Robe on the Limestone Coast: In the South East region of South Australia
As French explorer Nicholas Baudin was surveying this craggy limestone territory of the Boandik people, he called the coastal refuge Albatross Cove, but it was his colleague Freycinetís name that stuck. On his published charts, he called it Guichen Bay. Then, in search of a colonial harbour, the South Australian Governor, Major Frederick Robe saw it as a place for a port.
From 1816, Robe enjoyed an instant heyday over three decades. Amongst the international exports were thousands of army horses bred on Lake Hawdon Station, and the bullock wagons stacked high with wool bales lined up along the seafront after long journeys from all over the South-east and across the border. There were very thirsty bullockies gathered, and the landmark Robe Hotel overlooking the bay was one of the ten pubs serving this overseas port that was second only to Port Adelaide in traffic.
Just above a section of the original seawall, the cargo was unloaded and the bullocks were swung around a giant nineteenth century roundabout, the Royal Circus. Standing on its central mound, local historian Brian Hartwig explained that the small classical building over the road was the 140 year old Customs House, whose appointee was also Receiver of Wrecks. They included the Konig Willem II, and the Dutch shipís signal cannon on the mound marks its loss in a storm in Guichen Bay. Its Chinese passengers had disembarked before a gale blew it onto Long Beach with the loss of fifteen crew.
The clippers on the English run were guided into port by Robeís symbolic obelisk on Cape Dombey. Perched on a weatherworn and undercut finger of limestone cliff, its distinctive red and white bands were visible from up to 20 kilometres out to sea. Inside its base, rocket and rope equipment was stored in case of ships being blown onto the rocks, and it was no doubt used. Three vessels were wrecked in just one year in the 1850ís.
Nevertheless, Robe thrived as a port and also as the government administrative headquarters for all of the south-east of the colony. Captain Butler presided over it from the oldest dwelling in the town, Robe House. The attractive buildingís former office areas are now cosy B & Bís and a good base for exploring the Limestone Coast region. Whatís more, the once-big-money and busy commercial centre of Robe is a short walk around the corner.
Within a decade of its declaration, the port experienced a rush of thousands of immigrants. A tall boulder monument and plaque near the old jetty site explains why. To discourage the shiploads of Chinese hopefuls headed for the Victorian goldfields, the government imposed a poll tax equivalent to the cost of their total voyage, and so they came through Robe. Some 16,500 disembarked in under two years, camping by Lake Butler, stocking up on supplies, and walking 300 kilometres to the diggings. They were worth a pretty quid to the young town.
All that traffic suited the unofficial commercial prince of the port. The jetty and stores of George Ormerod are gone, but Brian Hartwig noted that some of his legacy remains.
ìJust up the hill, he built a fine stone house for his family and called it Moorakyne. And close by the Customs House is the terrace of workersí units known as the Ormerod cottagesî.
It is suggested that he also built the old Bank House in Smillie Street (the old high street), and sold it to the Bank of South Australia, and a little further along, the elegant Graymasts B & B was originally his store for a load of wool salvaged from a shipwreck.
George Ormerod nearly did the town in, however, as he vigorously opposed a railway which he feared would take cargo from his shipping business. Town tourism activist Leslie Wilkin took up the story.
ìWhen other railways and ports stalled the townís progress it became a quiet farming centre, and so it was left as we see it today, ì she observed, adding that you can still stay in the historic Caledonian Inn, old enough to boast a link with a famous nineteenth century poet and horseman.
ìAdam Lindsay Gordon was recovering from a fall, when he fell in love with the landlordís niece, who was nursing him.. They married, and so he has quite a connection to the old Innî, Leslie observed. By contrast, across the street it is all very contemporary.
ìThe old bank has been transformed by Tony Dawson, who is a Robe crayfisherman. He has developed his own vineyard in this region, and heís renovated the building to showcase the local food and wine. He has done an excellent jobî. The visitors enjoying an alfresco lunch on the raised patio would surely agree.
Robe is again a prosperous port, of course. It is home to a couple of dozen lobster boats like Tonyís, and the fleet harbours safely in Lake Butler. A channel to the sea was cut nearly 40 years ago, creating a pretty marina surrounded by a processing factory, remnant tea-tree bushland, and an increasing number of contemporary retirement homes and holiday getaways. The grand two-storey Karatta House on the lake was an 1800ís trendsetter, serving as a Governorís summer residence. It is being restored privately, and there are several other conspicuous signs along the coast that Robe is still very ìinî for the holidays.
The good news is that on Lake Fellmongery and Long Beach, the camping, caravan and cabin sites are very affordable. And the Robe Visitor Information Centre in the War Memorial triangle by the sea will keep you happy for days. Old Robe includes, for instance, some 80 buildings from its international port era, including the little church Mary McKillop visited frequently when it was used as a school by her new order of nuns. The coastline is also traced with walking trails to bring you close to nature and the raw seascapes along the Southern Ocean. The Foxís Beach drainage outlet, for instance, is a particularly beautiful mini-estuary frequented by bream fishers.
Robe is a good base for much of the Limestone Coast including Penola, the Coonawarra, and the younger Mt. Benson wine region, but leave plenty of time for the town that Mary McKillopís supporter Father Tennyson Woods described as of ìcheerful and picturesque appearanceî. And it still is. Now, it brands itself as ìRobe, the heritage centre of seafood, wine and coastal delightî, and who would argue with that.
Details
Robe Visitor Information Centre
PO Box 448
Robe, South Australia, 5276
Phone: (08) 8768 2465
Web: www.robe.sa.gov.au
