Friday, 19th March 2010
Today I went on the history tour with my Wardli and Wardli 5. It was led by Moff and he practically drove us around talking about random things concerned with history, nature or geology etc. Our first topic was the Norfolk Pine which was used for ships masts in the early days and as a result, is found in many coastal areas around Australia. The next place we went was the site of the old Limestone quarry near the jetty at Point Turton, now covered by a caravan park. Limestone is also known as Calcium Carbonate and is mostly made up of old shells. Point Turton used to be a port so sailing ships (the main transport of the day) could take it elsewhere for use in construction.

After that, we left Point Turton and began a drive through the countryside. Whilst there, we found an old stone house which Moff thinks was made by an early sheep farmer who struggled with the local Aborigines over nearby wells. Evidence of this includes rows of defensive Boxthorn bushes around the property and a stone house with small, fort-like windows. Old plows in the field are evidence that he failed at his sheep business and tried to grow crops.

We then started our drive along a road where Moff found a couple of interesting (sort of) trees. One tree was the Aleppo Pine, which we had been removing a few days ago. The Aleppo Pine was introduced to Australia for three main reasons. After World War 1 it was introduced because it is native to areas where Australians fought, like Gallipoli. Another reason is because they provide a good windbreak for farms. The final reaon there were brought to Australia is because they were green, especially in comparison to the duller Australian trees. Aleppo pines are harmful because they don't support native animals or vegetation.
Whilst we were looking at the Aleppo Pine, Moff talked about how the aristocracy, that is, the people that owned land, built large houses on the top of hills with classical architecture and large driveways back in England. This began to change in Australian as working class farmers earned more and began to build grander houses instead of old corrugated iron sheds.

We stopped off a while down the road to look at a Mallee Pine. Mallee pines are native to Australia and support a whole range of wildlife. It's seeds are fertilised by birds and ants that are attracted to the tree because of the sugar that it produces. Mallee Pines are resistant to fire because most of their stumps are under the ground and unaffected by fire. Fire even helps the survival of the species because the nuts containing the seeds are split open in intense heat.
The next tree we looked at was the Shea Oak. It has extremely hard wood and bark and as a result, is very fire resistant. If you can manage to get a piece and put it in a fire with some other types of wood, the fire will burn for longer. Shea Oaks are fertilised by ants and birds, in particular the Black Cocky.

Next site Moff took us to was a now deserted group of old aboriginal wells. These wells were small holes in the ground that the Aborigines used to access underground water courses. Many have since been blocked up with stones or dirt. One big one had some old sheep bones in it which was cool.

After we were finished looking for wells we got back into the bus and started our drive to Innes National Park. The first thing we looked at was our fourth and final tree of interest, the Cyprus. Cyprus trees have turpentine in them and are resistant to termites, as a result they are very good for building materials but for some reason aren't used all that much in modern construction.

We then did a small walk around the old site and interesting locations ofthe old Stenhouse Bay mining town. Stenhouse Bay was settled mainly for the mining of Gypsum (Magnesium Carbonate). It now only a few small houses and a tavern but it used to be bigger. Many garden plant species that used to be in the gardens of the old miners have now escaped and are competing with the native plants for space, nutrients, water etc. The next thing we looked at was the old jetty where the Gypsum would be taken down the cliffs on a big slide where it was loaded onto ships and taken elsewhere. There was also an old train which used to take the Gypsum to the slide along train tracks from Stenhouse Bay but it is now rusting on a hill for tourists to see. We then reached a steep hill which lead down to the sea, on the top there is a lot of old rubbish like wood, bottles and rusted metal. This is becuase the hill was an old way of disposing rubbish and waste.

We eventually finishd our walk and returned to the bus. We continued along the same road that we had ridden on the second day of the cycle tour, stopping to look at the small island, Chinamans Hat. Whilst we were there, Moff told us about Chinese immagrants in colonial/gold rush days. During the gold rush, many Chinese workers were brought in for cheap labour. Very soon, Australia was being crouded by the influx of Chinese people. So the goverment introduces the "White Australia Rule", which banned any new immigration of Asian, African or Eastern European peoples and imposed heavy taxes on any already in Australia.
Our next destination was the historic township of Inneston. Even though it is now deserted, save a few people who rent out some restored houses for holidays. The main reason Inneston was founded was to make use of the nearby Gypsum lake. There was a large stable where many horses were kept to cart all of the Gypsum to the plaster factory in the town. The town showcases the old manager vs worker state of mind, with the managers houses on the top of a hill, with large park lands surrounding, and the workers' houses on the bottom of the hill.

The final place we visited was the wreck of the Ethel and Ferret. The Ethel was a steam ship that was caught in a storm and beached. Surprisingly, only one member of the crew died, and that was one who attempted to swim back to shore but drowned. All other crew members survived. The second wreck, the Ferret was a paddle steamer which had tried to rescue the Ethel, failed, gone back to Adelaide, got captured by pirates and used as a pirate ship, regained (pirates were arrested) and then sunk on a voyage near where it had failed to rescue the Ethel. Ironic.
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