Thursday 23 July 2015

Longest Fence!

Here in Australia there is a long fence.
The fence was built during the 1880s and finished in 1885.  Now this fence is the longest in the World!

The fence stretches 5,614 kms (3,488 mile) through thousands of kms of arid land.

Main reason for having this ever so long fence is to keep the dingoes out of the fertile land of our continent to protect the sheep in many areas.  This has been partly successful, though dingoes can still be found in parts of the southern states of Australia.

We visited this fence at Coober Pedy where it's very arid.




59 comments:

  1. I follow your journey with great interest. Such a pleasure.
    Is this fence the same as the Rabbit-proof fence? I read Doris Pilkington's book and now I am wondering...
    Thanks for sharing your experiences.
    Cheers,

    Jeanneke.

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    1. Hello Jeanneke,
      No it's not the rabbit fence. I selected a small clipping for you to read from Wikipedia.
      'The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits and other agricultural pests, from the east, out of Western Australian pastoral areas.'
      Lovely to read that you are enjoying my travels...

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    2. Thanks for your information!
      Travel safely, enjoy!
      Looking forward to new updates.
      Cheers,

      Jeanneke.

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  2. Replies
    1. Yes Linda it a fairly neat fence in places, but requires a lot of up keep.

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  3. That's a remarkable statistic and a remarkable fence Margaret! Those old timers knew how to build something which lasts (not like today).

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    1. A major feat back in the 1800's Craig, even today I can't I imagine it being done without so much red tape...

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  4. The dingos can't jump that? I also read Rabbit Proof Fence, then saw the movie and it was amazing.

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    1. No the dingo apparently don't jump the fence....and the Rabbit Fence is a different fence.

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  5. I love reading of your travels and of Andrew's too. It's like being there almost. Thank you.

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  6. Boa tarde, desconhecia que podia existir um cerca com a dimensão a que se refere, sua viagem é encantadora, as fotos são maravilhosas.
    AG

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    1. I don't think a great number of people are aware of such a fence as the dingo one.
      And, thank you.

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  7. I saw the film Rabbit-Proof Fence and am assuming that this is the same fence, although I could imagine rabbits burrowing under that very easily.

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    1. No it's not the same fence Rosemary. The rabbit fence is in Western Australia only..

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  8. Margaret it is wonderful fence, I didn't know you have the longest fence in the worls it is like Chinese Wall. I can't imagine such long fence and how to maintain it in a good shape..

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    1. It is likened to the Chinese Wall..maintenance must be a night mare..

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  9. A bit like painting the Harbour Bridge - the maintenance is endless, and never done. You have me wondering whose responsibility it is. Land owners? Local councils?
    Such a huge undertaking, and I doubt it could be done now.

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    1. Definitely endless work on the fence. We didn't see any holes in it, there are a few gates along the fence where we looked. I found the below on the internet written in 2015...
      The dingo fence is still actively maintained.

      In South Australia, The Dog Fence Board administers and maintains the fence. A levy is charged to graziers to fund wages for maintenance and patrol workers. In Queensland the Wild Dog Barrier Fence Panel provides similar administrative assistance, as does the Wild Dog Destruction Board in New South Wales (NSW).

      Too much red tape these days but if Dingos, Rabbits and other animals kept destroying animals and stock, then something would be done today..

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  10. Never had to worry about dingos in Texas. So interesting to read your posts about your native country and the animals you have there.

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    1. I guess you don't have to. You would have other animals to be concerned about..that we might not have.

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  11. What a truly long fence! Do the dingoes dig under it? Does it keep rabbits out, I hear they are a bit of a plague in Australia, but I may be wrong.

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    1. I should imagine that the fence would go under the earth as well quite away actually, dingos and rabbits do dig. I don't think there are dingos or rabbits living in that area of the photos. There is a map on the Internet somewhere which tells where the dingos are in Australia...I do believe once they were a real nuisance along with the rabbits and other animals (so hence the fence) but probably not to a lesser degree today.

