Chris Pearce's Blog, page 16

Why the approach for the high jump is more important than the take off

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The approach is the all-important part of the high jump. Without a good approach, a high jumper will not get enough lift or the appropriate angle to clear the bar and do well in competitions. The gather and the take off are important too, but a poor approach will result in an ineffective jump no matter how good the other parts.

There are several high jump techniques and a different approach is needed for each one. The straddle is where the jumper runs in towards the bar and throws their non-jumping or outside foot high up in the air before leaping off the ground with the inside foot. The athlete’s body becomes horizontal, facing downwards, as they rotate their body around the bar. This technique was developed from the western roll, a similar style but without the rotation. The other main method, and the one favored today, is the Fosbury flop, named after the jumper who made it famous at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968, Dick Fosbury. With this technique, a jumper takes off with the outside foot and twists their body around so that they go over the bar as they face upwards, head and shoulders first, then torso, and finally the legs and feet.

Let’s look at the straddle and why the approach is so important. The first thing to consider is the angle of the run. If a jumper comes in at too great an angle, they will be taking off too close to the bar. It will be difficult from this angle to get their outside leg up and rotate their body over the bar. Also, the lateral distance over the bar will be greater as the athlete will tend to slide along the top, or hit it on the way up or when coming down, or land close to the edge of the pit. On the other hand, if the athlete runs in straight or at a small angle, the lateral distance over the bar is less but they will be jumping further from the bar and there is a tendency to dive. No matter how good the take off and the height reached, clearing the bar will be more difficult if the angle of the approach is too great or small. The ideal angle is about 30-40 degrees from the straight run up position.

Length and speed of the approach are also important. A steady acceleration is needed to reach the optimal speed at take off. If the speed at take off is relatively slow, about seven strides are needed. A fast run up needs about 13 paces. If too slow, not enough momentum will be built up by the time of the take off. Too fast and the jumper will travel too far laterally as they won’t be able to transfer enough of their momentum in an upwards direction. Run up speed will differ between jumpers and may be a case of trial and error.

The way an athlete runs in will have an impact on their take off too. Several slower steps are usually preferred at the start, followed by a number of faster steps before take off. Late 1950s world record holder John Thomas of the US used three slow and then four faster steps. In contrast, Russian Valeriy Brumel, who held the record in the early 1960s, had a longer and faster run up of four slowish steps and seven fast ones. He was not a tall man for a high jumper but was able to transfer his momentum into an extraordinary upward leap. Thomas copied Brumel’s longer run up but it didn’t work as well for the American. Most jumpers will place a marker at the point where they accelerate, so that they get to the exact same take off spot each time.

The high jump technique used by most top competitors these days is the Fosbury flop. The importance of the approach using this method is probably even greater than for the straddle and other high jump techniques. For the “flop,” jumpers use a curved or J-shaped approach. The first part of the run up is a straight line similar to the straddle, but the angle of the starting point from the bar might be quite slight and athletes will often run the first section in a line heading straight for a point to the side of the jumping area. The second part of the approach consists of a curved run before the jumper goes into the gather and take off.

At the start of the approach, an athlete’s body should rock back slightly, with the ankle of the back foot locked and toes pointing upwards. The jumper takes about five steps in a straight line, by which time the desired speed has been reached. By the fourth step, the athlete’s eyes go from a point straight ahead to focusing on the bar and may then quickly alternate several times between the two. After five steps, the athlete’s body should be upright and turned slightly towards the bar in readiness for the second part of the approach.

During the second part, also of about five steps, the athlete runs in a curved motion, moving leftwards if taking off on their left foot. Those who jump off their right foot will run in from the opposite or left side of the approach area and turn to the right. The feet turn into the curve and the body should tilt in this direction too, away from the bar itself. Athletes should lean from the ankles rather than the hips, such that they feel as though they are running on the sides of their feet. This action is maintained up to and including the final stride and sets up the all-important pivotal action needed to clear the bar. Speed must be kept up throughout this second part of the approach so the athlete has enough momentum to leap high off the ground.

There are several advantages of this J-curve approach used in the Fosbury flop. The athlete can built up more horizontal speed than using the straddle or other techniques, as their body is crouched low and leaning inwards, which will generate additional upward momentum. This centripetal force, which enables the jumper to turn in the air, allows the athlete to approach the bar at a greater angle and at a quicker speed and should automatically take the jumper over the bar. It places the jumper in a better take off position than with the other methods and an exact take off spot is less important as the athlete is almost running beside the bar at take off. Further, today’s large soft landing areas enable an athlete to safely land on their back or shoulders, something that could have caused serious injury with the old sacks of foam and smaller landing area.

The development of the high jump over the last 100 years has been largely about changes in both technique and approach to enable the athlete to maximize their leap at the take off point. These aspects, far more than the take off itself, have been responsible for an increase in the world record by about one and a half feet or 45 centimeters in the men’s event and at least two feet or 60 centimeters for the women over this period.

How do you train for the high jump?

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Training for the high jump has changed somewhat since the introduction of the Fosbury flop by Dick Fosbury at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. Until then, the straddle was the main technique used by high jumpers. The run up was straight, the athlete took off on their inside foot, went over the bar face down and landed on their side. The Fosbury flop changed all that. Jumpers now run a J-curve approach, with the first part in a straight line, followed by an acceleration into a curved run over the last few strides. The athlete takes off on their outside foot, which means they will probably approach the bar from the other side compared with the straddle. They go over the bar face up and land on their back and shoulders. Thus the training is quite different.

Acceleration work is an important part of training for the high jump. First, put your hands outstretched against a wall and lean towards it at a 45 degree angle, raising one knee and keeping as straight a line as possible. Next take five steps on the spot and stay in a perfectly straight line. Then get more upright with each standing step. Repeat this using a partner and actual steps. The partner supports the athlete during the first five steps, then moves away, allowing the jumper to keep accelerating. Practice the rocking start by putting the take off foot forward and rocking back on the other foot. Push away hard with the back foot and get the arms swinging early. The rock will help momentum and result in a consistent and straight start. Run the first five steps alone, and also with the transition to the second part of the approach.

A good place to practice the second or curved part of the high jump approach is to use the three point line of a basketball court. Try and land each foot on the line. That will help maintain as perfect a curve as possible in competition. Lean inwards placing most weight on the take off foot. If the right foot is used, run along the line in a clockwise direction. Build up the speed each time until you reach the pace required in high jump competition, which is fairly brisk, without being a sprint. The entire line could be used or just that part up to the middle where foul throws are made.

