The Granite Island of South Australia’s past
THE chairlift, the Space Steeple, the old kiosk — Granite Island at Victor Harbor was the summer holiday destination for many in their childhoods. Here’s what it used to look like.
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“DIDN’T we have a lovely time the day we went to Victor”?
Who remembers Peter Plus and Bazz and Pilko’s hit song Day Trip to Victor from 1980?
Ahh ... Victor Harbor and Granite Island, the summer holiday destination of our childhood.
A ride on the train to get there, fish ’n’ chips on the beach, a double cone Amscol ice cream, the guesthouse with the chest of drawers that smelled like lavender, The Bluff, historic Mt Breckan, the Granite Island tram, the penguins and the chairlift. Mostly all changed now or gone forever.
Pat Hobson — writing recently on the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page — brought back many great memories of those days when she posted a photo of the Granite Island chairlift and Space Steeple “taken on the island in 1969, two years after we Poms arrived”.
“The famous Day Trip to Victor was a favourite Sunday outing to see all the kangaroos at the top of the island and the penguins nesting between the rocks,” Pat wrote.
“Do you remember Nature’s Eye? A rock pool down between the rocks that looked like an iris in an eye-shaped depression where the waves would come in and it looked like tears filling the eye. And the dear old kiosk for an ice cream when they were considered a treat, not a staple.”
The chairlift was removed in 1996 and the fairy penguins have all but disappeared, eaten by the fur seals.
The kangaroos (wallabies) had to be removed when they ate all the native grasses. Nature’s Eye is still there (as it has been for thousands of years), but these days I believe it is off limits because the walkway and steps are no longer safe.
Nature’s Eye would probably be weeping right now, given the state of the island and Victor Harbor, compared to the “good old days”. The kiosk and restaurant closed and so did the putt-putt golf.
Thankfully, we’ve still got the horse-drawn tram.
Recalling the early days, Lyn Potter posted: “First went over to Granite Island in mid-’50s, there was no chairlift then but there was the horse- drawn wagon and the penguins and of course we had an ice cream at the kiosk.
“I grew up in the country, nowhere near the sea, so it was a magical place to visit. Victor Harbor and Granite Island will always be a favourite, but I now live in Far North Queensland, so a bit far for a weekend visit.”
Also in Pat’s photo is the Space Steeple, which is rarely mentioned these days. I’m not sure when that was dismantled but it’s certainly no longer there. Mark Allan posted: “The steeple was more of an elevated viewing platform than a thrill ride. It didn’t drop suddenly or anything, it just went slowly up and then allowed time for photos and sightseeing before slowly descending.
“You could buy tickets for the steeple at the chairlift. The concrete footing was, and probably still is there to this day, hidden in the grass at the top of the island.”
For poster Deborah Morgan, Granite Island always seemed like another world; “Everything was so special, all of the above, plus the penguins. I also remember back in the ’60s a cheeky seal that spent a few weeks on the jetty, being fed and entertaining people. He became quite a media sensation, there were daily updates on TV. I think he was named Freddie. He was eventually moved on when he nipped some people.”
Ray Gilbert wrote: “The Island was an amazing place. We, who grew up in Victor, really did have the best of what it had to offer.
“It wasn’t uncommon to have fairy penguins scurry past you as they headed for the ocean to feed, something you really don’t see any more.
“Even more sadly I was recently told the number of penguins left on the island is less than 20 or 50. The only ones I saw last year were in the man-made habitat. One really has to question why the numbers are so low and why more hasn’t been done to protect their natural home, which is the whole island, not just some pathetic little enclosure.
“Polly Thwaites, who often used to care for sick and injured penguins back in her day, would be rolling in her grave if she could see the island today!”
For others, the present state of Granite Island and its future are of more concern.
Maree Hamilton, who has lived in the area since 1990, commented: “All I’ve ever seen is things close down. It doesn’t seem to worry our council at all. Nothing much going on in Victor for the teenagers these days! We are called a city, but that’s so far from reality”.
And David McKenzie wrote: “When I was young, Granite Island had beautiful gardens, lawns and an animal enclosure. John Flat, the harbour master and island kiosk owner, used to show movies over there on summer nights. Now since council have lost control to National Parks the island is an embarrassment with dead and dying undergrowth, and weeds”.
There is certainly no shortage of both midweek and weekend tourists to Victor Harbor and Granite Island but it seems there is less for them to see and do. There were plans for a tuna cage off the island earlier in the year but that seems to have gone quiet.
Everybody thinks it would be a great idea to bring back a major tourist attraction like the chairlift and provide some protection for the fairy penguins to get their numbers back up, so our children and our grandchildren would know what we were going on about when we sang along with Day Trip to Victor.
What are some of your memories of childhood summer holidays at Victor Harbor and Granite Island?
Bob Byrne is the author of Adelaide Remember When and posts memories of Adelaide every day on Facebook.com/AdelaideRememberWhen
