History Tour 1

On Tuesday the 1st of September we wee split into our groups again. Wardli's 2 and 3 went on the history tour and Wardli's 4 and 5 went to do activities with disabled people. Moff drove us to Innes National Park. We learnt about the history of the sacred sites and the native plants and trees and also how Innes was used as a source for Gypsum.


Trees and Plants: -

We started our drive to Innes and about 9 AM, and as soon as we passed the gate Moff stopped the bus. Just as we left the campus Moff showed us a pine tree, the Norfolk Pine. The tree was found when Cook was sailing down to Australia. He saw these trees and thought that they would be useful for making masts, because they were so straight and strong, and also o this island he found hemp, useful for making rope. These trees are planted along the coast to show there is a port there.


Buildings: -

Next to the Aleppo pines we saw a building tat was about 150 years old. The roof was made of asbestos. Moff said that the cottage would have been made somewhere else and then shipped over here. As we passed a paddock Moff stopped the bus. We got out and Moff showed us the remains of an old farm cottage. It was built similar to a castle, with stone walls, and cuts in the wall for windows. The reason for this design was because of the Aboriginal people. There was a well nearby the house which Moff thought was an Aboriginal well. Moff said that the sheep on that farm were dying, and the farmer would shoot at the Aboriginal people because he thought that they were poisoning his sheep but the reason they were dying is because of magnesium depletion in the grass


Aboriginal People: -

Before we got onto the bus Moff told us a story about a huge warrior that fought all of the Aboriginal tribes on the Yorke Peninsular. The huge warrior had defeated all of the tribes and he got to the last tribe (which lived were Innes National Park is now) The Little People. He fought them to a cliff where the Shaman of the tribe summoned a massive bird, the Kadyja Bird, to fight off the huge warrior. The bird lea him away and the warrior followed him, he got stuck in one of the gypsum lakes. And if you so to Innes you should be able to see the warriors head and foot stuck in one of the lakes, and one of the massive rocks is where the Kadyja bird is resting.


Mining: -

During the late 1800s and early 1900s Innes National Park was used as a primary source for gypsum. Innes no longer has the cottages and houses that the miners would have lived in, the have all been destroyed. Moff explained to us that the gypsum was mined by waiting to the lakes to dry out and then simply mining the gypsum out. We then stoped at a lake and Moff told me to try the water because it was sweet, but I didn’t want to, so Blake went first, he immediately spat it out, but hen I wanted to try it. The water was so salty. Moff just walked off laughing.


The Ethel and the Ferret: -

In the 1900’s there was a steel hulled ship called the Ethel. It was travelling along the coast through a storm, with high winds. When they reached a point between two light houses, the captain decided to put the anchor down. He then put his first mate in charge. During the night his first man ran and told the captain that they had drifted and that he could only see one light house. There was only one person on the boat that could swim, so they tied a rope o his waist and he dived into the water and started to swim to shore. But the storm was so strong, that he started to drown. A tug boat called the Ferret passed them but didn’t help them. But when it reached the coast of Adelaide it was stolen by pirates. It then got returned to Port Adelaide but got wrecked where the Ethel did. The Ferret did try to help but a big wave pushed the Ethel back into the sand so they just left it.