Running in circles is an important part of high jump training these days, in contrast to the pre-Fosbury flop period. Using a circle of any size within reason and anywhere, you can run around it two or three times, increasing and decreasing speed several times, while aiming to stay on the line. This can be alternated with running in a straight line. Here the high jumper gets used to combining the straight and curved parts of the run up.

Take off drills are an important part of high jump training. If you take five strides away from the near standard and run in from there, you will slow down your run and take off and be able to assess what refinements you might need in the gather and take off. Slowing this down even further will reduce the stress of a fast approach and take off and allows you to practice the take off for longer periods. Another way to refine the take off is to use the scissors jump. This can be done in the backyard or almost anywhere. It’s also a good idea to set the bar fairly low during much of this training. This allows you to use less energy and do a greater number of approaches and take offs. Concentrate on the second last step, and the very last step will take care of itself.

A training drill that can be done in the pit or on the ground is to lie down and place your hands on the ground next to your head, pointing the fingers towards the shoulders, and then press up. Using the pit, you can assume a similar position and push off, trying to touch your feet before landing on your back again. A good way to practice the landing is to stand with your back to the bar and jump over it and into the pit. Or jog to the bar front on and jump, twisting the body 180 degrees before going over the bar. The hardest part of the high jump for some athletes is landing on their back and shoulders. If this is the case, stand in the pit and simply fall or throw yourself backwards, quite gently at first, to get used to the idea.

Special high jump shoes are needed for some of the training and in competition. The shoe on the take off foot should have four holes in the heel to insert spikes. These spikes allow the athlete to gain the extra traction needed on the curved part of the approach leading to the take off. This should prevent slipping.

Weights are an essential part of training for the high jump, especially routines that strengthen the legs. These should include squats, leg presses, heel raises, and step ups, as well as bench presses and cleans. Other exercises should include squat jumps, double leg hops, and medicine ball workouts. Set a training schedule that includes the various high jump specific routines as well as weights and other exercises. Start each day’s training with a warm up of one mile or 1.6 kilometers. Vary the program a bit each day and take one or two days off a week.

History of the high jump

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The high jump may have been an event in the ancient Olympics, but unlike the long jump, firm evidence is lacking. High jump contests of sorts were no doubt held at different times through the ages. The earliest recorded competition took place in the early 19th century in Scotland, where the best jumpers cleared around five feet six inches or 1.68 meters.

Techniques used at this time were the straight-on approach and the scissors jump. The latter was the favored technique until the end of the 19th century, although it was still frequently used well into the first half of the 20th century. The scissors involves an angled run, before the leg nearest the bar is lifted high in the air and over the bar, followed by the take-off leg. The athlete remained fairly upright throughout and landed on their feet in the days before soft landing bags.

The high jump was one of the events contested in the first modern Olympics in 1896 at Athens. There were only five competitors, including three from America. Ellery Clark of the US won the event with a jump of five feet 11 inches or 1.81 meters. The two jumpers tying for second place could only manage five feet five inches or 1.65 meters.

High jump techniques started to change around this time with the introduction of the eastern cut off by American M.F. Sweeney. This method is similar to the scissors, except the athlete’s back is extended and flattened out as he clears the bar. Sweeney jumped six feet five and a half inches or 1.97 meters in 1895 before bettering this mark with a leap of six feet six inches. Sweeney didn’t compete at the 1896 Olympics. By the 1900 games in Paris, his style was used by a few of the jumpers, and the event was won by Irving Baxter of the US, clearing six feet two and a half inches or 1.90 meters.

An event contested at these games was the standing high jump where contestants were allowed no run up and had to jump with feet together. America’s Ray Ewry won easily with a leap of five feet five inches or 1.655 meters. He won again in 1904 at St. Louis but with the lower height of 1.60 meters, and once more in 1908 at London, jumping 1.57 meters. Platt Adams won in Stockholm in 1912 with a jump of 1.63 meters. This was the last standing high jump competition at the Olympics. It is rarely contested these days, although a notable standing high jumper was Sweden’s Rune Almen who leapt 1.80 meters in 1974 and later jumped 1.90 meters.

Meanwhile, the conventional high jump was going through another change in technique. George Horine developed the western role method where the take-off leg is the inside leg or the one nearer the bar instead of the outside leg as with the scissors. With this style, the jumper is horizontal as he rolls over the bar while facing downwards. Horine broke the world record twice in 1912, becoming the first athlete to clear two meters or six feet seven inches. He competed in the Olympic Games in that year but couldn’t repeat his earlier efforts, having to settle for bronze with a leap of 1.89 meters.

By the early 1920s, women were competing in track and field events, including the high jump. The earliest known high jump record by a woman was four feet nine and a half inches or 1.46 meters by American Nancy Voorhees in 1922. Women first competed in the Olympic Games at Amsterdam in 1928 and the high jump was one of the events, attracting 20 competitors from nine countries. Ethel Catherwood of Canada won gold with a world record jump of five feet three inches using the scissors. The 1932 winner in Los Angeles, Jean Shiley Newhouse of the US, tied with Babe Didrikson with a world record five feet five inches or 1.65 meters but Newhouse was awarded the gold as Didrikson had used the western roll which, while not illegal, was deemed as diving.

The western role technique further developed into the straddle, where jumpers rotated their bodies over the bar instead of merely sailing over it. American and Russian athletes using this technique dominated the event in the postwar period. At a meet in 1956, Charles Dumas of the US was the first person to jump seven feet or 2.13 meters and went on to win gold at the Melbourne Olympics that year. American John Thomas nudged the mark up to seven feet four inches or 2.23 meters in 1960.

Iolanda Balas of Romania was the first woman to clear 6ft or 1.83 meters, in 1958. She broke her own world record 11 times, advancing from 1.78 meters in 1958 to 1.91 meters in 1961 and held that record for more than 10 years.

Russian male jumper Valeriy Brumel leapt seven feet six inches or 2.28 meters in 1963, using a longer and faster approach and putting his head over the bar first in a diving motion rather than the conventional parallel straddle used by the Americans. Thomas copied Brumel’s longer run up but it didn’t work as well for him.

Dick Fosbury revolutionized the high jump with a technique he developed in the 1960s after being unhappy with the straddle and going back to the scissors and the eastern cut-off. By 1963 at age 16, he was clearing the bar face up and legs together. An Oregon newspaper reporter called it the Fosbury flop. After winning national titles and at the US Olympic trials in 1968, he won gold at the Mexico City Olympic Games in that year. His curved run enabled him to build up more lateral speed as his body was crouched low and leant inwards, generating additional upward momentum at take off. The centripetal force generated by his J-curve run up allowed him to turn in the air, propelling him over the bar.

