The magnificient clif top views from Ardrossan.
We visited Robert and Glenda on their sheep station outside Minlaton.
I have a fascination for old machinery and vehicles laying around rural properties.
Roberts collection over several acres did not disappoint.
Excuse my indulgence.
Roberts uncle, Captain Harry Butler flew this DeHavilland Gypsy III during the WW1.
Harry Butler is special to Minlaton. On August 6, 1919, only a few weeks after returning home from the war, Harry and his Red Devil made history.
From the “Harry Butler Story,” published by the then District Council of Minlaton: The Red Devil “was wheeled from its hangar to face 110 km/h gale”. In the frail little plane was “an 18 kg mailbag of postcards and letters for delivery in Minlaton. The first airmail flight to the peninsula and the first to be carried over water in this state.” Shipping in the gulf was alerted, and Harry wore an inflated inner tube around his neck as a life jacket. Flying between 4,500 and a mere 500 metres to counter the ferocious headwinds, Harry Butler approached Minlaton, where a crowd of 600 was watching in astonishment, “most of whom had never seen a plane in the air before. From 2,500m in the air he rolled the plane gently on its side, sideslipped a little then came down in a screaming nosedive”. He launched at 11.45 am, just in time for a widely advertised lunch at noon, which cost 2 shillings. The plane, fully restored takes pride and place in the centre of town.
From the “Harry Butler Story,” published by the then District Council of Minlaton: The Red Devil “was wheeled from its hangar to face 110 km/h gale”. In the frail little plane was “an 18 kg mailbag of postcards and letters for delivery in Minlaton. The first airmail flight to the peninsula and the first to be carried over water in this state.” Shipping in the gulf was alerted, and Harry wore an inflated inner tube around his neck as a life jacket. Flying between 4,500 and a mere 500 metres to counter the ferocious headwinds, Harry Butler approached Minlaton, where a crowd of 600 was watching in astonishment, “most of whom had never seen a plane in the air before. From 2,500m in the air he rolled the plane gently on its side, sideslipped a little then came down in a screaming nosedive”. He launched at 11.45 am, just in time for a widely advertised lunch at noon, which cost 2 shillings. The plane, fully restored takes pride and place in the centre of town.
We decided to do the abandoned copper mine tour outside Moonta.
We took a little train ride on the Moonta Mine rail. It travels around the old mine site and copper works.
Well worth the tour if your in the area.
Note how the acid fumes dissolved the bricks over time.
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