Hi all
Over the 2009 Christmas Holidays, my family and I again headed up to
Birubi Beach for a 7 night camping trip, after making a similar journey at the end of 2008. After beautiful weather last year, unfortunately this year we were subjected to terrible weather. Cloudy with not a hint of sunshine for 6 out of the 7 days.
On the last day we were there, my son Jacob and I headed out on the sand dunes with the Port Stephens 4WD company for their 3-hour shipwreck tour – taking in some sand boarding, the Sygna shipwreck, Tin City, a few other local attractions and the Tank Traps.
The tank traps, as well as a few areas where barbed wire and star pickets are still visible, were built in 1942 during World War 2 to deter the anticipated invasion of the Japanese Army.
The shifting sands have almost covered all of the tank traps up in the dunes – so much so that there’s now only 6 or so visible. A decade or so ago, there were at least twice as many visible.
However thankfully our tour guide knew of an “off the beaten track” entry down into the bush behind the dunes, where the tank traps extend for another 3km or so into the bush.
It certainly would’ve been a huge effort deploying it all, ultimately for a battle that (thankfully!) never came.
All photos taken with my Canon 40D and 24-105mm lens. Processed using Lightroom and Photoshop CS4.
Photo #2 was processed to look "older", with more grain/noise and a sepia/b&w look. Photo #3 is the vibrant version of the same photo.
Large versions can be seen here:
The Battle That Never Came
Thanks for looking. Comments welcome.