By the Munich Olympics four years later, 70 per cent of competitors in the men’s high jump used the Fosbury flop. Since 1972, only two medal winning high jumpers at the Olympic Games have not used the flop. It is now the technique used by virtually all competitive jumpers. Fosbury never held the world record but since the year he introduced his technique onto the world stage, the record has risen from Brumel’s 2.28 meters to Cuban Javier Sotomayor’s jump of 2.45 meters or eight feet and half an inch in 1993. The women’s record rose from Romanian Iolanda Balas’ 1.91 meters to Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova’s 2.09 meter or six feet 10 and a quarter inch leap in 1987.

With neither the men’s nor women’s world record broken for quite some number of years, perhaps the limits to human high jumping have just about been reached.

History of the javelin at the Olympics

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The javelin throw is an event in track and field athletics, where the object is to hurl the 2.5 meter (about 8 feet) spear-like implement as far as possible. It has been a popular field event at the Olympics due largely to the amazing distances achieved by the best throwers. The event first appeared in the modern Olympics in 1908 but its history goes back thousands of years.

Javelin or spear throwing made a natural progression from hunting and warfare to become a sport in the ancient Olympics. In two separate competitions, a light wooden pole of about 1.5 to 1.8 meters (5-6 feet) in length was thrown at targets and for distance. A thong gave throwers a better grip, assisting them to throw the javelin further and more accurately. In the pentathlon, athletes threw for distance and were allowed to take a number of steps as a run-up before throwing it, similar to the modern version. In the other javelin event, contestants threw at a target while riding a galloping horse.

Throwing the javelin became an event in the modern Olympics in 1906. These games were held in Athens to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first modern Olympics, and were regarded as an official Olympic Games at the time. However, they are not recognized by the International Olympic Committee, who only recognize the games held every four years after the 1896 Athens Games.

The javelin throw made its official entry into Olympic competition in the 1908 games in London. Javelin throwing was already a popular event and 42 athletes from 11 countries entered the contest held on 17 July. The winner was Eric Lemming of Sweden with a new world record throw of 54.83 meters (or 179 feet 11 inches). Throwers from Nordic countries filled the first seven positions, a pattern that would continue in subsequent Olympic Games. Curiously, there was a rule that the javelin had to be held in the middle. Two days earlier, the freestyle javelin throwing event had attracted 33 competitors from nine nations. It was also won by Lemming with a then world record of 54.44 meters, using the conventional grip.

At the second Olympic appearance of the javelin throw at Stockholm in 1912, Lemming defended his title against world record holder Juho Saaristo of Finland. His best mark was 60.64 meters, against Saaristo’s 58.66 meters, below his best of 61.45 meters. The only non-Nordic country competitor in the top 16 was Hungarian Mor Koczan who finished with a bronze medal.

These Olympics were the only time the two handed javelin throw event was held, along with similar competitions in other throwing events. Each contestant had three throws with his right hand and three with his left hand. The best throw with each hand was added to give the total. Saaristo won this event with throws of 61.00 meters and 48.42 meters, for a total of 109.42 meters, winning by more than eight meters.

There were no Olympic Games in 1916 due to World War I. In Antwerp in 1920, Finnish world record holder Jonni Myyra was the winner with a throw of 65.78 meters. He also won at the Paris Games in 1924 throwing 62.96 meters. It was Sweden’s turn once more to win the javelin event at Amsterdam in the 1928 Games, with Erik Lundqvist reaching 66.60 meters. A total of 28 throwers from 18 countries entered the event. The largest field remained the 42 who competed in 1908.

Women competed in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1928. The first Olympic javelin event for women was in 1932 in Los Angeles. American Babe Didrikson had set world records in the javelin, high jump, and 80 meters hurdles three weeks earlier in the Olympic trials. She won the javelin event with 43.68 meters. While Nordic athletes continued to dominate the men’s event, this wasn’t the case with the women’s competition, which was dominated by eastern Europeans.

At the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Egil Danielsen of Norway broke the world record with a throw of 85.71 meters, winning by nearly six meters or 20 feet, and beating the previous Olympic record by almost 12 meters or 40 feet. One of the highlights of the javelin throw at the Olympic Games came in 1972 at Munich when the Soviet Union’s Janis Lusis had to beat German Klaus Wolfermann’s throw of 90.47 meters (296 feet 10 inches) to win the event. Lusis had come from behind to win gold in 1968 at Mexico City and was attempting a repeat performance. His last throw reached 90.45 meters (296 feet 9 inches), which was one inch short of the winning mark.

This mark was increased to 91.20 meters by Dainis Kula of the Soviet Union at Moscow in 1980, although the world record by then had risen to 96.72 meters. By the mid 1980s, the record had risen to a staggering 104.80 meters or 343 feet 10 inches (not at the Olympics), almost the length of a typical stadium. The javelin itself had to be altered due to concerns for public safety. Its center of gravity was moved forward to make it dip sooner and not travel as far. The new javelin was used in the 1988 Olympics at Seoul. The women continued to use the old javelin, until the 2000 Olympics.

An instance of the event being won on the last throw occurred at Seoul in 1988. Tapio Korjus of Finland had to beat a throw of 84.12 meters (276 feet) by Czechoslovakia’s Jan Zelezny and he hurled it 84.28 meters (276 feet 6 inches) to take gold. Zelezny had his revenge and won the next three Olympic Games javelin events, the last one in 2000 at Sydney. He broke the Nordic countries’ stranglehold on the event. They resumed their supremacy in 2004 at Athens and 2008 at Beijing with Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway winning gold at both games. Competitors from the Nordic countries of Finland, Norway, and Sweden have won 30 of the 66 Olympic medals in the men’s javelin. Finland won all three medals in 1920 and 1932.

Ironically, the first gold medal in the javelin event by a woman from a Nordic country came in 1996 at Atlanta when Finland’s Heli Rantanen won with a throw of 67.94 meters. In 2000, Trine Hattestad of Norway threw 68.91 meters to win gold. Apart from these athletes, all other female winners have come from non-Nordic countries. The best performance in the women’s event was perhaps by former world record holder Petra Felke of East Germany who threw the old javelin 74.68 meters or 245 feet at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Her world record was 80 meters.

Top tourist attractions in Montreal

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and the largest in the province of Quebec. It is located on an island, Montreal Island, where the St Lawrence and Ottawa rivers meet. The city has long been associated with romance, elegance, history, and festivals. It is a popular place for cruise ships to visit, with the harbor capable of accommodating over 100 large vessels. Montreal is mainly a French speaking city, but English is widely spoken too. Some of the top tourist attractions include Mount Royal and its surrounding park, the Just for Laughs comedy festival, Bonsecours Market, the Underground City, and Notre-Dame Basilica.

