The Jetty Project

 There is a small fishing settlement just south of the modern marina. In amongst the fishing sheds is the jetty. It's not particularly long and kinks half-way out. There is a ramp on the northern side near the base and ramps on both sides, angled backwards, towards the end. The far end of the jetty was slick and slippery with guano and stank for that reason. An early jetty was constructed in the 19th century to facilitate the construction of a lighthouse a few kilometers out on a reef. This later collapsed. Because it's a pretty remote and windswept spot there was no reason to build a replacement intil the 1950s when the current jetty was constructed for fishermen. It was progressively lengthened to the current 257m. It is fairly high, but so was the tide when we visited which gives it the impression of being another low jetty like Port MacDonnell.

 These jetties were taken during a long weekend based in Millicent. Being in August the weather was variable and quite blustery - which was most obvious visiting Port MacDonnell. The jetty here is protected by a long breakwater that curves around from the north. It meant that the water was flat but it was still very breezy. There were a couple of people fishing at the far end. It is most apparent from this top picture that the jetty is actually very low - it's the lowest in the state. Now that there is a breakwater that doesn't seem incongruous. The jetty was first opened in 1861. Soon after that there were recommendations that a breakwater would be needed, and without it the jetty needed repairs by the 1930's (although these weren't carried out intil the 50's). Finally in 1977-79 the breakwater was built.

The Kingston SE jetty is at the north end of the town's beach and I have only ever seen walkers on it - it doesn't seem to be used for anything else. Initially used for fishing and for ships on a circuit to Adelaide. Kingston's beach is very wide and there is a thick band of seaweed. The strong impression is that the sand has grown out over the years and now you're half way along the jetty before you're over the water. The far end appeared to have taken some damage and ramps down to the water were fenced off while we were there.

The Robe jetty feels a little forgotten. It is well past the newer marina and only accessible by a dirt track. When we visited, it was only being used by a couple of teenagers fishing and crabbing.

The Southend jetty is past the main township - presumably because Rivoli Bay is so shallow and the town faces the gently sloping beach. The jetty is on the eastern (inside) side of the headland and bends to the north, towards the deeper open water. Fairly short and deserted when we were there, a row of tenders were tied off and used to reach the nearby fishing boats.

A beautiful, long, straight jetty. Rivoli Bay looks very shallow, which may be why the jetty is so long - over 770m and apparently much longer before the end was dismantled. None of the local lobster boats were tied to the jetty, but it looks to be a working structure with cranes and pumps scattered along its length.

We are just back from a quick weekend away in Meningie, staying in the Lake Albert Motel. On the afternoon we arrived we cycled along the foreshore and stopped at all three of these jetties. It was a pleasant day, around 20 degrees though with a stiff breeze. The main town jetty is adjacent to the large park in the middle of town. It's fairly unassuming and was unused at the time of our visit. But the area is busy with birdlife, and there are always plenty of pelicans around. There is a longer jetty at the sailing club. This is only 100m north of the town jetty. It looks like it is being progressively repaired, as there were new sleepers along the first third of the structure. The end was fenced off; it wasn't immediately clear why, as that section doesn't look much worse that the stretch before it. Taking these pictures I was thinking about the nature of pictures of jetties. They are a geometric shape in the landscape and every picture is really a la...