The Schweppes tunnel starts with some amazing street art on the concrete walls.
As you navigate your way inside, light streams down from grates in the ceiling giving you the sense you’re in a lit corridor.
Moving onward the tunnel changes to a more older looking brick and slate walling before returning back to concrete just as you burst out topside.
Unbeknown to most, beneath Adelaide city streets are a treasure-trove of hidden goodies! Down within the basement of this otherwise normal commercial building holds clues of its past…
Built in the 1850’s, this former Banks basement still contains the original vault rooms and strong boxes that would have held the money and valuables of Adelaide’s wealthy upper class.
The vault doors, typically made of steel reinforced concrete, are secured by massive metal bolts extending from the door into the surrounding frame. Dual combination dials are usually used for increased security. No single person is given both combinations, requiring two people to operate the door.
Currently being used as storage, we hope some day people will be allowed access to see this location.
Casualties of technological change; of the Great Depression and two World Wars; or disrepair or damage, the Garden Island Ships Graveyard is home to many decaying and disintegrated vessels.
The shipwrecks are partially covered by mangroves now, but provide a look back into an era when Adelaide was at the forefront of Australia’s maritime transport industry.