A prominent feature of Montreal Island and one of its top attractions is Mount Royal, consisting of three peaks which also include Mount Murray and Westmount. Mount Royal proper is the highest peak at 764 feet, while the other two mountains are slightly lower. Some guidebooks say Mount Royal is an extinct volcano. It is actually part of a larger volcanic complex created when two plates merged 125 million years ago. The mountain was named by Jacques Cartier, the first European to climb it, in 1535. A railway tunnel under the mountain was opened in 1918. On top of Mount Royal is an illuminated cross 100 high tall. The first cross was put there by the city’s founder, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, in 1643. The current cross was erected in 1924. The light can be changed to any color, including purple when a Pope dies.

Mount Royal Park opened in 1987 and is one of the city’s largest open spaces. A prominent feature of the park is Kondiaronk Belvedere, a plaza with chalet built in 1906 overlooking the downtown area. It is named after the Huron chief who signed a peace accord with the French in 1701. The park has a small artificial lake called Beaver Lake. There is a small ski slope, as well as extensive trails for hiking and cross-country skiing. Various tourist, cultural and sports activities are held at the park.

The Just for Laughs comedy festival is the second largest festival of its kind in the world and Montreal’s largest festival of any type. It is held each year in July. The festival was started by Gilbert Rozon in 1983 as a francophone, or French speaking, event. English speaking, or Anglophone, acts were added in 1985. The length of the program soon extended to a month. During the festival, street performers including comedians, acrobats, and pantomime acts can be seen throughout the city, especially in the Latin Quarter. The acts are also supported at night clubs and theatres. Spectators and performers are attracted from around the world and the event is attended by talent scouts, agents, and producers. Some of the big names to appear at the Just for Laughs festival include Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, John Cleese, Dame Edna Everidge, Billy Connolly, and Rowan Atkinson. The event includes Comedia, a comedy film festival.

Bonsecours Market was established in 1847 and is regarded as one of the jewels in the heritage of Montreal. Construction of the imposing building began in 1844 and was not completed until 1860. The two story building has a Greek Revival portico and a large tin-plated dome. For over 100 years, it was the city’s main public market. Part of the building was once a concert hall. It also housed Montreal’s municipal government for a while, and accommodated United Canada’s parliament briefly in 1849. The building has undergone recent renovations and is a bustling marketplace once again. There are numerous vendors plus a number of restaurants whose terraces are opened in the warmer months. You’ll see photography and arts and crafts exhibitions for free. And you can have a meal at Cabaret Du Roy in 17th century surroundings.

Underground City is another must-see attraction in Montreal. Twenty miles of tunnels connect numerous commercial and residential buildings, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, museums, entertainment areas, banks, train stations, and universities. Half a million people use the tunnel network each day, some of which is wide enough to accommodate rows of shops on both sides. There are more than 120 access points from the outside world. A three mile race through the central segment is held as part of the Montreal Highlights Festival each year in February. Underground City is a good way to get around town, especially if you are there in the winter months. You can see a lot without getting cold.

Notre-Dame Basilica is one of a number of beautiful churches in the city. It was built in the late 1820s in the Gothic Revival style. Inside is filled with bright colors, including silver, gold, purples, reds, blues, and azures, and has a deep blue ceiling with gold stars. There are hundreds of detailed wood carvings as well as a number of religious statues. Its stained glass windows are unusual in that they show the religious history of Montreal rather than biblical scenes. The Casavant Freres Pipe Organ has four keyboards, a pedal board, 97 stops, and close to 7,000 pipes. Pope John Paul II made the church a basilica during his visit to Montreal in 1982. Entry for visitors is $5 unless attending mass. A sound and light show of the church’s history, “And Then There Was Light,” can be seen in the evening for $10. The church is at 110 Notre-Dame Street in the historic Old Montreal district.

Ice fishing in Canada

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Ice fishing is where fish are caught in the conventional way with lines and hooks or spears but through a hole in the ice on a frozen lake or river. Typically, anglers sit on stools on the ice. If they are there for any length of time, they will tow a heated cabin, often with bunks and other amenities, to their favorite fishing spot. They might even sit in their warm portable huts to fish. The ice huts become villages like a trailer park. Ice fishing is popular in Canada, the northern parts of the US, and across much of northern Europe. Sometimes called hard-water fishing, the sport is most popular in Canada.

Canada has plenty of lakes in just about every part of the country. Many of the lakes are deep and the fish are large and aggressive. People come from all over the world to ice fish in Canada. Quebec and Ontario have some of the more accessible lakes. Ontario has more than 200,000 lakes and a greater number of fish species than the rest of the country. The Prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta have over 200,000 lakes and beautiful scenery. British Columbia offers good trout and salmon fishing. Trout is caught across Canada. Walleye fishing is very popular due to their aggressive nature and excellent taste. Muskie and pike also have a spirited nature.

While seasoned fishers in Canada often shun the portable huts, they are becoming increasingly popular, especially among tourists and occasional anglers. These shanties are dragged or carried onto a lake by an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), truck, or snowmobile. They range from a cheap plastic tarpaulin draped over a wooden or metal frame, to a small cabin of heavy, water-tight material with heating, bunk beds, and cooking facilities. Anglers often leave them on the ice for the winter. Many local authorities now have rules such as dates the huts have to be removed by at winter’s end. The more permanent structures that might be used year after year have wheels and can range from little more than bunks and heating, to structures like a mobile home with full size beds, bathroom, stove, and satellite television.

Specialized fishing equipment is needed for ice fishing. An ice saw is needed to cut a hole in the ice. A skimmer will clear new ice as it forms, while a heater can be used for this purpose too. These are essential on the Canadian ice where temperatures can be minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and a hole can quickly ice over. Anglers use fishing rods with brightly colored lures to help attract fish, and of course bait is needed too. Tip-ups are often used, where a flag attached to the line tips up when the fish are biting. This means the line can be left unattended for a while. Spear fishing is practiced too, although it is less common than a fishing rod or tip-up. Native Canadians were spear fishing experts. These days, a flasher is often used to locate fish and get depth information. Underwater cameras are used to see the fish and how they react to a lure.

One of the greatest dangers of ice fishing is the risk of the ice breaking up. Minimum ice depth for walking should be four inches, although many anglers will walk on 2.5 inches. A sled such as a snowmobile needs 5-6 inches, while a car needs 7-12 inches and a truck 14-16 inches. In the late winter, ice can become soft and the recommended minimum thicknesses may not be enough. An additional hazard on some of the larger Canadian lakes, especially the Great Lakes, is off-shore winds breaking up the ice, leaving anglers stranded on large floating islands of ice.

