The Kiwi Gazette
Page 4
In The Kiwi Gazette last year, I reported on a tourist attraction that we visited in Australia called the Twelve Apostles. Since that time, one of the Apostles has been claimed by the sea.
The Apostles are stacks of limestone, located along Australia's southern coast, that were formed as far back as twenty million years ago. The pounding of the surf has been gradually been eroding them over the centuries.
Officially, there were only ever nine of the large towers and now there are only eight. The Apostle that fell this year was 146 feet tall. One eyewitness said, "it sort of shimmered or shuddered and then fractured and collapsed straight down on itself - it was almost like a building demolition." The stack is now a large pile of rubble lying in the water about 33 feet above sea level.
Park Rangers were not really surprised at the collapse of the Apostle since it isn't the first time such a thing has happened along that stretch of coast. In 1990 another limestone formation fell into the sea leaving two tourists stranded on the wrong side of the collapse. They were eventually rescued by helicopter. In this latest instance, no sight-seers were in any danger.
This was just an instance of Mother Nature going about her business. I'm just glad I was able to see the landmark before this Apostle fell.
Before
After
To all of our family and friends around the world:
Merry
Christmas and
Happy New
Year!
All the best for 2006,
Julie, Jim and all the critters on the Mello Farm
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