Occasionally, they north of the state will rate a mention and ever so often places like Port Lincoln - usually in the news because someone has come to grief at the hands of a shark. Port Lincoln is a bit of a hot spot for the Great White.
It is a bit of a pity because people wanting to see the 'real' Australia are advised to visit this state way down south. As you have seen from previous posts, the coast-line is pretty and so are some of the towns. South Australia is a state where you have to travel quite a bit to get from town to town and city to city. In Europe, you can stand on a hill at night and look around and see the lights from dozens of villages. In South Australia (and other parts of the country too to be fair) when you look out at night, all you see is, well night.
Mount Gambier where I grew up and lived for a major part of my life, is a timber town with a thriving fishing industry from the ports around. And it is also a farming community. All around 'The Mount' as it is affectionately called by locals are small satellite towns with a bare minimum infrastructure. Glencoe is one of these. Pretty spot and classical Australian farms around. The village itself has a shop, a church and a small school but not a lot else. Life in these towns can be a bit tedious for the young and if you don't drive a car, you go nowhere.
My Mum spent some time in Glencoe when she was very young so just before we left Australia for good, we took her for a drive around the district.
This is a very old farm house made from corrugated iron and stone. This sort of dwelling for poor farmers was a normal choice early last century. No insulation, usually no inside plumbing and, of course, no electricity. Inside was like an oven in summer and in winter, cold as ice. The only thing to recommend these houses were the sound of raindrop drumming on the roof. Life was hard and there were few frills.
Notice that there is a verandah running along the front of the house. This was essential for trying to keep the place cool as the temperature climbed to 45 degrees celsius and over. Didn't work though. You can also see a metal rainwater tank on the side of the house. This provided all of the water. This then had to be heated before use for bathing and washing clothing. There is another water tank a little way off and a windmill. This water is for the stock as a rule. During a drought both of these sources of water had to last for sometimes months.
Curiously enough, modern houses in the farmland of Australia are still built to this very same design. Obviously now they have the usual things that you would expect but essentially they remain the same 'recipe'. This old house may have given shelter for a family of ten or so!
This view across the paddocks with the gum trees in the background is one which I am very used to seeing. The bracken fern near the post is normal too. Full of snakes as a rule so not a good idea to walk into too deeply.
In common with small towns (in Australia there are no villages; a settlement may be only a few houses and a pub but it is still a town) all over the world, Glencoe has a church in the centre and this drew life from the surrounding farms on a Sunday. It was also used for meetings, dances and sometimes parties. Craft fairs were held here and it became an evacuation point during fires. The roof is also corrugated iron but the glare from the sun has rendered it completely blank!
It is an attractive building, made from limestone (Mount Gambier stone) and with the sort of details that we are used to seeing all over the world. Only the roof is peculiar to non Australian eyes.
All Australia once rode on the sheep's back and Glencoe had its share of the action. The photo above is the woolshed and it is around a hundred years old. It is no longer used for shearing and classing wool. It is now a National Trust building and used for tourism.
This shot shows a century old fence with a mortice and tenon joint. All made by hand, these fences were a work of art. Sturdy and picturesque but essentially functional at the same time. You can also see an old wagon in front of the wool shed. It is another survivor of an age lost forever.
Glencoe is close to Mount Gambier and the only way to reach it is by car. There are no busses, rail links or any sort of public transport in this part of Australia. At the time of writing, a football club plays regularly (Australian Rules Football) and there are a few small interests in the area for tourists. Sadly the show is not one of them. once a major attraction and high point for the farming year, it died some decades ago.
So why would you go the all the bother of visiting Glencoe? Because it will show you a glimpse of normal, unhyped Australia. it doesn't pretend to be anything else. There is no beach, no tourist shops. You can buy an icecream at the small grocery store in the town centre and that is it. This is not a tourist trap but a glimpse of life in Australia for normal Australians.
You can hire a car in Mount Gambier, pack a picnic and drive the 30 minutes or so to reach Glencoe and then spend some time looking around. then when you go home again you can boast that you have been to Australia.
(C) Debbie von Grabler-Crozier 2014
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