Resorts throughout Canada have lodge accommodation and offer ice fishing tours lasting a day, a weekend or a whole week. They can provide the tackle and equipment, licenses, heated huts, and transportation between the lodge and the huts. Take plenty of warm clothing as it can be frightfully cold out there on the ice in winter. A great advantage of ice fishing is that you don’t get seasick.

Top 10 Niagara Falls attractions

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Niagara Falls is a series of three spectacular waterfalls along the Niagara River on the border of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the US. The city of the same name is built right on the falls and has a population of 82,000 people. The area is Canada’s leading tourist attraction with 28 million visitors in 2009.

The Falls

The major attraction is the falls themselves. They were formed at the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago when glaciers melted and water had to find its way from the newly formed Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. On average, the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pool of water tumbles over the edge every second, increasing to one and a half Olympic pools each second in high flow.

Horseshoe Falls, or Canadian Falls, is the most impressive section, with 90 per cent of the water flowing over this part. The width of these falls is 2,200 feet or more than seven football fields end to end. With the force of the water and the constant erosion, the depth of the water at the base is 184 feet, more than the height of the falls which is 173 feet. In the middle, the water going over the edge is 10 feet deep. It is an incredible sight, although mist can restrict the view. The other major section is the American Falls which are 950 feet wide. They are less spectacular but viewers can get much closer to them.

Maid of the Mist

Several of the top attractions at Niagara Falls are associated with the falls themselves. Maid of the Mist is a boat tour of the falls. The trip starts near Rainbow Bridge, well away from the falls. It travels past the American Falls and into the mist of spray within the arc of Horseshoe Falls, where passengers can appreciate the sheer volume of water and its impressive roar close up. Everyone receives a Maid of the Mist poncho. Maid of the Mist started as a ferry service across the river in 1846. A bridge was built soon after but the boat remained as a tourist attraction.

Journey Behind the Falls

A tour that takes people to the bottom of the American Falls by elevator is called Journey Behind the Falls, or Cave of the Winds. Visitors can walk along decks and platforms until they are almost under the Bridal Veil Falls and experience the water crashing down from above and flowing rapidly under their feet. The original Cave of the Winds tour began in 1841 and took people behind the falls. It closed in 1920 after a rock fall made it too dangerous. The tour reopened in 1924 with decks and walkways in front of the falls.

Niagara Scow

A famous landmark in the area is Niagara Scow, a small flat-bottomed boat used to dredge the river upstream from the falls. In 1918, a tugboat was about to tow it back to shore when it broke loose and floated quickly towards the falls with two men aboard, Gastave Luffberg and Frank Harris. The boat got caught on rocks 800 yards from the falls in a torrent of water with the men still on board. As a rescue by boat was impossible, the fire department tried to shoot a line from a grappling gun from the top of the Toronto Power House. After that failed, the US Coast Guard was called in. They used a heavier gun to send a lifeline to the barge. The men were rescued after 28 hours. But the incredible thing is that the scow boat still sits there more than 90 years later, firmly wedged on the underlying rocks. A plaque at the site tells the story.

Skylon Tower

A tall structure built next to the falls in the mid 1960s, Skylon Tower offers panoramic views of the area. It is 520 feet tall or the height of a 50 story building. Three “Yellow Bug” elevators on the outside take passengers to the top in 52 seconds. It has two restaurants and an observation deck at the top. The Revolving Dining Room sits on a circular rail and completes a revolution every hour, allowing up to 276 diners to see the falls and the city from every angle during their meal.

Niagara River Recreation Trail

The Niagara River Recreation Trail is a 35 mile walking and cycling track that follows the Canadian side of the river. It runs from Fort George on Lake Ontario in the north to Fort Erie on Lake Erie to the south. Sir Winston Churchill described it as “the prettiest Sunday afternoon drive in the world.” The trail has more than 100 plaques and markers pointing to various historical buildings and commemorating events such as the War of 1812. Two of its campaigns were fought alongside the river.

Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens is a beautiful 99 acre setting just 10 minutes’ drive from the falls. It has a rose garden with more than 2,400 roses as well as azaleas, rhododendrons, perennials, and a formal parterre garden. The Butterfly Conservatory has hundreds of colorful butterflies from around the world. An arboretum has ornamental trees and shrubs regarded as among Canada’s finest.

Niagara Fallsview Boulevard District

This district is a leading tourist area located just five minutes’ walk from the falls. It has many top hotels, world class restaurants, and numerous shops. There are luxury hotels with large suites and spas, and family hotels with plenty of games and videos. Dining options at Fallsview include upscale gourmet, steakhouses, ethnic eateries, and family oriented restaurants. The Skylon Tower and Konica Minolta Tower are both in this area, as are IMAX Niagara, Marineland, and Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving.

Clifton Hill

Another popular tourist attraction at Niagara Falls is known as Clifton Hill. It is a street that is a famous promenade with hotels, restaurants, shops, museums, large arcades, rides, and five haunted houses. Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks has a model of falls’ tightrope walker Charles Blondin. Visitors can ride the Niagara Skywheel ferris wheel and play glow in the dark minigolf at Galaxy Golf.

Winter Festival of Lights

Fireworks light up the night sky at Niagara Falls every Friday night at 9pm during the Winter Festival of Lights. The falls themselves are illuminated from 5pm to midnight in winter months. This event has its origins 150 years ago when the falls were lit up by 200 white and colored lights to celebrate the Prince of Wales’ visit in 1860. Electricity was first used to light up the falls in 1879 with lights equal to 32,000 candles. The lights became more powerful over the years, with the current 21 xenon spotlights each producing 250 million candlepower.

Niagara Falls has many more attractions. It is a beautiful part of the world. Take plenty of warm clothing if you visit in the winter months as the temperature can stay below freezing all day. In summer, temperatures are mild to warm but a jacket or pullover comes in handy in the evening.

A guide to Canada’s wine islands: Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, BC

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Vancouver Island is at the southwest corner of Canada on the Pacific Ocean near the US border. It is named after British navy officer George Vancouver who explored the area in 1791 to 1794. The island is quite large, measuring 290 miles long by 50 miles wide. The Gulf Islands consist of about 100 islands on the eastern side of Vancouver Island near its southern end, in the shelter of Georgia Strait. Many indigenous peoples lived in the region for thousands of years, with the British settling there in the mid nineteenth century.

