Zonifer Lloyd
Murphy's Haystacks
Murphys Haystacks consists of two separate though clearly related groups of large granite pillars and boulders standing near the crest of a broad domical hill, here called Oakfront Hill, just to the west of the Streaky Bay - Port Kenny Road, some 30km northwest of Port Kenny on the west coast of South Australia.
The origin of the granite rocks, or inselbergs is fascinating. Made up of pink (some call it red) Hiltaba granite, so named after a sheep station situated some way north-east, the haystacks have stood on top of the earth in their present form for nearly 34,000 years.
"Murphys Haystacks" were named after Denis Murphy, who was born at Inchor, Ballyagran, Country Limerick, Ireland on March 25, 1858.
He arrived in South Australia on the ship "Nebo" in 1882 and spent several years working at Peterborough and Yongala before taking up land at Calca.
He named the property "Oakfront" after his mother's home in Ireland and worked with his brother Jeremiah, who took up the property Drinanvale in the Koolkanna area.
The Murphy brothers cleared their land (the first cleared land in the district) using a log attached to two teams of bullocks.
Denis Murphy claimed to have been the first man to cart and ship wheat from the bay of Port Kenny, which was then known at Murphy's Landing
Murphy's Haystacks
Murphys Haystacks consists of two separate though clearly related groups of large granite pillars and boulders standing near the crest of a broad domical hill, here called Oakfront Hill, just to the west of the Streaky Bay - Port Kenny Road, some 30km northwest of Port Kenny on the west coast of South Australia.
The origin of the granite rocks, or inselbergs is fascinating. Made up of pink (some call it red) Hiltaba granite, so named after a sheep station situated some way north-east, the haystacks have stood on top of the earth in their present form for nearly 34,000 years.
"Murphys Haystacks" were named after Denis Murphy, who was born at Inchor, Ballyagran, Country Limerick, Ireland on March 25, 1858.
He arrived in South Australia on the ship "Nebo" in 1882 and spent several years working at Peterborough and Yongala before taking up land at Calca.
He named the property "Oakfront" after his mother's home in Ireland and worked with his brother Jeremiah, who took up the property Drinanvale in the Koolkanna area.
The Murphy brothers cleared their land (the first cleared land in the district) using a log attached to two teams of bullocks.
Denis Murphy claimed to have been the first man to cart and ship wheat from the bay of Port Kenny, which was then known at Murphy's Landing