This morning at about 7.20am our bedroom window sounded as if it had been hit by a very strong gust of wind, although we did wonder if it was Meredith opening the sliding door in the next room? It turned out that the city was slightly shaken by an earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter Scale this morning!
Today it was time to repack our bags and leave the city of churches behind us and head to the Yorke Peninsula. It has been great to catch up with friends in Adelaide and, hopefully, it will not be two and a half years before we are able to do it again. Thanks COVID for preventing us from having our annual at the Port Adelaide vs Richmond match!
Before we rounded the top of Gulf St Vincent we visited the South Australian Maritime Museum at Port Adelaide. We had a look around on our own until 11.00am and then joined the guided tour. When we were in the immigration display being shown models of the sailing ships, clippers and liners that carried immigrants to South Australia I asked what sort of ship my great grandmother would have sailed on when
she immigrated from England in 1890. Our guide said it was most likely a transitional sort of ship that was made of iron, but still powered by sails.
At the end of our tour he asked the name of my great grandmother and offered to have a look for her name. He found us again later on and showed me some information that he had printed off for Emily Darby, but I dont think the date in 1881 is quite right for the Emily Darby who I am descended from. I will have to look at my information again to check. However, he did offer some good tips for finding her if she did arrive in 1890 which was after assisted passages were offered. If her passage was not government assisted the passenger manifest has probably not been preserved. However, most immigrants were listed in the newspaper when they arrived so he suggested that I check newspapers for the time.
We had a quick walk around Port Adelaide looking at some of the beautiful old sandstone buildings. We called in at the Tourist Information Centre to find out more about the clipper ship City of Adelaide that the
guide at the Maritime Museum had mentioned. We found a leaflet to say that we could find it in Dock 2 so made our way around to that part of the port. We were quite interested with it with the Cutty Sark at Greenwich, England. Hmmn, so glad we made the effort to see it? It is very much a restoration work in progress that looks nothing like the beautifully restored and presented Cutty Sark!!
Just before we turned the corner onto the Yorke Peninsula we stopped in at Port Wakefield to stretch our legs. Port Wakefield boasts a tidal pool where Dawn Fraser used to swim and it was the home of the racetrack where Jack Bramham won his first Grand Prix. It also had a rather strange little lagoon where there were mannequins sitting in a couple of rowboats with their fishing lines in the water. Actually these were not the first or last mannequins that we saw in strange places along the road today. There must be a local with a strange sense of humour?
Officially on the Yorke Peninsula, we called in to the township of Ardrossan to buy some orange juice
and yoghurt before venturing a little further down the coast to our holiday house ‘Sandy Bottom at a tiny place called James Well. We booked this house because it boasted two bathrooms. Hmmn, one bathroom and a second shower and toilet out in the shed. Ah well, I guess it is a beach holiday house where an outdoor shower is probably a good idea for cleaning up when up from the beach so you dont trek sand through the house!!
We didnt purchase supplies to cook our own dinner so returned to Ardrossan for a meal at the pub tonight. Tomorrow we plan to be more organised and buy the makings for a BBQ dinner.