The area is a popular tourist destination, with a young but growing wine industry which started about two decades ago, although fruit growing was well established by the late 1800s. Mountains to the west and the protected Georgia Strait to the south and east have created a microclimate of mild temperatures and moderate rainfall ideal for grape growing. The area has Canada’s mildest climate. Winter night-time temperatures on the coast are usually above freezing. In summer, the temperature can be 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit by day, with an average of 70-80 degrees. Summers are quite dry which can present challenges for grape growers. The climate has often been compared to that of the northern Mediterranean countries.

Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are two of British Columbia’s five wine regions or Designated Viticultural Areas, with several dozen wineries and vineyards. Most are small, family owned businesses, open to the public and offering tours and wine tasting. Some have restaurants or picnic areas. Special events such as wine festivals are hosted by a few wineries. The area is known to produce some of the best cool climate grapes in the world.

On Vancouver Island, the main grape growing areas are Cowichan Valley and Saanich Peninsula. Cowichan means the “warm land.” Grape varieties include Bacchus, Foch, Ortega, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Siegerrebe, Merlot, Gamay Noir, and Gewurztraminer. Most of the island’s wineries are in this area. Saanich Peninsula is a short drive from the largest city, Victoria, and has a warm climate suitable for whites such as Ortega and Pinot Gris and reds like Marechal Foch and Pinot Noir. Kiwifruit, apples, and blackberries are also used to make wine in this area. Most of the wineries in the region are located along scenic hillsides offering spectacular views. Wine tours from Victoria visit various award winning wineries. The region also has breweries, distilleries, and cideries.

The Cowichan Wine and Culinary Festival is held each year in early September and has plenty of food and wine, and entertainment by local musicians. There is also the Nanaimo Wine Festival in late October with over 200 wines from around the world. Notable wineries on the island include the Cherry Point Vineyard established in 1990. The winery is world famous for its Cowichan Blackberry Dessert wine. Its new Solera version uses a unique barrel aging process. It has a bistro and picnic area with great views. Vigneti Zanatta Winery has 30 acres of vines and includes Vinoteca Restaurant inside the 1903 farm house. The property was originally a dairy farm.

A smaller number of wineries are found on the Gulf Islands, which can be accessed by several ferries, while the larger islands also have airline services from Vancouver (City) and Victoria. The largest and oldest winery is Saturna Island Family Vineyards established on 60 acres in 1998. It has four vineyards, tours, a tasting room, wine shop, and bistro, and is a 10 minute walk from the dock. It hosts an annual harvest festival in September and won gold and silver medals at the All Canadian Wine Championships in 2008.

Other Gulf Islands wineries include the Morning Bay Vineyard and Estate Winery, on Pender Island. It has a gravity flow winery and private parties can be arranged in the Barrel Room with its grand piano. Salt Spring Vineyards Winery, on Salt Spring Island, opened in 2002 and offers bed and breakfast accommodation. It uses organic farming and harvesting practices and has an annual Grape Harvest Ball in October. Garry Oaks Winery, also on Salt Spring Island, was set up in 2003 from a 100 year old sheep farm.

Apart from the wineries, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands have many other things to see and do. Strathcona Provincial Park is in the middle of Vancouver Island and is popular with hikers, cross country and downhill skiers, fishers, and campers. Mount Golden Hinde, the highest point on the island, is popular with climbers. The island has many lakes and streams where salmon, trout, and other fish can be caught.

Saturna Island is the most easterly of the Gulf Islands and has a population of just 350 people. Half the island is national park. It has sandy beaches which are good for swimming and relaxing. Spectacular views across the islands can be enjoyed from its high points. Salt Spring Island is the largest and most populated of the Gulf Islands with a population of 10,500. It has its own currency and is well known for its arts and crafts which can be purchased at the large outdoor craft market. Galiano Island is known for its hundreds of bird species, including eagles, cormorants, and herons. It has a number of parks for hiking and sightseeing. Shell Beach is made up entirely of old shells, a midden of the Coast Salish people. The Galiano Wine Festival is held each year. On Pender Island, frisbee or disc golf is played at the 27 hole Golf Island Disc Park. The islands and waterways are popular with boating and yachting enthusiasts.

The largest city on Vancouver Island is Victoria at its southern tip with a third of a million people. Tourism is a major industry with over 3.5 million visitors each year. Cruise ships stop at the Ogden Point terminal. The city is full of theaters, night clubs, pubs, and restaurants. Visitors can enjoy shopping, parks and gardens, and many historic buildings. Concerts at Symphony Splash, Canada Day fireworks, and the Swiftsure International Yacht Race are among the major events.

Religion in Australia

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone; written in 2008)

Australians are free to choose their religion and indeed whether they have one at all. Under the Australian Constitution, which was put in place at the time of federation in 1901, the nation is not permitted to have a state religion. Many religious groups exist in Australia. These include Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and traditional religions of indigenous Australians, among others.

There are a large number of Christian denominations in Australia. The main ones are the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. At the time of the last Australian census in 2006, a total of 5.1 million people stated their religion was Catholic. This represents about 26 per cent of the Australian population. A further 3.7 million people or 19 per cent of the population were Anglican. Other Christian groups include the Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformed, Orthodox, Baptist, Lutheran, and Pentecostal.

William Ullathorne, vicar-general in the colony of New South Wales in the 1830s convinced Pope Gregory XVI to establish a Catholic church in Australia. Until about twenty years ago, the Catholic Church was Australia’s second largest church after the Anglican Church, but has grown at a faster rate. Part of the reason is that Australia’s immigration policy now extends to many European and Asian countries with a predominantly Catholic population. The Catholic Church in Australia has 32 dioceses grouped into seven archdioceses. Each diocese is headed by a bishop, while each archdiocese has an archbishop. The church has about 3,000 priests, and a further 9,000 males and females in Catholic orders, or those who dedicate their life to the church. Australia’s three members of the College of Cardinals are George Pell, Edward Clancy, and Edward Cassidy. Only about 15 per cent of Catholics attend church on a regular basis, according to the National Church Life Survey of 2001. This was down from about 18 per cent in 1996.

The Anglican Church is Australia’s oldest church. Richard Johnston was chaplain on the First Fleet, which arrived in Australia in 1788. This church was the only recognised religion in Australia in early colonial times. Its first bishop was William Broughton in 1836. A separate diocese was created in Tasmania in 1842. The mainland diocese was divided into four dioceses of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Newcastle in 1847. Over the next eighty years, the number of dioceses rose to 25. Since 1962, the Anglican Church of Australia has been independent of the English church, although it was still called the Church of England until 1981. Its present 23 dioceses are grouped into five provinces. The church’s current primate and archbishop is Phillip Aspinall.

