Well, after much deliberation, I’ve given myself a talking
to and carried on at least as far as Naracoorte for a couple of nights. I’m
really keen to take a look around Penola today but I can’t decide whether to
spend the morning in Mount Gambier to check out the Riddoch Art Gallery. I start
by doing a drive-by to see whether the Gardiner Fountain is switched on. It’s
not, so probably the cave garden water isn't either. I’m still restless so I head along the route to Penola only to pull
over with short notice when I find myself passing Vansittart Park and the Mount
Gambier War Memorial, with ample parking right on the spot. The park is lush
and green.
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| Memorial Gates at Vansittart Park, Mount Gambier |
The War Memorial is a credit to the community with a dignified
central monument focussed on the world wars and Vietnam, avenue of plaques for
subsequent conflicts leads from attractive memorial gates. I’m surprised to
find another Lone Pine, descended from the one on Gallopoli, this one seems
younger than the one in Warrnambool.
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| Innovative design on display in the toilet block in Vansittart Park |
As with most parks of from the Victorian era, lovey
bandstands complement the plantings. Then I have a great stroke of luck. Before
I head out of town a stop at the toilets. These are quite remarkable. Under a canopy
of fairly standard design is what looks like a facility inspired by a
corrugated iron water tank. It’s circular with basins at the core and toilet
stalls on the outside so each cubicle is wider at the back than at the front.
It’s positively inspired because it provides ample room for the toilet itself
and sanitary disposal unit without feeling cramped.
It’s well under an hour before I’m parking opposite the post
office in Penola and admiring the beautiful heritage streetscape. I am keen to
take a look at Petticoat Lane but first I take a walk down the street. The
lolly shop has been highly recommended. I’m delighted by the information plaques
on the statues of Alexander Cameron and best of all, a trio of bronze busts of
poets with a connection to the area. I can’t say I’ve heard of any of them but this
presentation of the poets has certainly sparked my interest.
I decide to turn and come down the other side of the road
and make a stop at Toffee and Treats. There’s not many people about in Penola
today and just one other customer in the lolly shop when I enter. Soon it’s
just me and the store owner and we get settled in for a most enjoyable chat
about some of the old school lollies in stock and some others that you can no
longer get. We share some laughs about the way my daughter discovered that my
husbands all time favourite sweet treat is back on the market. On a family
break in December, stopped to pick up some things in the supermarket, my granddaughter
was with her mother and amusing herself reading things in the aisle as her
mother shopped. Distracted with other item my daughter hears “sc …scor..ched …
pea…nut…bar…” to which of course her response was an immediate “Scorched Peanut
Bar?! WHERE?????” True enough they’re back. A bit of research and a stop at the
factory that’s making them and needless to say Hubby got a whole box of
Scorched Peanut Bar for Christmas.
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| Book Exchange, Penola |
With my little bag of goodies stowed in my
backpack, I say farewell and head down the street a bit further for a quick
browse in a heavily stocked and eclectic gift shop. Nothing takes my fancy
other than the bamboo chickens with spotty boots that are in the window but
they’re very expensive so they can stay there looking cute.
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| Wilson's Cottage |
I sample the Vanilla Slice from the Bakery and head along to
Petticoat Lane. What a gem. Not all the properties are open today but there’s
plenty to keep me amused. Old fashioned garments hanging from the washing line adds
enormously to the ambience of the place.
Wilson cottage exemplifies the effort and reward for some in
the gold rush era. William Wilson left his wife and family in Penola to push
his barrow full of his belongings to Ballarat eventually returning with enough
gold to buy the allotment where he built the house and a market garden,
demonstrating the potential of the area for growing high quality produce. Wilson’s
gold field experiences relate as a roller coaster of finds and betrayal and
ultimate reward.
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| Sharam's Cottage, Petticoat Lane, Penola |
A beautiful rose garden fills the allotment next to Sharam’s
Cottage. At this time of global pandemic and increasing fears for people and
their livelihoods, how refreshing it is to be here with an opportunity to
consider the lives of people in times past. Simple, self-built houses simply
decorated. A place to shelter, enjoy music and shared, often home-grown food.
