Download - Travel Australia-Whyalla
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Gee and Cee travel Australia in a caravan Share photos of Australia and give word impressions of their
destinations. Seek Australian regional produce for home cooking.Fish.Enjoy the tourist sites. Reminisce
on past self sufficiency in Australia through vegetable and tropical fruit gardening.
WHYALLA
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Whyalla ; Steel City
Whyalla is some three hundred&eighty K’s from Adelaide. You travel past the leg and boot shaped Yorke Peninsula and then some distance down the broad neck of the Eyre Peninsula. Here on the Spencer Gulf is Whyalla-the steel city.
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Figure 1 A landscape on route to Whyalla
Figure 2 A landscape on the route to Whyalla
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Early Explorers
Matthew Flinders came by sea in 1802 and explored the area around Whyalla.
Flinders was followed by John Eyre who did land exploration in 1840. Both explorers noticed ironstone 50 kilometres inland in the Middle Back Ranges. This area of ironstone was to become the future Iron Knob mine which was to become so economically vital to Whyalla.
The Early Days
The Mount Laura Station museum in Whyalla traces the early development of the district.
Figure 3 Mount Laura Station Museum
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The first settlers in 1890 were the Cowled Family who started running sheep in the area. Their supplies came by sea in ketches same as they did in the development of the Yorke Peninsula. In this instance they beached the ketches on the sand at Cowleds’ Landing; unloaded them on to a horse and cart on the low tide and then refloated the ketch on the high tide.
Figure 4 Cowleds’ Landing
These ketches are recognised with a monument to both them and the Cowled Family at Cowled Ianding.
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Figure 5 Monument to the family and the ketches
Figure 6 Details of the monument
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A Lack Of Water
Just as it was in Yorke Peninsula, the biggest problem for settlers was the lack of surface water. The semi arid landscape could be exceptionally beautiful, particularly in certain lights. The red soil with the complementary hues of blue, green and olive from the salt bush scrub is startling. Any monotony is broken by the rounded elongated ridges. The ancient timelessness of it can make you gasp. It has a dangerous beauty.
Figure 7 The semi arid landscape
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Figure 8 The semi arid landscape
Not an easy land to exist in either then or now. However you have to wonder; the original Cowled’s lived well into their eighties.
The History of the Steel City of Whyalla
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Whyalla started on the shore as a tiny work camp at the foot of Hummock Hill in 1901.
Figure 9 Hummock Hill as it is today.
The purpose of the small camp was to load the iron ore, which was brought from Iron Knob, on to ships at the jetty. The jetty had been constructed by BHP(Broken Hill Proprietary Limited).
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Figure 10 The BHP Jetty now
In 1914 BHP built tin houses for its work force and Hummock Hill expanded to become a little town. One of these tin houses, a Gay Street cottage, stands in the Mount Laura Station Museum.
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Figure 11 A 1914 tin house
From these tin houses the settlement, then known as Hummock Hill, gradually expanded until by 1940 it had blast furnaces and shipyards and was renamed Whyalla. Whyalla became a city in 1961 and went on to have steelworks and a shipyard .There was 66 ships built here before the yard closed in 1978.
WHYALLA NOW
In the old town at the foot of Hummock Hill there is a collection of ugly, red, industrial buildings which are the steel mills and the heart of Whyalla.
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Figure 12 Industrial Whyalla
Figure 13 Industrial Wyhalla
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Figure 14 Industrial Whyalla
These scenes are not beautiful and yet historically renovated cottages nearby make a feature of the very ugliness of the red industrial dust. Surprisingly it works and does produce a kind of attractiveness.
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Figure 15 Old renovated industrial cottages
Figure 16 Old renovated industrial cottages
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Figure 17 Old renovated industrial cottages
A hibiscus bush in the garden adds that extra touch.
You can climb up Hummock Hill to get a better view of the steel making, the iron ore exporting and their surrounds. The wider perspective shakes you in its startling combinations. In a glance you can dip this red rust scene into the immensity of the nearby azure sea,the clean bright light and the huge sky.
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Figure 18 Iron ore exporting jetty
Trains, clattering and booming, come in loaded with iron ore from the mine at Iron Knob.
Figure 19 Iron ore arrives by train
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Ore is loaded onto conveyor belts that work it along onto the jetty.
Figure 20 Unloading the ore onto the escalators
Now it is the turn of the floating trains- the barges- which are pushed and shoved by their tugs out into The Spencer Gulf.
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Figure 21 Tug pulls iron ore barge into the Spencer Gulf
Figure 22 Iron ore barge & tug
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The barges look like red, overweight, puffing Billies as they bend like drowning struggling caterpillars when they are caught in the tide or prodded by their tugs.
The iron ore ship, probably from China, sits out in deeper water. Its attachments strain to catch the wayward barges so as they can fill their holds.
