A day of history in Kapunda

After our coffee and cake at the local bakery we set off to follow the Heritage Trail Drive, with me driving and Walter following the map and giving directions.   Piper contributed nothing except throwing a look of boredom at us.

First off, the local hospital.    A beautiful old building, with a lacework verandah, sitting at the top of the hill.   There is another more modern building to the right of this building, which holds the Emergency Department and wards.

What we have found on our little tour is that all the small towns we have visited have hospitals, which have included Emergency Departments.   So Crystal Brook, Boolerroo Central  (20 minutes from Melrose), Quorn, Burra and now Kapunda all have hospitals.    They also have helipads to take people to Adelaide if they need further treatment.    People in these towns are more fortunate than where we live in Aldinga Beach, where our closest emergency hospital is a forty minutes drive away.   We do have one 20 minutes drive away but they always appear unwilling to attend to anything more than a minor complaint.  

There were lots of churches, most of them on the hillside, and with commanding views.   The Catholic Church of St Rose.    

Christ Church.  An Anglican Church.

Lots of beautiful white lacework on this house.

Renovated cottages.

A beautiful old house, surrounded by many trees and lawns.   It probably was part of the Baptist Church that was next door.

                                         
The Kapunda Museum, which was once the Baptist Church, built in 1866, in the Romanesque style of building.   It was quite impressive looking.

Once inside it was even more impressive, and stacked with exhibits which included everything that made up life in Kapunda.   The two floors depicting the social and commercial life in the town, plus an extensive display of agricultural machinery and motoring memorabilia.    So much stuff there, I found it hard to take it all in.   Also I was the only person in the museum, other than the man taking the money, and I found it all a little spooky, so I did not linger too long.

I was fascinated but very spooked by the dummies that were very lifelike.

The dining room.

The bedroom.   

The school room.

The church fittings from the Congregational Church, with the Minister standing at the pulpit.

The very steep stairs leading to the basement.   It took much courage to walk down those stairs.   

Some of the motor bikes and a car, with models of course.

The horse and carriage, with two passengers.

Now these two models were sitting on a two seated outdoor toilet.   Just too scary for words.   You had to open the door of the toilet to see them.    And then it had a latch at the bottom, which you had to unlatch to close the door again.   

It would have helped if Walter had been there too, but the stairs at the front were too steep, and he most certainly would not have managed the stairs within the building.   So it was a case of visiting on my own.   I think it was worth it.   

I hope I don't have nightmares about dummies tonight.