For my submission to the letter ” D ” it was my intention to drive the 112 kilometre (Return trip) and photograph a derelict Service Station ( Gas Station). When we came to Australia this little township was a thriving
place and the service station, apart from selling fuel and groceries, maintained a small fauna park and we were taken there by my sister and her family and we visited this service station to get fuel and to let my boys see a kangaroo close up. There were two settlements, Iron Knob (where we were) and Iron Baron. In the mid 1980s there was a downturn in the price for iron ore and both townships suffered a decline. Iron Baron was closed and the people drifted away. When it reopened again, it was decided that people should no longer live in the area so everything was sold off and the entire township was bulldozed. Nothing remains. People who work there are now taken in by bus from here. A couple of years ago I went out to Iron Knob and went to the old service station. It was closed down and abandoned – derelict. It was my intention to drive out there and photograph it but things didn’t quite work out as I had planned and I never managed to drive out to Iron Knob, but I needed a submission so – D for Dog. As an alternative it would have been D for Dinosaur but a certain dog ( who shall remain anonymous) had a good chew at it over the last few months and it was no longer presentable.
Things are slowly returning to a kind of normal. There are no longer any restrictions on food or any supermarket items, many shops – except the smaller ones here – are re-opening and the shopping mall is fairly empty looking as people have not adjusted to the lifting of restrictions. Tonight was late night shopping and the place was empty, although I have to say that most of the smaller shops were closed. Still keeping social distancing – hotels are closed and churches are still closed. We could have ten people but we felt it would be too traumatic trying to manage that, so we will leave things as they are until phase 2 takes effect in a few weeks. Long time ago we had a number of camera shops here – now we don’t have a single one. Yes we have shops that sell cameras and some lenses but that’s it. Camera accessories have to be bought on line or in Adelaide. I want filters from my camera and since I can not get what I want here I will have to wait until the restrictions regarding transport are lifted next week and I can take the coach down to Adelaide and do a mini shopping trip. At the moment I really don’t want to drive there and back mainly because it
means an overnight stay and that’s still a bit iffy. Anyway I have some filters coming over from New South Wales so they should be here early next week.
You have probably heard that we are having a few problems with China and the 80% tariff that have put on our barley. In essence, they have shut down that market to us. That left us in a bit of a hole, but now India have said that they would be interested in Australian malt barley and will start with an order of 500,000 tons and increase as things develop. I said before, that I believe that a new relationship with China will come out of this..
Benji and I hit the road at 05:50 this morning, After all the rain the place was a bit on the damp side, but it was cool rather than cold, dull and overcast. It’s supposed to be a nice day today so I may well take a run out to the lighthouse for a bit. We decided , well I decided, not to go to the lighthouse but to stay closer to home and since it was a nice day we went for a wander around Ada Ryan Gardens. The Gardens are looking well cared for. In the Spring and Summer and Early Autumn, mothers and prams meet up and have picnics with their children – there are barbecues areas and free electric barbecues at either end of the gardens. And there is a very large children play area – currently closed off – and for the people who like something more substantial, there is the cafe at the foreshore. A lot of clubs use the area and the barbecues for “get-togethers. When we had children at the church, we also used it with children and parents. The letter for the coming week is “K ” so I will see what I can come up with in a week.
Edgar's Page 