Australia’s third largest church is the Uniting Church, with 1.1 million followers. It was formed in 1977 through an amalgamation of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational churches. About ten per cent of these people attend church regularly. This church is non-hierarchical and has no bishops. It is run by various councils or committees. Many Australians still regard themselves as Presbyterian, evidenced by the 2006 census count of 600,000 adherents.

Orthodox Christians belong to a number of separate churches, including the Eastern Orthodox Church with its Greek background, Eastern Christianity, and Oriental Orthodoxy. Over 500,000 Australians follow these faiths.

The Baptist Church was established in Australia in the 1830s. The Baptist Union started in 1926. Seven state unions operate independently with the national body as an advisory council. The union had 61,000 members and 868 churched in 2007. The 2006 census identified over 300,000 followers, with over a third going to church weekly.

The Lutheran and Pentecostal churches have about 250,000 and 220,000 supporters in Australia respectively.

Strong growth in various non-Christian religions has occurred in recent decades. Again, this is due to immigration policies that welcome migrants from countries where these religions are predominant.

Australia has over 400,000 Buddhists or two per cent of the population. The first Buddhists came to Australia during the gold rush era in the mid nineteenth century from China, attracted by the prospect of finding gold. More buddhists soon came to Australia to work in the sugar cane industry, the pearling industry, and as acrobats and jugglers. Numbers declined in the early twentieth century due to the White Australia policy, although they have increased sharply more recently. The number of followers doubled between 1996 and 2006, with many coming from India, Sri Lanka, and south-east Asian countries. Australia has the southern hemisphere’s largest Buddhist temple, the Nan Tien Temple, in Wollongong, south of Sydney.

The 2006 census counted 340,000 Muslims in Australia. Several thousand Muslims came to Australia from Afghanistan and other countries as camel drives in desert areas in the nineteenth century. They helped open up the land. When the White Australia policy was abandoned in the 1970s, large numbers of Muslims came from Lebanon, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as from Albania, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Somalia. The Australian Islamic College in Perth has 2,000 students. There are Muslim communities across Australia, including various suburbs in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, plus in regional areas such as Shepparton and Cobram in Victoria, and Katanning in Western Australia.

About 150,000 Hindus live in Australia. Hindus came to Australia from India in the nineteenth century to work in the sugar and cotton industries. Many of them stayed and worked as camel drivers, merchants, and travelling salesmen in outlying communities. These days, many work as doctors, engineers, and computer programmers. Most of them live in Sydney and Melbourne. They are noted for living in harmony with the rest of the population.

Australia’s 90,000 Jews are mainly of Eastern European origin, including refugees and survivors of the Holocaust, but also from South Africa, New Zealand, and Russia. Their numbers are thought to be more than what is officially recorded, as a proportion are thought to not want to state their religion on the census form. Estimates of the Jewish population in Australia are as high as 120,000. They have been prominent in business, and in science, literature, and art.

Traditional indigenous Australian religions are now practised by only about 5,000 people. These religions go back before the arrival of Europeans in Australia, and are based on the Dreamtime. This relates to a creation in ancient times and its link all the way to the present day. Aboriginal people have a number of dream spirits. The main one is the Rainbow Serpent, and also the Yowie and the Bunyip. Their religions are linked strongly to the land.

Australia has developed from a society in which only one religion was allowed to a society of tolerance and diversity with a large number of religious groups. Followers interact with those of other groups and everyone generally lives in harmony with each other.

History of Australia’s wine industry

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

An attempt to start a wine industry in Australia commenced with the arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson in January 1788. During the voyage, vines had been procured by Governor Arthur Phillip at Rio de Janeiro and later at the Cape of Good Hope. These were planted with various crops at Farm Cove, the present site of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. A lack of grapes resulted in the vines being transplanted to the Governor’s garden at Parramatta, west of Sydney. In 1791, the garden contained three acres of vines, and the first two bunches of grapes harvested were reported by naval officer Watkin Tench in January of that year. It is quite likely that the grapes were used to make Australia’s first wine.

The first private vine grower in the colony was Philip Schaeffer who had a vineyard of one acre at his Rydalmere farm in 1792. Several private growers had a total of 8.5 acres of vines by 1797. The government encouraged wine-making and drinking in these early years to try and curb consumption of lethal spirits that were being concocted in vast quantities. It was also part of a wider push for self-sufficiency in agriculture. After initial success, these enterprises had failed by the turn of the century. The early years of the industry were hampered by disease and poor management.

Consequently, Antoine Landrien and Francois de Riveau, two French prisoners of war were sent to Australia in 1800 to help establish a wine industry after claiming they had the necessary experience. They planted 12,000 vines but four years later, only forty gallons of poor quality wine had been produced and disease overtook the vines. Further attempts to grow grapes were made by George Suttor at Parramatta and by Nicholas Devine who had three acres of vines at Newton but these ventures failed too as the vine types were unsuited to the Australian conditions.

Gregory Blaxland was probably the pioneer of Australia’s wine industry. After arriving in Sydney in 1806, he grew crops, grasses, and grapes over 25 years on his 450 acre property. His knowledge of viticulture exceeded that of growers before him. He planted both seeds and cuttings, trained the young vines, and dug trenches to keep roots moist. He developed a species resistant to anthracnose and black spot. In 1816, his wine was given the thumbs-up by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Blaxland was the first person to export wine and the first to win an award. He sent a 26 gallon concoction of red wine and French brandy to London in 1822 and won a silver medal from the Royal Society of Arts. In 1828, he won their gold medal for his tawny red wine. However, his wine production efforts remained on a small scale.

Australia’s first commercial vineyard belonged to John Macarthur, better know as a pioneer in the wool industry. Macarthur had traveled to France, Switzerland, and Italy in 1815-16 to gather information on viticulture. In the 1820s, he established vineyards at his property, Camden Park, near Penrith, west of Sydney. After early failures, he was reportedly making good wine from verdelho and muscat grapes. William Redfern and the Australian Agricultural Company were also producing wine at this time. By the mid 1820s, Australia’s annual wine production reached 20,000 gallons.

The industry was widely promoted by James Busby in the 1820s and 1830s. He studied viticulture in France before coming to Australia with cuttings he thought would be suitable for the Australian climate. He taught viticulture at the Male Orphan School, Cabramatta, near Sydney, and published four books on the subject. He also distributed some 20,000 cuttings to people. The vineyard he started at the orphan school produced wine that was well regarded in London. He collected many vines on a trip to France, Spain and England in 1831, and sent them to Australia where they were planted in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens and made available at no cost to growers. His third book, “Journal of a Tour Through Some of the Vineyards of Spain and France” in 1833 stimulated great interest in viticulture and had two reprints.

