Tuesday 10 October 2017

"Kangaroo Island" sounds

romantic and exciting doesn't it? Or does it?
There's a piece in the paper this morning about a new ferry service to the island - a catamaran this time. It will apparently carry 95 people. The company setting up the service sees the island as "having a lot of potential".  
The Senior Cat was in charge of the then very big school in the middle of the island for four years.  At that time it was the biggest "area" school in the state. An "area" school is one in which children travel from outlying rural areas, mostly by bus. 
In this case the school bus runs were, for the most part, very long indeed - and teachers were also bus drivers. They began as early as 7am and finished at around 5pm -  if the bus didn't break down or have a puncture or get delayed by something else. 
The roads were not sealed. In summer they were dusty and in winter, if there was rain, they were muddy and slippery. 
Teachers lived in caravans at the end of the bus run. The caravans would be parked next to the house of one the families who "boarded" the teacher - i.e. provided meals and laundry facilities.
It was a very, very hard life for a teacher. 
The Senior Cat did not drive a bus. He merely had the ultimate responsibility for eleven bus runs, twelve buses (there was a spare) and the bus routes. His deputy did have a bus licence and, if a teacher was really too ill to drive, had to take over. That didn't happen very often.
We lived next to the school - in the same sort of fibro-asbestos housing as the rest of the community. The small township (not much than a hamlet by UK standards) was on a windy plateau.
To get to the island you did an overnight trip on a "roll-on, roll-off" vessel or (if the airport was not under water or closed because of the cross winds) you flew on a rickety Fokker. 
And this is the place that now has "potential". It has beautiful beaches, some wild coastline, some interesting history, light houses, wonderful nature reserves, some interesting small farming ventures that encourage visitors, and more. The airport has improved and there are more regular ferry services.
It has changed dramatically since we were there but it still has a long way to go. There is also a possibly insurmountable hurdle to any more major developments. 
This place is an island and it does not have a big supply of water.
When the state was first settled the intention was to settle on the island. Water was a problem then. It is a problem now. 
Large numbers of tourists require a large water supply. It needs to be a secure and stable water supply too. 
I don't know how they are going to do that. 

1 comment:

jeanfromcornwall said...

Some places in this world are simply not suitable for exploitation.