Wrecked

Day 108

06 September 2009

This afternoon we went out for a wander and decided to have a walk on the pier, and venture into unknown territory: the Divers Down diver's shop.

I've never done a dive before, so everything apart from the goggles and snorkels which were on display were completely meaningless to me!

That is, apart from the display cabinets featuring items found on the wreck of the ship Kyarra, which was bombed by a U boat in 1917 on its way back to Sydney with wounded Australian soldiers. The ship was bombed by a UB 57 and sank within 7 minutes, killing six crew including the captain. The remaining passengers were rescued. More about the Kyarra can be found on the Divers Down website.

Swanage is popular with divers

These perfume bottles were found. Surprisingly, the aroma within the bottles has been preserved. One of the bottles smelled particularly like Chanel No. 5, and had a strong whiff!

To help pay for the restoration of the pier, plaques can be bought for £50.00. So far around £180,000 has been raised. It's fascinating to walk along and have a read of the messages, some are funny, others are poignant, but it's also fun to see if I can find any messages from people I know.

My son was happy to nuzzle up to Daddy and have a snooze. I don't blame him!