Arno Bay Beach n Shack, down memory lane.

Arno bay is a beachside town, the beach with 120 shacks the jetty, store and hotel is connected  to the main town with a population of about 300 people by a causeway across a tidal  swamp. This sleepy coastal town has seen an enormous activity of growth in housing and upgrades. A fledgling fish hatchery was sold to Clean Seas where it has become the major hatchery in South Australia with King fish, mulloway  and now Southern Blue Fin Tuna. Many fish growing rings can be seen out to sea, The town created a strategic plan in 2003 and an amazing change took place led by the progress Association and its many volunteers.  The main street upgrade, paving lights, at last lights across the causeway connecting the town and beach. A mangrove board walk has won numerous awards. A boat ramp with a boat marina, lookout, new play ground and toilet facilities all within ten years. A can do town that welcomes people and has still retained its country feel.

                The shacks have been traditionally owned by inland farmers, which would have their annual pilgrimage after harvest for several weeks where the local “learn to swim campaign” saw all children learn water safety. The tidal creek was another attraction to swim, fish or learn to boat and snorkel in. It now boast a fantastic Mangrove board walk, watch out for kingfishers breeding, even a rare water rat and lots of small sand crabs. The reef at the end of the bay near the boat ramp was a children’s paradise and many periwinkles were collected or around the corner was Turnbull’s beach where you could body surf if game. Continuing past Red Banks the Masters boys would go surfing at Sandies or Stingers when the swell from the Southern ocean would push up the Gulf. Swimming in the bay was very safe, no rips just a gradual depth increase with a sandy bottom as you waded out into the Gulf. Memories of making sand castles and jumping over large heaps of sea weed, playing beach cricket and throwing Frisbees.  The Jetty provide not only fishing but diving from a spring board (now removed OH&S) and a pontoon to swim out to, As A kid I would do a lot of fishing graduating from creek fishing to the jetty (my mother was fearful of me being near deep water). My Uncle Hope taught me to fish using a green cord line with a burley basket made from thin wire wound in such a method it could hold bread, yes a bread basket to attract Tommies (fish like mackeral)! I could feel the leather jackets (fish)grating on the line and this helped me win a trophy at the annual News Years Day carnival. Next year is the 100 year celebration. Sand castle building, treasure hunts, bowling at  a single stump, The swim through Arno, diving for plates, thong throwing, and races on the running track. This track has now been planted with lawn but it was a feature of the Arno Bay Sports the 100 metre handicapped sprint, The Bay (Glenelg) Sheff has nothing on this. In the early years the Trigg’s from Cummins, Deer’s from Cowell, competed with the local Whittaker’s, Smith’s, Walton’s and Stringer’s in running and the high jump. The track was lined with Tamarisk trees and I remember at a youth camp a little Morris Minor car belonging to female school teacher was picked up by some lads and sandwiched in-between the trunks of two trees. Our shack was at the top end of the running track so every day would walk it going down to the play ground which has now been modernised. The monkey bars, roundabout, sea saws, slippery dips and swings were the best. Now it has been sanitised and less risks! I would lay awake at night listening to the squeaks of the playground swings as the bigger kids or those with a later curfew continued playing. We were allowed 6 pence (5c) a day to spend at a little beach shop. I remember saving to buy condensed milk or liquorice nigger blocks. Sometimes we would walk across the swamp to Mason’s general store or the Bakery for a Torpedo Bun.

I remember when the jetty was twice the length and wind sailed ketches would tie up to take grain to Port Adelaide and bring in fencing supplies for the local area. We would tell our visitors that the quarry in the Adelaide hills would cut out post holes so farmers could drop these in the  sand and have good fences. Huge bagged wheat stacks would grow during December and these were then taken by a small train and carriages up the jetty and bags then slipped onto the ketches. These were each named and remember the Milford Crouch and the Nelshabie.

However I want to go back to the Masters shack No 9 the second one built at Arno Bay. 

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  view the first few pictures, yes it does have a garden seat on the roof. The boys ddecided they could see the jetty and the fireworks one New Year's Eve and it has remained!

"the Masters shack",  No 9 the second one built at Arno Bay. It has retained the inside character that makes it a shack. The main room still not lined you can see the roof rafters, a dividing wall of corrugated iron with a curtain in the doorway to separate it from Mum and Dad’s bedroom. This was a later addition of 12ft x 12ft built in 1956, is now lined and insulated, Arno can get hot during summer. Usually the sea breeze is in play but no wind or the punishing hot North winds give no relief and it is then families would gather at the water’s edge under the Jetty.

Like the town growing an improving many changes at Masters shack have occurred. At the time the additional bedroom was built a septic toilet was built closer to the shack, still outside which meant less stink than the old long drop that we had to put lime and phenyl on each time it was used. You checked no snakes or spiders as you opened the door, scary memories. The dinky little windows, 3’X3’ that you pushed up and bolted so they didn’t come down have been recently replaced with aluminium sliding from a house renovation. The red corrugated iron was re-cladded with asbestos about 30 years ago and the rusted roof replaced with colour bond. A shower and a little kitchen was built in under the back veranda giving a little more room to the growing family. The kids bedroom was packed tight including two steel shearers camp stretchers made into a bunk attached to the wall. One of my sisters tried to role mum out of the top bunk using her feet and put her neck out of joint. Lights consisted of a 12 volt truck or tractor battery housed in an old cabinet wireless, Alligator clips were used to clip the strand of light wire onto the battery. It was lights out early as it needed to last a week or two depending on when Dad brought the next one in with a cream can of drinking water. If we ran out of drinking water, then we boiled water from the small tank. My mother loved her time catching up with other women and a relaxed life. As we owned the Verran Post Office and telegraph exchange we never all went on a family holiday. I preferred to stay home and drive a tractor raking stumps on the newly cleared ground than stay at the shack. Maybe it was from a time a group of boys thought it was funny to catch me and put crabs down my back or the limitations placed on exploring when running out of things to do. Another memory worth recalling was an old fisherman Mr Mayfield had a fishing cutter and my Dad would buy red snapper from him as a treat. His house was only three along and made of stone one of the few permanent dwellings.

                This was in stark contrast to my boys that would spend all their holidays at Arno and it was usual to find the shack stacked with other teenagers “hanging out”. Many will recall the garden bench seat sitting on the roof of the veranda, yes it is still there. On enquiry it was deemed the best spot to see the fireworks one New Years eve on the jetty, it has remained to this day. Although the shack is in the back row it has no shack in front of it. Pictures will show the huge variation in current shacks, Two storied ones are the vouge and some are valued between $350- $450,000. The old shack eh. What will its future be?

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