Shady trees for the hot weather, a warm and welcoming hearth for cold. It’s
everyone’s self-sufficiency fantasy. Perhaps a pandemic is also a good time to
consider the downside of life in times past when there were no vaccines or
antibiotics. Where Granny Sharam’s success in raising all of her 15 children
through infancy and all bar 4 of them to adulthood was proof of both great care
and luck. And where the grief of losing four children to a combination of scarlet
fever and tuberculosis was one of life’s anticipated trials, faith in God and
the promise of reunion in the hereafter a dearly held consolation. Science a
promise yet to be fulfilled.
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| Honesty Box Figs |
The garden is tended by volunteers and produce is sold on an
honesty system to help fund the preservation of these special places by the
National Trust of South Australia. Heading
out I notice there’s actually a small parking area for cars for visitors just
near Sharam Cottage and Davidson Cottage which can be rented as accommodation.
There’s no need to park out the front of the historic cottages or ruin the heritage
ambiance for other visitors!
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| The garden at Sharam's Cottage, Petticoat Lane, Penola |
I’m quite amazed I did not realise what a special place
Penola is. Why is it not nationally famous at least? Have I had my head under a
rock? Of course I’ve heard of the Coonawarra wine district but that’s about all
I’ve heard, the name. As I drive on to Naracoorte up the Riddoch Highway, it’s
just a long, long sequence of cellar doors and fields full of carefully tended
vines. This brings me virtually all the way to Naracoorte.
Earlier into Naracoorte than expected I head to Naracoorte
Caves to see what I can knock over this afternoon. The guide at Tantanoola has
highly recommended the Victoria Fossil Cave, but my main objective is the Bat
Centre and Blanche Cave. The walk from the carpark to the Wonambi Visitor Centre
is impressive. I don’t know how I’ve managed to miss it, but the fact that Naracoorte
Caves is World Heritage Listed finally makes an impact. The presentation of the
caves is very impressive, firstly with the life sized presence of a model of a Diprotodon
optatum along the path, then the unavoidable presentations of giant marsupials,
fleshed and furred as someone imagines they may have looked, adjacent to the ticket
and information desk.
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| Diprotodon optatum |
I’m in time for the 1pm tour of the Alexandra Cave but
unfortunately it is sold out. I buy tickets to both of the other tours. Then I have a little time to hang about have some
fruit and a drink and drive across to the Victoria Fossil Cave for the tour
there. The day is very warm so it’s a relief to be getting underground.
The Victoria Fossil Cave has some crystal, but after the
spectacle of Tantanoola and Princess Margaret Rose Caves, I’m hard to please
and am more entertained by watching the wonderment of others on the tour, who I
can only conclude must not have had the chance to see those other caves yet. We
get some information to set the context of the discovery of the caves and
eventually arrive at the excavation site where chairs are set up along around a
small man made amphitheatre and stone wall with the excavation site visible
behind a closed area where our guide makes a detailed presentation using fossilised
skeletons and bones. The global significance of Naracoorte comes from the fact
that the fossil remains found in various sites go back up to 500,000 years
through several ice ages. It’s truly extraordinary.
The climax of the presentation takes me rather by surprise and from an unexpected source. Our guide has been referencing the skeleton and explaining the conclusions that were drawn and revised as more parts of the animal were found across the country, finally clarified by a completely articulated example that turned up in the Nullabor. Look, here we have a jaw, the first of these was found in NSW and it was just the jaw. We know it’s from a marsupial because it has the marsupial plate there. We have no idea what that was for then or why marsupials still have it now. Then look here we found the top of the skull, these hollows are where the muscles attached, so the strength of the bite on this creature was enormous. Look, see how it doesn’t have teeth, just these scythe type of implement which were like a scissor effect. At first it was thought they must have been herbivores because modern carnivores all have incisors. But look at this, can you see, this creature was found to have opposable thumbs, so that means it doesn’t need incisors. So now we believe it was a carnivore. The skeleton here in the shoulders show it could make an arm over arm movement, so this is a climbing animal. It’s back legs are weak look here and when the fully articuted animal was found it had a tail almost identical to the kangaroo so it could stand upright like a kangaroo. But don’t be misled, this is not a hopping animal remember, it’s got weak legs. So what we have is a carnivorous, climbing, ambush predator – which makes it a….
