Lake Boga No 1 Flying Boat Repair Depot

Thursday, 17 September 2015

Not much comfort on a 16 hour flight

Inside the communications bunker

Number please!

Bunker entrance

Two ton buoy anchor and Lake Boga

Last night, after dark, we dragged our coats out of the cupboard and returned to the Pioneer Settlement for the nightly Light and Sound Show.  We were ushered onto a small train and set off in the dark, stopping at points of interest on our tour.  At each stop, the particular building was spotlighted and/or lit from the inside and a recorded commentary explained the purpose of the building.  At the church, we were treated to the christening, marriage, death and burial of Alexander Bruce – obviously a much loved member of the community.  This interesting tour took just over 30 minutes and was most enjoyable.

This morning, with the temperature at 3 degrees, disaster struck.  The heater went into meltdown (literally), the smoke detector refused to be silenced and Himself and Cat were rudely awakened well before their normal waking time.  Needless to say, winter is now over and we had trouble finding a replacement; air conditioners seem to be the go at the moment.  Fortunately, a nice lady at Swinton’s had a couple of fan heaters still in stock.

The other excitement of the day was a visit to the Lake Boga No 1 Flying Boat Repair Deport – another top secret base.  A base was set up during WW2 to repair Australian and American flying boats operating out of Australia, with Australian, American and Dutch servicemen and women stationed at Lake Boga.  The museum has a Catalina Flying Boat on display, with its massive wingspan of 110 metres.  The flying boats were used on night operations, were painted black and known as “Black Cats.”  The original communications bunker has also been set up as a museum.

The weather today has been much cooler, about 16 degrees and partly cloudy.