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Jim’s
Australiana Spot – 2UE - February 27, 2011
| Q |
The
famous PORT FAIRY MUSIC FESTIVAL occurs on Labour Day weekend
- when IS THAT? |
| A |
Second Monday in
March |
| Q |
When do South australia and aCT celebrate
Labour Day?
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| A |
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| Q |
When does Queensland celebrate Labour Day?
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| A |
First Monday
in May |
Port Fairy is a coastal town
in western Victoria 28 kilometres
west of 'The Bool' (Warrnambool) and 290 km west Melbourne on
The Moyne River. Portland and Port Fairy were the first settlements
on the south coast of Australia.
However there is reason to believe that Port Fairy marks the place
where there is evidence of a much earlier discovery of Australia
than that of the Dutch or English.
In the early 19th century sealers and whalers came to this region.
The bay was named by the crew of the whaler The Fairy in
1828.
John Griffiths established a whaling station in 1835 and a store
was opened in 1839.
In August 1840, the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners of
the British Government decided to allow the purchase of land anywhere
in the 'Port Phillip District of NSW' by Special Surveys that
could be requested to enable the purchase of 5,120 acres (2,070
ha), or eight square miles, for 1pound per acre. This price was
significantly below the value of the land at that time.
Sydney solicitor James Atkinson purchased land in the town by special
survey in 1843. He drained the swamps, subdivided and leased the
land, and built a Harbour on the Moyne River. He renamed the town
Belfast and the Post Office opened on July 1, 1843 as "Port
Fairy" but was renamed "Belfast" on January 1, 1854
before reverting to the original name July 20, 1887.
The Stag Inn, currently the Seacombe House hotel, was built in 1847
by Captain John Sanders. The external appearance is little changed
from the time of its opening.
Agriculture developed in the region, and Belfast became an important
transport hub. By 1857 the town had a population of 2,190. In the
mid-to-late 19th century, Belfast was one of Australia's largest
ports, catering to the whaling industry. In 1887 the town went back
to the original name Port Fairy, as a result of an Act of Parliament.
Port Fairy was settled by Irish immigrants and later was the site
of soldier settlements after WW1.
Today Port Fairy has a population of 2,500 and it is the home port
for one of Victoria's largest fishing fleets. Port Fairy contains
50 buildings protected by the National Trust and nearby beaches hold
a breeding colony of Muttonbirds.
Mahogany Ship
Replica of the Mahogany Ship
During 1836 three whalers attempted to enter the mouth of the Hopkins
River in Warrnambool. The whale-boat was upturned and the Captain
drowned. The two remaining crewmen Joe Wilson and William Gibbs
were forced to walk back to Port Fairy along the beach.
During their journey they came across a strange old wreck high up
in the dunes beside the marshes of the Merri River.
And so began the ‘Legend’ of
the now famous ‘Mahogany
Ship’ that in 1522 a fleet of three Portuguese ships Captained
by Christave de Mendoca discovered and mapped the East Coast of Australia.
Two of Mendoca’s ships did not return and his map of Eastern
Australia finishes where the ‘Mahogany Ship’ is supposed
to be buried in the sand-hills between Warrnambool and Port Fairy.
Mendoca’s maps were not made public at the time for fear of
war with Spain. The land he mapped was called JAVA GRAND.
It is claimed by some that Captain James Cook
had Mendoca’s
hidden map in his possession when he sailed into Botany Bay. Despite
many recorded sightings in the late 1800’s the ‘ancient
wreck’ or ‘Mahogany Ship’ has become a mystery
with the ever shifting sand dunes in the area burying the wreck in
the 1890’s.
Captain John Mills, who was in charge
of the Port Fairy whaling station visited the wreck and described
it as having very "hard
dark timber – like mahogany'. Captain John Mason in the Melbourne
Argus stated 'Riding along the beach from Port Fairy to Warrnambool
in the summer of 1846, my attention was attracted to the hull of
a vessel embedded high and dry in the Hummocks, far above the reach
of any tide. It appeared to have been that of a vessel about 100
tons,. There are other eye witness accounts from the 1840s to the
1890s and the oldest aboriginals s in the district said the wreck
had always been there.
TODAY - In 1992 the State Government of Victoria
offered a reward of AUD$250,000 to anyone who could locate the fabled
vessel. Today, visitors can take to the Mahogany Ship Walking Track,
along the coast from Warrnambool to Port Fairy.
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I can’t go down to the sea again
For I am old and ailing;
My ears are deaf to the mermaid’s call,
And my stiff limbs are failing/
The white sails and the tall masts
Are no longer to be seen
On the dainty clipper ships that sailed
For Hull, and Aberdeen!
I can’t go down to the sea again:
My eyes are weak and bleared,
And they search again for the gallant poop
Where once I stood and steered.
There’s nought but wire and boiler-plate
To meet my wand’ring gaze.
Never a sign of the graceful spars
Of the good old sailing days!
So I will sit in the little room
That all old sailors know,
And smoke, and sing, and yarn about
The ships of long ago,
‘The Flying Cloud’, ‘The Cutty Sark’,
‘The Hotspur’ and ‘The Dart’ . . .
But I won’t go down to the sea again,
For fear it breaks my heart!
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Tune in to hear Jim on 2UE every Sunday
at 12.30 pm
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