Figure 23 The iron ore ship with its attachments
It takes days and numerous barge loads before the ore ship’s belly is full and it settles down to its red plimsoll line.
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Figure 24 Tides come & go as the ship gets loaded
The twinkling night makes the picture even more romantic You can imagine the ship’s Asian crewmen, weary for their far off homes, staring at this foreign shore, albeit a beautiful one, and longing to cast off.
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Figure 25 The ship & barge at night
Figure 26 A ship at night
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The Blue Line
What you will always remember about Whyalla, what will be imprinted on your mind, is the blue line.
This natural phenomenon, one of Nature’s beautiful quirks, comes about because of a huge tidal movement. At low tide a remarkable band of blue appears between shallow and deep water.
This occurance gives you the most incredible seascapes imaginable. It makes Whyalla a beautiful place.
Crabs love this setting and Whyalla is famous for its crabs and razor fish.
Figure 27 A view of Whyalla & the blue line
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Figure 28 The blue line from Whyalla harbour
Figure 29 The blue line from Whyalla beach
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Figure 30 Crabbing on the blue line
Some of the money from the resources boom works its way back into Whyalla.
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Figure 31 Whyalla from Hummock Hill
The caravan park is beautifully sited and deservedly popular.
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Figure 32 Whyalla Caravan Park
On the high tide fishing just here for small fish,garfish and tommy ruffs, can be quite rewarding;
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Figure 33 Gee fishes for garfish at Whyalla caravan park
Figure 34 Gee's catch of garfish & tommy ruff
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A carefully nurtured plant of Sturt’s Desert Pea, South Australia’s floral emblem survives well in the caravan park;
Figure 35 Sturt's Desert Pea
And a nearby public garden is an added attraction.
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Figure 36 The beachside public garden
Crabbing At Whyalla
If the weather and tides are right, going crabbing from Whyalla Caravan Park beach is a sublime experience. The walk, the light, the colour, the sudden flash of a scuttling blue crab and the movement of sand and tide all play a part.
It is not easy. You have a long walk way out across sand and shallow water at the time of the turn of the incoming tide. You need your crab rake, floating bin on wheels and often end up chest deep in sea water. Then you need the eyes to spot the flash of blue and the quickness and strength to flip this blue crab onto your rake. It is fantastic though to come back to your camp with your harvest of crabs.
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Figure 37 Cee starting off to walk to the blue line to crab
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Whyalla Wetlands
Whyalla has wetlands in development. Making wetlands has become an important and popular Australian community endeavour. Such projects are good for the migrating birds, for people walking and relaxing and for beautifying the urban environment.
Figure 38 Whyalla Wetlands
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BLACK POINT, PORT BONYTHON, POINT LOWLY
Further round the bay from Whyalla there are important sea grass meadows which are the world famous breeding grounds for the giant cuttlefish.
This area is known as Black Point
Figure 39 Black Point
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Swing further round the bay again and you come to Port Bonython, the export jetty for the central South Australian, Moomba gas fields.
Figure 40 Port Bonython jetty
At Moomba liquid hydrocarbons, oil condensate and LPG are mixed and then pumped 659kms to here.
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Figure 41 Plant at Port Bonython
A short distance on from here is historical Point Lowly. Here there is a lighthouse, which in the past has been a sentinel for shipping going through to the upper Spencer Gulf.
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Figure 42 Point Lowly
Figure 43 Lighthouse at Point Lowly
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Two old style cottages, built for the light house keepers, stand near the lighthouse.
Figure 44 Cottages for the lighthouse keepers
Amateur fishermen love the small harbour at Point Lowly.
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Figure 45 Point Lowly Harbour
Gee is very happy to have caught two nice sized snapper here.
Figure 46 Snapper caught at Port Lowly
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Go round Point Lowly and you are into Fitzgerald Bay. This was where the intrepid explorer, Matthew Flinders, anchored for his shore explorations of this part of South Australia.
Nowadays this place is big in fish farming. These crystal clear waters, bounded by semi desert, are ideal for breeding kingfish and queenfish.
Figure 47 Fish farming at Fitzgerald Bay
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WHYALLA SNAPPER FISHING COMPETION
Figure 48 The Australian Snapper Competition Banner Whyalla has the yearly Australian, snapper fishing competition in April. Boats come from all over and zip in and out from the harbour over a few days as they compete to catch the biggest snapper.
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Figure 49 Whyalla harbour
Figure 50 The judging of a big snapper
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The competition has a fairground atmosphere with food and entertainment provided.
Figure 51 Whyalla Snapper Competition
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Figure 52 Wagon rides at Whyalla
Figure 53 Helicopter flights at Whyalla
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A very special feature of the event was the kite flying.
Figure 54 Kites at Whyalla
Two kites were especially symbolic for Whyalla;
Figure 55 The giant cuttlefish kite
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Figure 56 Launching the white pointer shark kite