The climax of the presentation takes me rather by surprise and from an unexpected source. Our guide has been referencing the skeleton and explaining the conclusions that were drawn and revised as more parts of the animal were found across the country, finally clarified by a completely articulated example that turned up in the Nullabor. Look, here we have a jaw, the first of these was found in NSW and it was just the jaw. We know it’s from a marsupial because it has the marsupial plate there. We have no idea what that was for then or why marsupials still have it now. Then look here we found the top of the skull, these hollows are where the muscles attached, so the strength of the bite on this creature was enormous. Look, see how it doesn’t have teeth, just these scythe type of implement which were like a scissor effect. At first it was thought they must have been herbivores because modern carnivores all have incisors. But look at this, can you see, this creature was found to have opposable thumbs, so that means it doesn’t need incisors. So now we believe it was a carnivore. The skeleton here in the shoulders show it could make an arm over arm movement, so this is a climbing animal. It’s back legs are weak look here and when the fully articuted animal was found it had a tail almost identical to the kangaroo so it could stand upright like a kangaroo. But don’t be misled, this is not a hopping animal remember, it’s got weak legs. So what we have is a carnivorous, climbing, ambush predator – which makes it a….
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| Thylacoleo carnifex aka Marsupial Lion (near to camera) |
…DROP BEAR!! Exclaims an excited and clearly highly
intelligent and logical lady from Queensland. The group erupts with laughter. Our guide seems slightly exasperated. Remarks like mine of “It totally is a
drop bear!” seem to dominate from the visitors. Is this the usual conclusion of Australian
visitors? Our guide just shakes her drooped head. But man, this has totally made my year. A
fossil drop bear. How freakin’ awesome is that! Our guide perseveres with the
part of the presentation that discusses the common name being applied which is “marsupial
lion” but don’t be misled, this is not a lion like modern lions at all, it’s
quite different. Of course, because it’s
NOT a LION it’s a DROP BEAR! Only the most extreme and entrenched manifestation of cultural cringe would refuse to call it as such.
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| Palorchestes azael a gian marsupial herbivore |
Exiting the cave we come along a short bush walk with information
about additional fossil remains of giant extinct animals rather than back
through the cave. As the group disperses, for me it’s back over to the Wonambi
Visitor Centre where it is confirmed that I need to claim a refund. Travelling
about on my own has been mostly OK but it means that because no one else has
booked for the Blanche Cave and the information about the Bent Wing Bats,
minimum numbers have not been reached. Visitor numbers are way down due to the
fears of Covid-19 so the chances tomorrow don’t look great either. Clearly I
need to return here for the full experience.
As compensation for my disappointment, I’m encouraged to
take a look in the Fossil Centre. This is a recreation of what they think the
environment might have been like when the megafauna roamed the area. Of course
they cannot know the colours of the animals or whether they had fur or not, but
they have taken inspiration from similar animals today and the overall interest
created is quite extraordinary. It is hard to overstate the importance of this
World Heritage Site.
Before heading for my accommodation, I head over to the self-guided
Stick Tomato Cave, belatedly realising that the word is S. T. I. C. K. I’d been reading it distractedly as Sick
Tomato Cave and wondering how it got the name. Is it sickness country for
Aboriginal people? Doh. The mostly open
caverns of the Stick Tomato Cave lend themselves to fun play for kids. There is
also bite sized chunks of information about the geological history of the caves
which are good for kids and that I find more digestible too.
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| The Swimming Lake, Naracoorte |
I’ve got some time to kill now, the departure of the bats is
quite late in the evening at this time of year, so I need to check into the motel
and find something for dinner. But first, some exploring seems like the thing
to do, so I head to the Naracoorte Swimming Lake. It’s been a hot day with maximum
temperatures up around 36 Celsius. It’s about 5:30 pm so I suppose some people
might be at home preparing dinner, but I would have expected a lot more people
at the lake cooling off. There’s about 6 people and I can’t help wondering how
much this is due to people beginning to shun these shared public spaces. It’s a beautiful approach to a local man-made swimming
place and very impressive in its execution. I’m delighted to find some fabulous
mosaics on the nearby amenities blocks.
In the centre of Naracoorte, I’m struck by a beautiful piece
of street art celebrating the endangered Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. More
artwork and sculpture at the Naracoorte Regional Gallery and courthouse. Truly,
artwork continues to proliferate in regional towns large and small and it makes
such a fun way to explore, looking for treasures along with insights into the preoccupations
of the local community.
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