Australia's Tiny Hidden Timezone - UTC+

0:00 Intro
0:29 Geography
1:20 Telegraph Station
2:17 Why is it UTC+8:45?
2:27 ACWST Today
3:33 ACWST Missing From Maps
4:34 Sign-off
Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST) or 'Border Time' is UTC+8:45. So where is it, why does it exist, and why is it missing from lots of maps? Find out about Australia's tiny timezone.
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Credits
Australian timezones map: Chuq CCBYSA
Australian timezones map: whichtimezones.com (used for fair use for criticism and review)
Australian timezones map: Responsible? CCBYSA
ACWST sign photo: Greg Lehey CCBYSA4.0
Eucla telegraph Station: CCBY2.0 eileenmak Flickr
Eucla telegraph station: Robyn Jay CCBYSA2.0
Nullarbor cliffs photo: CCBY2.0 Chris Fithall Flickr
Nullarbor sign photo: CCBY2.0 Steve Flickr
Nullarbor landscape photo: CCBYSA2.0 Robyn Jay Flickr
World timezones map: NIST (editorial use only)
Sources
Here is the exact location of the ACWST sign on the western side on Google Maps Streetview: goo.gl/maps/52...
Some more info here: www.abc.net.au...
I'm on Twitter: / tickettoknow

[@mehdizj]

I am a software developer and I remember I had to calculate opening hours for our stores and this was one of those anomalies. Especially when calculating daylight savings.

[@skyfeelan]

@traybern whatever, as someone who live in the equator (I hate it), I find DST cringe

[@skuxx1er]

​@traybernalright Albert Einstein

[@asdfssdfghgdfy5940]

Dude when developing ffs let us choose our own time zones. I dual boot linux so even on windows my computers hardware clock is set to UTC (this fixes weird issues in windows). This utterly breaks an amazing amount of web things.

[@donpeat7707]

@@asdfssdfghgdfy5940 Accurate!

[@djyeah-nah9781]

UTC conversion sucks

[@Professorkek]

I remember staying in Eucla as a kid and missing an episode of The Simpsons because the TV guide said a different time to the clock. Thats when I found out they had their own timezone.

[@everyhandletaken]

ay caramba!

[@RolandHutchinson]

@@everyhandletaken Don't have a cow, man!

[@seanmcgrath8412]

Should have paid 900 dollarydoos to your local government so they could re-air it on the telly

[@howdoipickaname9815]

human urine on the porch

[@netking66]

Before satellite TV, Eucla etc would have had no broadcast TV.

[@alanclively8017]

My parents built mundrabilla Roadhouse in the late 60 s. We used 3 time zones to set our opening and closing times for our liquor licence. Squeezed in extra drinking times

[@wanderschlosser1857]

I knew time zones make sense! 😁

[@timothyhopper4956]

This is one of the most Australian things I've ever heard of.

[@craigharrison6662]

Interesting, my father built the new (back then) Madura Road House in the 70's....the time zone makes total sense when you work there

[@rustysworldofentertainment850]

Your dad did a terrific job, it's a great roadhouse/motel. Feels very 70s still, which is a good thing. Definitely the place to stay along the Eyre.

[@sarahcourtney8066]

So Australian! 😂

[@davidioanhedges]

The Eyre Highway across the Nullabor plain (Literally "No Trees") ... is famous for people taking pictures of their SatNav at the start ... "Turn left in 675 km"

[@kirkc9643]

When I lived in Adelaide, one of the highlights of my trips home to Perth was always seeing the sign just after Ceduna (800 km from Adelaide) that said "Perth 1917" km. Then 489 km later when I'd hit Eucla it felt like I was almost home :-P

[@kahlzun]

It is well described. Thousands of km with nothing bigger than a bush.

[@tllgestalt1942]

"Null" "Arbor" lmao, didn't make the connection initially

[@JBofBrisbane]

*Nullarbor.

[@alistairhart9568]

Like my main comment, the road only crosses a fraction of the Nullarbor, it's mostly quite interesting in comparison to the train line that crosses the bulk of the Plain.... I'm being a pedant, but on the road, you mostly see trees, except for a small bit of road just inside SA, catch the train sometime and you'll see what "treeless plain" really means - for several HOURS

[@brightfamilytravels]

The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (WA State Government staff) have a quarantine checkpoint at Border Village and they work on ACWST which is even more interesting seeing the Government don't officially recognise it.

[@BluWoolify]

I wouldn't put it past us Aussies to rock up to work at AWST 9:00 and finish the day at 5:00 ACWST

[@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367]

Rogues

[@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367]

@TyaxComp me neither..

