Film Photography: Kapunda, South Australia.

Established in 1842 after the discovery of copper deposits in the earth, Kapunda is a town roughly 83km from Adelaide, South Australia. This small, historic town has strong agricultural and mining ties that stem back before the Victorian gold rushes.

Map The Miner. Source

Located at the town's Southern entrance is iconic statue, Map the Miner. This seven-metre fibreglass statue was first built during 1886 by Ben van Zettan to commemorate Kapunda's Cornish miners, and the influence that these miners had on Kapunda. The statue was burnt during a 2006 fire; however, it was insured for A$160000 and therefore re-built in 2007 by its original owner. Although the statue's size is impressive, its certainly not a piece of art that you can marvel at for hours. It's one of those things that you can see once and not need to see for another ten years, much like the rest of Kapunda's - for a lack of a better word - attractions.

Perhaps the most popular of these sites to see is the infamous St John's Cemetery. This catholic cemetery is a nine minute drive out of Kapunda and has unfortunately been vandalised on numerous occasions by visitors. Most people visit in search of 'ghosts' at night because of all the urban legends that surround this place. One popular example is that the late Ruby Bland, a young woman who was sent to the reformatory during the 1900s, haunts the graveyard as she was raped and murdered by a priest. This isn't factual, and Bland in-fact died during an operation on 28 November, 1909 source. Moreover, located at the cemetery's entrance is a plaque commemorating 'All the unmarked graves,' of babies who were buried along the fence line while the Reformatory was still in operation. This is a chilling site. Not because of 'ghosts', rather because of how old some of the graves are. Staring at the crumbling tombstones of people who lived decades before me caused a sense of sonder to wash over me. If people are going to visit St John's graveyard, they should do so respectfully.

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Above: An old outhouse and great Gum Tree located towards where the old reformatory once was.

The copper mine offers walking trails, some informative signage about Cornish miners, and plenty of picturesque colours. It's certainly worth checking out.

Pictures taken on a Pentax k1000. ISO 400 film. Their lack of vibrancy doesn't serve the wonderful colours justice.

Kapunda's main street belong to a few pubs, general stores, bakeries, and a small art gallery. We stopped at an underwhelming caffe, where I had the most awkward encounter of my life.

'Could I please have a soy iced coffee?'

'A what?' the kind lady replied.

'An iced coffee... with soy milk,' I reiterated.

She still didn't get me. Apparently she'd never heard of an iced coffee and so I settled for a cold, black coffee with ice. Moreover, the pub offers some good meals and brilliant customer service. The Salt N' Pepper was very nice.

If you're passing through the area or live closely, Kapunda is worth a day visit to soak up some local history and check out the mines. I would't go out of my way to visit quiet town, though.

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