The efforts of Busby helped expand Australia’s wine industry in the 1830s. For example, George Wyndham produced 1,650 gallons in 1836, John Jamison made a similar quantity and stored it in underground cellars, and the Macarthur family had a 20 acre vineyard. By this time, other colonies were also establishing vineyards, including Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.

Population growth led to an acceleration in the wine industry in the 1840s. Several of Australia’s famous wineries got their start in this decade, including Lindemans in 1843. The New South Wales Government was concerned that people were drinking too much hard liquor, so it waived the need for wine producers to have a publican’s license, and allowed them to sell smaller amounts of wine. This resulted in a doubling of the number of acres of vineyards to over 1,000 from 1843 to 1850. Wine production exceeded 100,000 gallons in that year.

Gold rushes in the 1850s slowed the wine industry as labor disappeared to the gold fields. But the population explosion brought about by gold plus the gold itself eventually benefited the industry. Vine growers Henry Lindeman and Samuel Smith found enough gold to expand their wineries considerably. Thomas Hardy made money supplying meat on the Victorian gold fields and used it to set up a vineyard near Adelaide, South Australia. In 1865, he produced 14,000 gallons of wine and by 1875, this had increased to 53,000 gallons. Many others financed their entry into the wine industry from gold.

Colonies passed land selection acts in the 1860s as a move to promote closer settlement. This benefited the wine industry. The area under vine on the mainland rose from 6,200 acres in 1851 to 17,000 acres in 1871. Many famous producers commenced in this period, for example, Yering, St Hubert’s, Yeringberg, Fairfield, All Saints, Chateau Tahbilk, St Peters, Auldana, Seppelt, Craigmoor, and Oakdale.

In the late nineteenth century, expansion of the industry was hampered by the small size of the domestic market. By 1900, Australia’s population was still under four million, spread between six colonies, each with high customs duties to protect their respective industries. Some growers felt this was the industry’s greatest impediment. Another issue was that Australians were not big wine drinkers, and also often preferred to import not only their alcohol but other goods too. In 1885, consumption of wine in New South Wales was 0.64 gallons per head, compared with 1.30 gallons of spirits, and 13.19 gallons of beer. Further, the abstinence and temperance movements were quite active and persuasive in the 1880s and 1890s, and this didn’t help the wine industry. The government tried to get people off spirits by enabling enterprising individuals to buy a “Colonial Wine Shop” license for three pounds in 1882. By 1887, there were 400 of these shops in the colony.

Export markets for wine were difficult to penetrate too. England had put a preferential duty on wine from the Cape of Good Hope, effectively shutting Australia out of the British market. The duty was lifted in 1860 and exports rose. Australian wine exports to England averaged 7,000 gallons in the period 1854 to 1863. This figure increased to an average of 32,000 gallons between 1863 and 1885, rising to nearly half a million gallons a year from 1885 to 1900. The success of the local industry was brought about by Australian firms setting up offices in London to market the produce and by a number of international exhibitions where Australian wines were promoted. Despite some problems with disease, especially in Victoria, the area under vine increased threefold from 22,000 acres to 65,000 acres between 1885 and 1900.

Wine production in 1900-01 exceeded five million gallons, with Victoria leading the way. But Federation in 1901 brought a new set of problems. Under the new constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, the states were no longer allowed to impose tariffs. The South Australian industry was the only one to benefit as the new state government gave producers a subsidy in lieu, making their wines cheaper than in other states. Surplus production between 1900 and 1904 caused grape prices to fall and less profitable vineyards to close. Drought and disease affected output in New South Wales and Victoria around 1909 and 1910. By 1913-14, South Australia was making 2.7 million gallons of wine, or 60 per cent of the national total.

Many of the larger firms, such as McWilliams, Penfolds, Seppelts, and Lindemans, established themselves in a number of areas away from their home base in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Following World War I, new vineyards were opened in soldier settlements along the Murray, Murrumbidgee, and Hunter rivers, and production rose. However, overproduction resulted in a fall in grape prices by 1924 and many producers left the industry.

In order to try and arrest the decline, the Australian government paid a subsidy to viticulturists. The English government’s introduction in 1925 of preferential duty for wines within the British Empire also assisted Australian producers. Further, the federal government’s bounty acts in the 1920s and 1930s boosted wine exports. In 1929, the Australian government set up the Australian Wine Board to improve the overseas marketing efforts of local wine. Between 1925 and 1939, Australian exports of wine to Britain averaged 2.8 million gallons or about 20 per cent of British wine imports, compared with 3.5 per cent in the period 1885 to 1900.

Wine consumption in Australia increased during World War II due to a shortage of beer. However, exports to Britain almost ceased after 1941 due to embargoes and lack of shipping space. Exports to England resumed after the war but on a much smaller scale. To try and increase exports, the Wine Board established an Australian Wine Centre in London in 1960. But Australian exports of wine remained small. By 1974-75, production passed 80 million gallons, but exports were only about 1.4 million gallons valued at $5.3 million.

After World War II, producers started selling bottles of wine under their own labels rather than selling wine in bulk to retailers and wholesalers. This resulted in an increase in competition. Post-war migration of large numbers of people from European countries also pushed up demand for wine. Australian Wine Bureau promotions coupled with more advertising by wine firms meant steady growth in the industry through the 1950s and 1960s. Consumption rose from about one gallon a person in the early 1960s to two gallons in the early 1970s and three gallons by 1976-77.

The turning point for the Australian wine industry is considered to be the pressure-controlled fermentation technique, first used in 1953. Orlando introduced the Barossa Pearl brand into the market in 1956 using the technique, a wine that became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, appealing to women as well as men. This success was followed by a wide range of similar brands by different companies.

By the mid 1990s, about 4,000 growers produced 700,000 tons of grapes for 8,000 wine-makers each year. The industry employed 5,000 people, and wine sales reached $2.5 billion. Following the European Community / Australia Bilateral Wine Agreement in 1994, Australia has gained greater access to European markets. This has allowed more emphasis to be placed on exports. Despite a decrease in the tariff on imported wine from ten per cent to five per cent in 1996, Australia producers kept their share of the domestic market at around 97 per cent.

In 2006-07, wine production totaled nearly 220 million gallons. The value of wine exports was $2.9 billion, exceeding domestic sales of $2.0 billion. Australian wines are now sold in over 100 countries. The United Kingdom imports more Australian wine than French wine. The total area of grape-bearing vines in the 2006-07 season was 405,000 acres. In 2006, the grape growing industry employed 11,000 people, while wine manufacturing gave jobs to 17,000 people. Medals have been won by Australian wines at nearly every international wine competition. The industry has come a long way since Watkin Tench proudly held two bunches of grapes aloft in 1791.