Saturday 5 May
It was a long day on site today – from sunrise to sunset! But after several days land-bound due to bad weather everyone was looking forward to getting out to the barge and making the most of it!
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| Amelia Lacey | Amelia on the jetty at St Leonards during sandbagging (photo by Jen Rodrigues) |
Excavation of the Clarence finished today and the survey of the site officially began. Divers excavating and recording the site were caught in action by Ian McCann who was filming on the barge and in the water today – can’t wait to see the footage! One highlight of today’s excavation was some well-preserved rope found on the wreck site. Mike Nash is one of the researchers of the project and has been in charge of excavation. His last day was today and everyone is particularly sad to see him go.
Jen Rodrigues, who I have been lucky enough to help out during the project, recorded and documented the final barrel raised with the help of Agni Mochtar. Michael Gregg, Liesel Gentelli and I spent the day photographing the barrel heads and staves recovered from the wreck. Photographing the artefacts has helped me identify and understand specific features of the barrels – such as the indentations and rust on the wooden staves where the barrel hoops were originally, as well as the embossed lettering on the barrel heads which may give clues to their original contents. After taking two memory cards of photos I finally surrendered the artefacts to Vicki Richards who began work on preparing the artefacts for reburial – with the first barrel recovered from the wreck site packaged up today with the help of Calleu Kalleskisi, ready for the reburial stage of the project which begins next week.
Sadly today was my last day on the project. Thank-you for everyone who has allowed me to participate in the project, for the invaluable information gained, and the great experience!
by Amelia Lacey Department of Environment and Heritage Protection Queensland
