Ten Day Break – Drive Home

Last night we celebrated with a lobster dinner at one of the local seafood restaurants in the Main Street. With the summer season nearly over and holiday makers back at work only the grey nomads are out and about. In the restaurant a quick glance tells us that 95% of the diners are older than us, wishful thinking you may say, but we are pretty certain we are on the money. Talking about money the lobster this season is once again sky high in price, having given Australia the cold shoulder for a number of years. Like a petulant parent the Chinese have lifted their 200% tariff from the industry after we miss spoke about wanting transparency over the origins of Covid 19. We have done our penance, eaten our greens and are allowed back at the table. They must have also had an issue with wealthy Chinese beer and wine drinkers as well, adding hefty tariffs to our barley and wine exports. The last few years have left Australia with a surfeit of these products with prices plummeting. For a short time Lobster in particular fell in price, but now it seems we have a 200% tariff put on us the poor loyal consumer. So much for a free market economy.

This morning we are travelling north again after two days of re-discovering Robe. First we have to buy some local lobster to take home and take a look at a local artists gallery, where we hope to find a set of drink coasters that he has designed with a particular Robe vibe. One can never have too many drink coasters now, can one! The artist a Terry Johnson has more than a few coasters hanging around, luckily we are off loading our worldly goods at the moment or we would be trying to fit a sizeable painting into the already bursting car. Maybe we will be back with a bigger car!

Once we start moving again we take the coastal ports highway to Kingston SE. There are two Kingston’s in South Australia, the SE indicates the south eastern one. The other now known as Kingston on Murray. The landscape is typically coastal, native low growing coastal scrubby plants line the highway ranging from straw brown to deep red grasses, lime green fleshy leaved bushes and grey blue salt bush. A few low growing twisted eucalypts appear here and there. The limestone coast is an official wine district, as the name suggests the base rock is porous limestone that provides good drainage for grape growing but also contributes to a wines, acidity, minerality and freshness. All good qualities for an elegant wine with longevity potential. The coastal scrub soon gives way to substantial vineyards rolling away from us towards the seaside on our west, while on the opposite side huge plantations of radiata pine start to appear. A mixture of older trees and newly planted ones that look like they should be ready for harvest at Christmas time. Santa may have his workshop in the North Pole but his Christmas Tree farm is right here in sunny south eastern South Australia. The centre of this wine district is the rugged seaside town of Cape Jaffa but we are bypassing this today and driving straight to Kingston.

Kingston grew out of land owned by Archibald and James Cooke, who had ventured south in 1854 from Wellington on the river Murray to establish a port from where they would conduct shipping and trade. They returned to seek a grant of land to begin the private startup that the government granted two years later. The brothers and James’s wife sailed their cutter “Swallow” into Lacepede Bay and took control of 3496 acres with grazing rights to eleven miles of sea front. Then known as Maria Creek. They built a jetty (pier) and named their new port Caroline. While they grazed sheep for wool on the land they built a substantial wool store. They also instigated the building of a rail line between Kingston and Naracoorte an inland farming town on the main line to Adelaide. George Strickland Kingston surveyed a new town that would incorporate Maria Creek (named after the vessel Maria that became shipwrecked there in 1940 with all survivors massacred by the local aborigines that in turn sparked reprisals causing the death of an unknown number of indigenous people) and Port Caroline lending his name to the resulting town.

Today the town and district has a population of around 1700 with fishing, winemaking, sheep and cattle rearing as the economic main stays. But like Robe since overseas travel has become so expensive, attracts homegrown holiday makers and tourists in ever increasing numbers. The towns main beach stretches for several kilometres of pure white sand.

Norfolk Pine trees line the foreshore just as they do along many South Australian beaches even in Adelaide. The story goes that these pines grow quickly straight and tall. Canny sailors of exploratory ships in the 1700’s planted seedlings along the coast so that if any ships ran into trouble with the loss of a mast then the trunks of these trees would make an adequate replacement, how’s that for foresight!

In 1872 The government completed a lighthouse off shore on a reef off the promontory of Cape Jaffa to warn ships of the dangers of this reef ridden coast line. In 1973 Robe became the site of a new lighthouse and the Cape Jaffa one taken apart after 101 years of service to be reconstructed in Kingston as a maritime museum.

The buildings reflect the towns past, with no elaborate government buildings, or large pastoral mansions, maybe reflecting the very business like personalities of the Scottish Cooke brothers. Who also still owned property in Wellington and the Cooke Plains. The Royal Mail Hotel built in 1867 serviced the local workers from the railway station, demolished in 1987 and the wool store next door that still remains.

