on the wreck, use a delayed SMB from the wreck or a decompression trapeze under the boat; the site is in a shipping approach so free-drifting deco is discouraged.

No operator. Visited only by Melbourne technical/rebreather teams and Southern Ocean Exploration from private boats, typically once or twice a year at most.