Passage du Gois; A Submersible Causeway in France

Passage du Gois is a submersible causeway in the Bay of Bourgneuf, connecting the island of Noirmoutier to the mainland in the department of Vendée, in France. Interestingly twice a day, for an hour or two, the tide goes out and the causeway becomes visible and reachable to traffic. For the rest of the day, it remains flooded under 1.3 to 4 meters of water and cannot be used.

Even though causeways such as Passage du Gois exist in other places like Jindo in Korea, the distinctiveness of Passage du Gois lies in its exceptional length of four to five kilometers. In the 18th century, the causeway was much longer because the old dikes were farther from the coast. Therefore; in the early days, the only way to reach Noirmoutier was by boat.

Then the Bay of Bourgneuf slowly silted up and the causeway was shaped and permitting men and animals to wade through the waters to the island. Well, the name “Gois” comes from the verb "goiser" which means to walk while wetting one’s shoes. It was in 1701 that the passage linking the mainland to the island was first mentioned on a map.  Moreover the inquisitiveness has existed since the collapse of the plateau which gave birth to the bay of Bourgneuf. More than thousands years, the two present from the north and south hitting the bay has resulted in deposition of silt, and that has repeatedly moved before stabilizing.

Now stabilization work was done to stop sand from moving and a cobblestone road was laid down. In the mid of 18th century a regular service was provided by car or on horseback. In 1971, a bridge linking the island to the mainland was built as an alternative route to the island of Noirmoutier.

Mir Diamond Mine Russia

Mir Mine is actually a diamond mine located in Mirny Eastern Siberia Russia. It is also called Mirny Mine, and when it was decided to close in 2004, the mine was 525 meters deep and 1,200 meters across making it the 2nd largest excavated hole in the world, after “Bingham Canyon Mine”. In the first look everyone gets amazed about the hole of mine, because it is really too massive hole. The airspace above the mine is closed for helicopters because of incidents in which they were sucked in by the downward air flow.

In 1957, mining started due to extreme harsh climate conditions. The Siberian winter seasons lasted more than seven months which have frozen the ground, but making it extremely difficult to mine. However; during the brief summer seasons which is lasted only few months, permafrost would become mud turning the whole mining operation into a land of sludge. Buildings had to be raised on piles, so that they would not sink.

The main processing plant had to be built on better ground, found 20 kilometers away from the mine. The winter temperatures are extremely low that car tires and steel would shatter and oil would freeze. During the winter, workers used jet engines to burn through the layer of permafrost or blasted it with dynamite to get access to the underlying kimberlite. The whole mine had to be covered at night to prevent the machinery from freezing.

When the Mining is on peak, it produced about 10 million carats of diamond per year, of which a relatively high fraction (20%) were of gem quality. This has worried to De Beers Company, which at that time was distributing most of the world's diamonds. The company was pushed to buy larger and larger shipments of high-quality Russian diamonds in order to control the market price.

For De Beers, Mir mine was a puzzling mystery. The mine’s massive output was not consistent with the fairly small size of the mine. However in the 1970’s when the mine producing small quantities of diamonds, the Soviets were producing an increasing quantity of gem diamonds. In conclusion, in 1976, De Beers requested a tour of the Mir mine to fulfill their curiosity. Therefore; permission was well granted, but the Russians kept delaying the visit and by the time and the team of delegates reached the Mir mine, just before their visas were expired, so that they could have only 20 minutes at the Mir mine.

But the visit did a little to shed light on the secret of the Mir’s diamond production. When USSR was collapsed in 1990s, the mine was operated by a few local companies and they had worked until 2004 when the mine was enduringly closed.

Island of Gaztelugatxe Spain

Gaztelugatxe is a small island located in the Bay of Biscay just outside the Spanish coast in Basque Country. The island is crowned by a slight hermitage called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe mainly dedicated to John the Baptist that dates from the 10th century, but could be as early as the 9th century. With another little neighboring island, Aketze, they form a protected biotope that extends from the town of Bakio until Cape Matxitxako, on the Bay of Biscay.

The beautiful island is well connected to the coast by a narrow path, crossing a two-arch stone bridge and the most glorious staircase containing of over 230 steps that head to the hermitage. The island is a planned spot for controlling the coast. However, the history tells us that Gaztelugatxe constituted one of the bastions of resistance against the vanity and rapacious desire of Alfonso XI, the King of Castile. This treacherous enclosure was defended in thirteen century (somewhat in 1334) by seven knights who resisted the attacks of a well-organized army for over a month. But they having failed to siege the island, the Monarch withdrew humiliated. Well, in 1593 it was attacked again and sacked by Francis Drake, whose troops plundered everything to be found in that sanctuary and threw the hermit off the cliff.

Nowadays, the serenity of the island, the magnificent views of the rugged coast, the persistent sea pounding against the rocks and the flocks of seabirds is what drives tourists to this not-so-remote island adjacent the towns of Bakio and Bermeo. Moreover; the best place to visit the island is during spring and autumn season. However; summer months are often crowded with tourists.

Floating Forest Australia

For all those whose heart starts beating faster when they see something ancient and abandoned just like Homebush Bay in Sydney, Australia is the right place for you, because this is the home to remnants of a ship-breaking yard that operated during the mid-20th-century. The huge watercraft that outlived their practicality were towed to Homebush Bay and dismantled to salvage any components that could be reused or sold for scrap. One such ship name “SS Ayrfield” which is no longer used, actually a 1,140-tonne behemoth built in 1911 as a steam collier that was later used during WWII as a transport ship and supplies to American troops in the Pacific Ocean. This is absolutely the most impressive sight for the entire lush flora, growing in its rusted hull.  In 1972 this ship was brought to Homebush Bay to be dismantled, but fate would decide otherwise.

Operations at the ship-breaking yard later ceased and parts of several large vessels including the Ayrfield were left behind, the largest stuffs in an area now notorious for decades of chemical dumping and pollution. However; this is century-old transport ship would be transformed by time into a floating forest, an odd home for trees and other vegetation that have since sprouted over the last few decades. 

From 2008-2010 a rigorous effort was made to eliminate several of the lingering chemicals in Homebush left from the industrial era. Not far away is the Brickpit Ring Walk, a former industrial site where almost three billion bricks were made from 1911 through the 1980s that is now a sensibly protected natural habitat. With the passage of time when the forest has grown inside the SS Ayrfield, the bay is now a widespread place for photographers who wish to capture the uncanny sight of this strangely lovely relic of the bay’s industrial past, not to mention nature’s resiliency. 

Although there’re lots of photographers, who’re passionate about photographing numerous abandoned objects, many tourists are drawn to the bay because of the Floating Forest alone. What a beautiful sight is this! The fully-grown mangrove trees earned this ship famous as “Floating Forest” among the locals. Besides its history for ship-breaking and the spooky ship cemetery, Homebush Bay is home to the Olympic Stadium today as well.