Circa 1800, this Illuminated Clock-Faced Tide Gauge, was invaluable to ships navigating the channels into Port Germein, South Australia.
A series of pulleys and levers, on the outside, rose and fell with the tide and a chain and wheel mechanism, inside, directed the hands to the appropriate channel depth measurement.
In 1989 new technology made it obsolete, but in 2013 it was restored. The only other Clock-Faced Tide Gauge was thought to have existed on the Tamar River, Tasmania.
The first purpose-built underground catholic church in the world was opened in Coober Pedy, South Australia, 1967, to cater for the large population that had come to make their fortune on opals.
There have been a number of resident parish priests over the years and they have all ministered to a community that reached as far as Western Australia!
We have visited in both hot and cool weather, noticing that that this amazing structure is incredibly cool in 40C heat and snug during a 17C day. No excuses there!
The original building was extended over the years and currently the chairs are placed for COVID conditions. To the left and right of the altar it is also cut out, creating a transept, I think.
There are two other underground churches in Coober Pedy – the Anglican Church and the more recent Serbian Church. DO visit one of them if you venture into the centre of Australia, and maybe try your luck at opal noodling.
With a parcel of long service leave, a yearning for warmer weather and two State borders open to us, we hitched up the van and headed off. Our ultimate goal is the top of the tip – the northernmost point of Australia and the top of Cape York, but the Corona virus is seeing borders closing and opening with little notice, so we have to be flexible.
For those of you who are locked at home, or who might be missing us, you can travel with us as we go. Make sure you let me know if you want more or less information as we go and there may be a delay from time to time, as WiFi is hard to come by in the middle of nowhere.
Day 1 brought us to Lake Hart, a free campsite not far from a large salt lake. We had passed a lookout over another one, just out of Pimba and apparently there are many larger, but it was salt and the illusion of water, as far as the eye could see.
Evidence of an enclosure or jetty or some kind of structure using wooden posts, unlikely due to the original owners of the land, the Kokatha, as it is very European in design.
The rifts and lumps of salt made for good photos, as did the sunset, still oozing orange over the lagoon about an hour later.
The Ghan railway passes between the lagoon and the campsite and can be crossed by a pipe/tunnel or over the top. At 7pm the train went past, almost silently, and all campers came out to watch the dark shadow seeming to run on water.
Take plenty of water and choose free campsites near others, for safety.
Literally – in a park in North Adelaide, set up for children and adults, alike, to enjoy. They were beautiful as they waved and danced in the wind and seem worthy of Cee’s FOTD.
For Proscenium’s Friday Follies from the Royal Adelaide Show. I’m sure the scarecrow competition wasn’t considered folly by the entrants, but you decide.
