Page 8 - Waterways - July '20
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Page 8, Waterways
South Australia … A Beautiful Blend
By Don Kiselewski, MCC, The second and less
D.S., Palm Beach Gardens glamorous way to get
Travel Leaders opals is by noodling.
I could not have said The material that is
it better: “the potpourri brought up from the
of South Australia will hole contains opal.
keep the traveling visitor That’s how they knew
experiencing a myriad of to stop drilling. This
life styles, cultures, sights loose material from
and sounds.” the hole is hauled to a
The Australian state of central location, where
South Australia is about one it is fed by conveyor
and a half times larger than our state of Texas; however, it into a small (air-conditioned) shed that is completely
has only about one-tenth of the population, which ranks it dark, except for black light. Opals will glisten in black
fifth among the other divisions of the country. Located on light, so when the stones roll by they are picked off the
the central south side of the continent, its southern border Cape du Couedic Lighthouse conveyor.
is the coastline on the Great Australian Bight portion of the Everyone in Coober Pedy has a story of how they
Indian Ocean. South Australia shares its land borders with lies this truly outback desert town. For those of you who made it and lost it. Much the same as I would imagine
the four other mainland Australian states and the Northern have seen the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, you the kind of stories came out of our California Gold rush.
Territory. can relate to my comments. It gets to 120 degrees in the The people who live there are hearty. They have to be
In 1627, Europeans made their first sighting of South summer at daytime and close to freezing in the winter to exist! They deal in opals and cash with their own
Australia when the Gulden Zeepaert, a Dutch ship nights. To protect themselves from the elements, the locals particular blend of life.
commanded by Francois Thijssen, cruised the coast and live underground in homes drilled into the earth. Not only Embellishing the blend of the great outback wouldn’t
named the area, Pieter Nuyts land. However, it was Matthew homes, but churches and other types of occupancies protect be complete without the mention of the camels. Yes,
Flinders and Nicolas Baudin who first mapped the coast in themselves in this manor. Why, you may ask? Because, it’s camels were left over from the building of The Ghan.
1802. They changed the name to Terre Napoleon. the Opal Capital of the World, where the precious stones When the world famous railroad line from Adelaide to
Thirty-two years later, the South Australian Act was are mined and processed. Stuart (today’s Alice Springs) was constructed, there
passed that established the state’s area, and more importantly The extraction and capturing of the raw opals is done in were no roads to transport the wooden sleepers (or ties
that the colony was to be the embodiment of British society two ways. First an auger drills a four-foot diameter hole in as they are often called) to the middle of the desert. So,
and “convict-free.” In this regard, South Australia’s origin the ground, brings up the sand, rock and (hopefully) some with typical Aussie ingenuity camels were imported from
was unique. Unlike the other provinces whose origins opals. The hole can be 30- to 40-feet deep. If they hit a vein, Afghanistan to become the ships of the sand to move the
were based upon convict settlements, South Australia was they drop a man into the hole to the level of the vein where freight. After the initial construction, many were turned
planned by the British to be a center of civilization for free he chips out the opal. This is how the area got the name loose and still roam freely throughout the outback. The
immigrants, promising civil liberties and religious tolerance. Coober Pedy. When the aborigines saw the operation they Ghan got its name from the shortened version of Afghan.
Governor Hindmarsh proclaimed the province on proclaimed, “Coober Pedy,” which means, “white man in
December 28, 1836. The British decided to do it by the a hole.” South Australia on page 9
numbers in populating the colony, establishing what was
known as systematic colonization. This was Edward Gibbon
Wakefield’s theory, which was also employed in New
Zealand.
Nine ships carrying some 636 people destined to
“christen” the colony had to make an unscheduled stop at
Kingscote on Kangaroo Island until the powers to be decided
just where to locate the city. Adelaide was finally chosen
as the site. From this tiny beginning, Adelaide has grown
to the state capital as well as containing the majority of the
state’s population; the balance of which has settled in the
fertile southeast portion of the state, along the coast and the
Murray River.
Adelaide is one of the key ingredients in the “beautiful
blend” of South Australia; a truly laid back city that enjoys
the simpler things of life. Oh, there is plenty of nightlife,
sports and other high energy activities, but it is the simpler
way of life that sets it apart. Recognized as Australia’s
Festival City, it hosts the country’s premier art festival every
March. This is but one of what seems to be never ending
festivals and entertainment. There are numerous venues
throughout the city that can be reached in no more than a
15-minute walk. The city itself is circled by parks so it’s
green and open in any direction just a few blocks away.
When the city was designed, the requirement for the
street width was determined by the radius required to do
a “U” turn with a double team of horses pulling a wagon.
This resulted in extra wide streets and as a bonus today,
there is no such thing as gridlock or a traffic jam. You can
get almost everywhere in the city in 15 minutes. The center
of the city houses a wonderful market with fresh meat and
produce and, it’s just a short streetcar ride from the center
to the beach on the Gulf of St. Vincent.
Just across the Gulf to the south lies Kangaroo Island,
still another blend to the character of South Australia. The
island was sparsely populated with little productive use
until the end of WWII. Returning servicemen were given
homesteads to work the land. In addition, the island was
stocked with native animals, except dingos, to serve as a
natural breeding ground. Today, it is the animals that are
the drawing card for the island. Included in the plethora
of animal life seen in their natural habitat are kangaroo,
wallaby, echidna, koala, little (Fairy) penguins, sea lions
and even Ligurian bees, the only pure strain left on earth.
The queen bees are shipped all over the world to beekeepers
in little matchboxes.
Grapes further add to the blends of South Australia, for it
is the Barossa Valley that produces the major portion of the
Australian wines we drink. They are world famous for the
Shiraz, and it’s a good bet that next time you look at the label
of Australian wine that indicates a product of South Australia
that it came from the Barossa Valley. Food and wine produce
the blend that makes this an excellent location to enjoy.
If you are ready for rough and tumble, nothing in this
world could match the unique blend of Coober Pedy. Five
hundred or so miles northwest of the urban city of Adelaide