Saturday, August 4, 2007

Jail House Rock


Half buried in the ash, are the remains of the holding cells for the Rabaul Court House that collapsed under the weight of the ash in the 1994 eruptions.

It is very eerie walking into the tiny cells and imagining how frightening it would have been in there that day.

But I guess in times of volcanic eruption - jail is probably a safe place to be!!! It is the only building standing in that part of town.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Still it would seem creepy nowadays to walk in there. Imagine being in there and something coming like lava.
Wow.

Nice photography.

Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo

Kate said...

It looks both grim and desolate.

M.Benaut said...

I hope they released the prisoners in time, yes it does sound frightening.

I imagine that at 7am everything is warm and bright in Rabaul.
Here. the sun is just starting to poke through the now-blooming wattle trees. It's 6 degrees and we will see some sunshine today.
Brrrrrrrhhh.

Jules said...

m benaut - the sun is shining (very brightly) on the water, it is a pleasant 25 degrees and all is well with the world.

M.Benaut said...

Crikey 25 degrees. I would have been for an early morning swim and wondering what beach or island to visit for the next day or two. Bottle of water, a book; can't think of much else I'd need.
But at least here in the Adelaide hills, I can go and chop wood to keep warm. Now where are my snow boots and explorer socks.
25 degrees; heck ! bother ! damn !

Annie said...

Well, that's looking on the bright side of things.

Jules said...

m benaut - the silly thing is i would kill for snow boots and exploreer socks - i am so over summer all the time. A couple of days (that would be enough!) of winter weather, a glass or three of red wine and a bowl of something hot would be great. maybe we need to house swap for a weekend????

Steve Buser said...

Jules, if that is ash pouring in on the floor from that day, I hope the prisoners were out of there long before it came.

--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

Anonymous said...

The old building looks very interesting. It would have been great to see in person.

Jules said...

maddie - next time you visit we can go!!!

steve - i'm not sure but i guess they would have got them out - i'll check up on that!!!

inspired said...

Grim with a capital G ;o]

Marie said...

The place is scary but the photo is good. I think it must not have been too difficult to escape from the jail....

Chuckeroon said...

Here's my lockup. Volcano must have been very frightening for the inmates.

http://richmonduponthamesdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/03/18th-century-police-station-50.html

Steve Buser said...

Jules, I got my animated gif to work. Take a look.
--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

dr. filomena said...

Yikes slightly claustrophobic. Looks like a very lonely place, indeed. Stark contrast to the goegrous cocktail party yacht, I must say. Thanks for sharing.

Ann (MobayDP) said...

Even though it was the only building standing after the eruption, I would definitely not want to be in there while the eruption was taking place! I mean think about it...there would have been no way for them to know that they were in fact safe. They probably would have been thinking that they were surely going to die as they had no way of getting out!

Anonymous said...

Seeing these pictures, Steve McQueen and Papillon came to mind. Nice.

lv2scpbk said...

Wow! I would hate to be in there when something like that happens. It would be frightening.

Lavenderlady said...

It is good to visit things from the past and remember.