The rally has now finished, and most of the motorhomes have left the showgrounds, but a few are staying on until after Easter – most of the coastal parks are full over the Easter/school holiday period and if everyone is like us, then they haven’t booked anywhere.
Along with friends we’ve met here, Jan and Sherrill, we went out and played tourist on Thursday, starting with a trip to the Whyalla Maritime Museum which is well worth a visit.
The museum was established in 1988 when the first ship built at the Whyalla’s BHP shipyards in 1941 – HMAS Whyalla – was permanently landlocked two kilometres from the sea, and the museum appears to have been built around it. The museum’s collection centres mainly around the naval history of 4 World War Two corvettes built in Whyalla, the BHP shipbuilding industry and the natural history and maritime heritage of the upper Spencer Gulf. There is also some information about the shipbuilding process and about the geology and geography of the region, shipwrecks in the Spencer Gulf and marine species. There is also a video of the ship being transported 2 kilometres inland which was quite an undertaking. And for those who love trains, don’t miss the model train exhibit out the back.
We got to the museum in time for the tour of HMAS Whyalla, an Australian designed anti-submarine and mine –sweeping vessel. The tour was really interesting – our guide was very well informed and answered every question thrown at her. David was more interested in the engineering side, I was more interested in how the crew lived on the ship. The tour lasts about 45-50 minutes and they run a few during the day. It’s good value too – $8 entry fee
Here’s a brief, condensed, history of Whyalla. If you aren’t interested, then skip ahead. I personally really enjoy finding out the history of the towns we stay in as we travel around.
Whyalla came about when iron ore was discovered at Iron Knob in the mid 1800’s and in 1901 BHP acquired leases in an area known as Hummock Hill so they could work the ore which they used in their smelter in Port Pirie. Workers were sent from Port Pirie to build a tramway to the ore deposits at Iron Knob and the town of Hummock Hill was created. (Although Matthew Flinders actually named Hummock Hill in 1802 when he passed through the area). Then a jetty was constructed to load the ore onto barges and at the end of 1901 the population of the town was almost 50.
For a long time, Hummock Hill was a remote settlement and shipping port. Most of the housing consisted of tents and huts constructed of basic materials. Apparently popular methods of cladding houses were flattened kerosene tins or whitewashed wheat bags.
Transport was still by horse and cart, and water was brought from Port Pirie in barges and sold for two shillings for 100 gallons. In 1903 the first store was built followed in 1905 by a community hall which was also the first school.
When the first telephone service was installed in 1911 the town became less isolated and Hummock Hill became Whyalla when the town was officially proclaimed on 16 April 1914. Whyalla’s first policeman arrived three weeks later. In 1915, an ore conveyor belt on the jetty became operational and more ore was able to be loaded onto the ships. BHP had begun to build a steelworks at Newcastle and the ore produced at Iron Knob was now being sent there to produce steel.
In the early years, BHP provided most of the services and amenities in town such as a dairy, a new power house, a desalination plant and a power line to Iron Knob. In 1939 construction of the harbour and blast furnace commenced, but people were starting to get worried about the imminent outbreak of World War II. The Royal Australian Navy asked BHP if they were able and willing to build patrol ships, and so the construction of shipyards next to the blast furnace site was also begun. All of this work required labour and the influx of workers into the town saw the population rise drastically, as did businesses and facilities for the residents. In 1940, the Whyalla Hospital, the Abattoirs, a cinema, another school and more hotels were all opened or being built and the shipyards began work.
During the war years Whyalla’s population had increased to more than 5000. Another significant event was the opening of the Morgan to Whyalla pipeline which made water readily available to the town. However, Whyalla was still a company town and the residents were starting to think about how the town was being run, so in 1945 a Town Commission was formed. This Commission provided Whyalla’s first local government.
In 1958, BHP announced they were building an integrated steelworks at their site in Whyalla. This allowed them to mine and process the ore in the one area. By 1961 the population had reached over 14,000, and Whyalla was proclaimed a city in November.
Due to the ship-building slump in the 1970s, the Whyalla shipyards closed down in 1978. The city, after a population peak of 33,000 in 1976, has stabilised at around the 25,000 mark. Whyalla is now the biggest rural town in South Australia.
After the museum we went to the foreshore for a picnic lunch then up to the lookout at Hummock Hill. There are some great views from the lookout. In Whyalla the ore is taken out to the tankers in barges as the water isn’t deep enough for them to come in, and as you can see, the tide goes out a fair way in this part of the country.
