Wednesday 8^th August

The Whispering Wall is in fact the retaining wall of the Barossa Reservoir. Built between 1899 and 1903, the dam was a revolutionary engineering feat for its day and attracted attention from all over the world, even making its way into the pages of the journal Scientific American. 

This wall has unique acoustic effects: words whispered at one side can be clearly heard at the other, more than 100 metres away. We felt like kids all over again talking to each other this way!!

Besides trying out the Whispering Wall, we also learned about the history of the construction of the dam, and took in the scenery of the water.

The day was quite chilly, so we rugged up and took the Church Hill walk around Gawler. The Church Hill area contains the core of Colonel Light’s 1839 Gawler town plan. Due to its historical significance, this area was declared a State Heritage Area in1985, the third such heritage area in South Australia. 

We passed a wide array of dwellings and outbuildings that reflected grand to humble circumstances of people who created the area during the 19th century. Original slate and bluestone kerbs, large stone fences, historic fire hydrants and many other treasures of yesteryear were highlighted during the self guided tour.