Before we leave town, a must stop off is the Big Lobster, known as Larry by the locals. At 17 metres (56 feet) tall the sculpture made from fibreglass and steel is regarded as one of the most impressive of Australia’s big tourist attracting objects. Larry looks a bit faded from his long life (since 1979) in the sun and coastal environment, but otherwise comes up well in the photograph below.

We continue north along the coast road that runs along the salt lagoons to our west, the low growing coastal foliage hides most of the view. Occasionally we see glimpses of white sand dunes in the distance when breaks in the foliage open up to fields of purple tinged brown grasses. In one such field with even brighter burgundy tussocks of grass we spot two horses, one a grey trotting along through the field against the blue sky, a magical sight. These roads are narrow, travelled at speed by large SUV’s towing caravans as well as semi trailers, making stopping for picture ops dangerous. As we come closer to the northern end of the string of lagoons we have a better view as they become bigger and closer to the road. The grey/green waters spread out for kilometres along our western side, outlined by white sands and sea foam. On the eastern side dry salt pans become more evident, they can be strikingly pink if the right conditions are there for the salt tolerant algae or as today just blindingly white as they reflect the baking sun. There are two large lakes at the head of the lagoons, lake Albert and lake Alexandrina. We are stopping at Meningie, a town on the shores of Lake Albert, where we will locate the lakeside park for some picnic lunch.

The town as in most Australian settlements started life as a service center for graziers and a staging post on the route between Adelaide and Melbourne. The Ngarrindjeri people lived here for thousands of years before white man appeared on the scene. From oral history it is understood that they made their shelters and canoes from reeds growing in the lake shallows. Around 1843 the South Australian company took control of the land around Lake Albert. That had mostly seen sheep and cattle pass through the land on the way to Adelaide markets. Or to restock wool growing areas. The towns survey took place in 1866 with the first school opening in 1869, the name Meningie comes from the local aboriginal language and means “Muddy Place” the first wooden Jetty came on line in 1867. With Lake Albert covering 168sq kilometres (68 sq miles) and Lake Alexandrina covering 649sq kilometres (251 sq miles) paddle steamers soon became the preferred mode of transport between Meningie and other ports around the lakes system. But by 1914 this had totally ceased, and Meningie’s port days had come to an end. Thankfully there are still a number of enthusiasts restoring Murray River wooden paddle steamers, so one day we might yet see the likes of these historic machines back on the lakes in a tourist capacity. Now the town is known for its dairy industry with year round irrigated pastures perfect for milk and dairy products, other irrigated crops as well as a fishing fleet also add to the towns economy.

Whilst having lunch we spot an ice cream shop across the Main Street. As soon as I see the ocean and feel the warm air on my skin, my mind wanders to ice cream. Unconscious memories of childhood days at the English seaside no doubt. We had found an ice creamery in Robe but the shop curiously never seemed to be open. We decide to indulge and take some time eating our icy treat while walking along the lake shore.

On our way back to the car we catch a glimpse of a statue of a tall bird, we immediately think emu, but as we come closer we discover it is indeed an ostrich. This ostrich has a saddle and a story to tell.

Below is that story taken from a nearby placard;

The Birdman Bushranger of the Coorong

“John Francis Peggotty 1864-1899

South Australia’s history has only ever been able to claim one genuine bushranger, but he was remarkable – he was the only one to pursue his career on the back of an ostrich!

John Francis Peggotty, the son of an Irishman was born prematurely in 1864 in County Limerick. Surprisingly he survived, but only grew to the size of a 7 year old boy.

As a young man, Peggotty exploited his stature, climbing down the chimneys of wealthy Londoners, robbing them of their jewellery and parading in his ill-gotten gains.

After sailing to Australia in 1890 he continued his lucrative career along the majestic Coorong, riding proudly on the back of an ostrich – one of the many set free when the market for fashionable ostrich feathers ceased.

MR P’ IN HIS GOLD CHAINS WOULD DISAPPEAR IN A FLASH ON THE BACK OF AN OSTRICH

Murder and Mayhem

The reason for Peggotty’s choice of an ostrich became evident when he often soared away from police through the shifting sand dunes of the Coorong.

The Birdman of the Coorong, as he became known, was soon held responsible for the robberies of many a lonely Coorong traveller and the murder of at least two. Peggotty remained at large until 17th September 1899, one day when he tried to hold up a local fisherman, Henry Carmichael. Unfortunately for Peggotty, Carmichael had a rifle. After a short chase and shots fired, Peggotty and his mount both came to an unglorified end.

To this day his body has never been found…

is it still lying in the lonely wilderness of the Coorong, laden with a fortune of gold and jewellery?”

Time to move on, we are just 133 kms (83 miles) from home via a dual lane freeway and the end of our journey.

Until next time…..

Note : I have noticed that there is now an option on the email. To read on Blog or reader, either of these buttons enables the pictures to be seen along with the story. Cheers Tony