Old Tailem Town

OLD TAILEM TOWN

Ever wondered if it is possible to go back in time?

Ask kids my age and they would def quote their all time fav movie - Back to the Future.

Marty McFly: Doc are you telling me you built a time machine . . . out of a Delorea?

Dr. Emmett L. Brown: The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style.

And in style we did it in our Super Ford Transit Time Machine.

Well… it only took 110km per hour on the South Eastern Freeway 5km north of Tailem Bend and approximately 90kms from Adelaide exact for us to travel through time.

I was observing the green landscape filled with happy cattle chewing on the green grass when out of the blue Rodney spotted some old trucks rusting away in the grass beside the freeway. With a sharp U-turn on he steered the Super Ford Transit Time Machine back in time to the 1900s.

What a surprise! Very curious we got out of our Super Ford Transit Time Machine into Old Tailem Town.

We opened the door and were greeted by a lovely lady dressed in a Red Victorian dress...we looked at each other and were still trying to pick up our jaws from the floor because honestly, we were very excited by our discovery and felt like kids that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

The Victorian dressed lady took us through the back door and there before our eyes was an entire pioneer village!! It was like we stepped out on an old cowboy movie scene, all that was missing was a shoot out in front of the parlour door with Ned Kelly and his gang…and we also wanted pioneer costumes too…we were in the zone.

First established in 1982 this town is Australia’s largest pioneer village. We spoke to one of the gentleman who had been working there for 5 years. He told us that the old houses/shops/sheds/cars/memorabilia are donated or brought from all over Australia and the houses also have to be transported from far away in one piece to the village. He introduced us to Rosie and Monte the local horses and the goat who was very lazy and didn’t want to get up. Apparently the poor goat was operated on a while ago and had a shoulder plate replacement but looked happy just to sleep under the shade of a tree.

With a map we walked through the winding streets filled with old cars, train carriages, an old cinema, shops, pub, sheds and houses.

The village came with a church, graveyard and undertaker which included a dead body ready to be coffined...don’t worry it was only a fake body...I think???

As you enter the houses and shops, the smell of old antiques and collectables take you back in time. It was nice to be able to walk in and actually be part of the furniture, playing on organs, acting like were blacksmiths, sitting at preset dinner tables and Rodney even attempting to be a lawyer/judge from the pioneer period…watch out John Whitehead and Michael Howe! Creaking doors and mannequins greet you as you enter dark rooms and walk past dusty windows and curtains waving in the wind. An old doll in a pram in the corner possibly blinked their eyelid if we looked fast enough. If you listen carefully you can hear whispering ghosts hiding behind cupboards and faces smile at your from old black n white portraits on walls and ledges. A local newspaper article on the church door shows a tourist photo that proves a blurry ghost floating above the preacher’s bench. We also had the opportunity to walk into a working shed where the son was repairing old engines from trains, tractors and cars whilst his mother was restoring some beautiful antique items. Inside the shed is also some of the largest collections of memorabilia from the old times including collected match boxes, biscuit tins, sowing machines, medicines, irons and much more.

We wished we had more time to explore the town. We had fun reliving the pioneer period and could have easily taken more photos and sat in a few more rocking chairs.

Tailem Town was fantastic and we would definitely travel back in time to the place...all you need is a Ford Transit Time Machine going at 110km! ;)