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  12. After admiring your photos, step to answer your question.

    The image of the star, is a sunflower plant , which has been applied the effect kaleidoscope In one image I did transformations , making a different processing for each image.

    Therein lies the mystery.

    Kisses

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your reply. Your photo looked like a kaleidoscope, it's wonderful what can be done digitally.

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  13. I believe that the wiring of this fence goes a certain depth underground also - thus is some deterrent
    to the burrowing rabbits.
    I also believe that the maintenance of the fence is the responsibility of the various state governments.
    Unfortunately the main breakers of the fence now are the feral camels and goats. Brumby horses,
    emus and kangaroos also have no respect for the fence.
    The maintenance and checking vehicle type marks are clearly shown in one of the
    above photos !!!!!
    Great photos of this amazing fence and the reason for it's existence.
    Cheers
    Colin

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    Replies
    1. Good God! Spelling - TYRE marks - not TYPE marks! Tut tut!
      Colin

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    2. I'm always making spelling errors often due to predicative text,nit often puts the wrong word or spells it differently, but on the other hand it's good...

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    3. I'm near enough positive it does go a certain distance under. There is file on the Internet with specifications put out by the NSW Government on the specs for building a dingo fence 'if you must'.

      There has been a lot of who ha as to who looks after the fence and repairs it....have written that in a comment.

      You are correct on who breaks the fence these days, modern times...things change.
      Thanks Colin...hot day today, too hot to sit outside where I'm at the moment...going into the A/C and have a long drink of cool water...

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  14. Such a desolate landscape and you caught the feeling well. I remember first r adding about the fence when I was in grade school and became fascinated in all things Australian. I'm enjoying yourself your trip!

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    1. Thank you. I'm enjoying doing my blog as I travel. I will of course put more photos etc. when I arrive home mid September..

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  15. Maintaining the fence must be a huge job.

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  16. It's hard enough to keep mine up when we had three dogs but it would be a massive job to keep this one working.
    Merle............

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    1. It sure would be and I wonder how many times parts of it have been replaced...

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  17. Replies
    1. Mildred it is interesting especially when I researched the fence, I'm learning..

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  18. Is this also known as the "rabbit proof fence"?

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    1. Yes and no. The Rabbit fence is in WA and was built in the very early 1900's
      The Dingo Fence was also built to keep the rabbits out way back when!

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  19. wow, thanks for teaching me something I didn't know!

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  20. Wow M " Longest in the World" that is true no doubt. I love seeing your travel pics and hearing the interesting history and facts that go with the, Enjoy your trip my friend. Hug G xo

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    1. Yes it's true according to my research..thank you...Hugs M xox

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  21. It's 2 very rich man/woman shouting 'this is mine, that is yours' ! (and by the way, there are all watching an approaching Kavadi attam dance ('burden' dance I think) at the annual Thaipusam festival)

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  22. A big fence for a big country. I saw it in South Australia near lake Eyre. It is amazing how they are continually maintaining it.

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  23. "Longest fence in the world", you'd think with such an honour it would look a bit more...spectacular, but at least it does the job. mostly. I always thought it was to keep the rabbits out, but that's a different fence is it? The rabbit-proof fence.

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  24. Replies
    1. No it's not the rabbit fence...you got it right. Would think it could be more flashy, but then again that would be very costly..

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  25. I did not know that all of the all the dingo cattle dogs I had been around years before really weren't dingoes until I saw Quigley Down Under sometime in the '90s. Since that was before my introduction to the internet, I have a good excuse for my ignorance. By the way, the movie is truly great, if you have not seen it yet. Another Australian-based movie I love is The Man From Snowy River (the first one).

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    1. I too liked the Man From Snowy River...haven't seen the other movie will look out for it..

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  26. That is one long fence indeed. Thanks for sharing. Greetings!

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  27. Your website is terribly informative and your articles are wonderful. John B

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