Victoria (Wilsons Promontory, 15 August 1914)
Leaving Adelaide by overnight train, the BAAS delegates arrived at Flinders Street Station (Melbourne, Victoria) on 13 August. The next day, Ashby read his paper, 'A Map of the Environs of Rome of 1547', for the BAAS Geography Section at Melbourne University. That Saturday, he joined a small group heading to Wilsons Promontory (or The Prom) on Victoria's south coast. The weekend was the highlight of his time in Australia, and yet it nearly did not happen. As T.S. Hall explains, the trip:
to Wilson's Promontory … had been planned by steamer. Almost at the last moment, the war troubles prevented the loan of a vessel. However, … overland transport [was secured] (Nature, 8 October 1914: 148)
This change transformed their outbound journey into a 12 hour/250 kms adventure. For it, the group caught an early train to Port Franklin, where Ashby snapped this photo of its jetty (image 1). From there, they motored down the Franklin River in a small wooden boat, before crossing Corner Inlet in heavy weather. From the Inlet's southern beach, the group began a five-hour trail ride (on horseback) to reach the weekend's rustic accommodation at Darby River: a one-room shack without running water.
That evening, as the group reached their destination, Ashby took the photograph in image 2 of a companion on horseback crossing Darby River bridge.