[@onexoxtoo]

When I worked in an airline, the timezone datafield was designed to store only multiple of half an hour. Kathmandu city timezone was GMT +5'45" and caused the software unable to store the time properly. We could never display Kathmandu time time right due to this quarter hr problem. We checked and found out that New Zealand Chatam Island uses quarter hr too, but we missed this one.

[@Rolmarsden]

It's actually even more complex than this. Arubiddy Station (population ~5, but 1 million hectares) which runs from Cocklebiddy roadhouse up to Rawlinna, operates its very own time zone 1 hour of Perth and 1 or 2 hours off Melbourne and Sydney (depending on daylight savings). The reason the station owners do this is so they can listen to radio and TV from any of the major cities and coordinate better with major centres for video conferences etc. - but it also means they always turn up 15 minutes early at the roadhouse if they need to meet someone at the end of their 35 km driveway.

[@rachelcookie321]

They must have a lot of sheep.

[@GuitarsRockForever]

That's just insane.

[@jaegrant6441]

​@@rachelcookie321round em up eith helicopters

[@xpusostomos]

But how official is it?

[@DamienE11]

@@xpusostomos Neither that nor the time zone talked about in the video are official.

[@BradGryphonn]

How cool is that? I passed through there as a 12-year-old when my parents drove from Perth to Brisbane to 'move home'. And now, 47 years later I have learned something new about the area! Thank you for your work.

[@antoy384]

Sir you should definitely do another tour around Australia. The Kimberleys, Exmouth’s national park, the pink lake… and arriving into the pleasant and calm Pearth after 6 months of travel… those have filled my memories for a full life. I’m French, but everyone I’ve met in homesteads said “I arrived here 25 years ago for 15 days of holidays.”

[@bmacpher]

Same here, 33 years ago, going to visit rellies in Rocky 😁 I dimly remember changing my watch for the few hours it took to travel through, and the desolation of Cocklebiddy.

[@Deathmastertx]

I remember one time we had some time to fill on a trip so my parents took us to that old telegraph station that's been half-swallowed by sand and we played around in it.

[@rachelcookie321]

Wow, it would of been quicker for my family to move from Scotland to New Zealand than to drive from Perth to Brisbane. It must of been incredibly boring for much of that trip, especially with a view of a flat lifeless desert for most of it.

[@roygeorge5364]

​@@rachelcookie321totally true. I think that's why my parents moved from Glasgow to Perth - no one finds you out here! 😂

[@standupmoto]

I’m an Aussie and didn’t realise this, still learning every day. Well done 👍

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Same here. I live in Albury NSW.

[@patsalter2447]

I’m 76 and I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about Australia but I never knew this!

[@shaynewaterhouse]

well i learned something new about australia and i am 53 from vic

[@pietrobroughan960]

Even Cruise Ships going past this area use That time zone and tell passengers to change times on watches.

[@justathought9591]

I'm west Australian and I didn't know this 😂

[@cmgibbs1]

Broken Hill is also in an unusual situation regarding time zones. Despite being in NSW and 45km over the border from SA, it utilises CST as used in SA and NT. This situation is based on Broken Hill's historical direct rail link to Adelaide rather than Sydney.

[@jasperpeer3489]

I have no idea how I arrived at your video, but it was actually very informative and fun! Really makes you wonder why small local timezones aren't more widespread... the issues you describe for these communities on the border most likely aren't unique to southern Australia. Anyway, keep up the good work! Greetings from the Netherlands

[@Australianchessplayer]

Western Australia is rather large, and South Australia's time is 30 minutes from NSW and Victoria's timezone. At this time of year, WA's time is three hours different. If you fly east from Perth, after an hour you're still in WA.

[@elizabethsohler6516]

I don't know about Australia, but I have heard that in the United States it was common for towns to set their own times until the development of railways led to the time zones we use now.

[@twentysevenlitres]

That time zone is only so odd because SA's time zone is so odd. SA should be UTC +9:00 by its geographical position. They chose UTC +9:30 (in 1899) to be closer in time to the eastern Colonies/States (1899 is prior to Federation in 1901), and also because Adelaide itself (you know, where all the business is conducted) is so close to the NSW and Vic borders. Time zones were a new idea in that period, driven mostly by the railways and their timetables. Prior the early-mid 19th century, nearly every town anywhere in the world used "local time", using midday as the time the sun was highest in the sky. Clocks weren't common, watches very rare. People simply rose with the Sun. Industrialisation changed everything, people now had to be at places "on-time"!

[@coweatsman]

SA time even runs into western NSW. The city of Broken Hill uses central standard time instead of eastern standard time because Broken Hill has more connections to Adelaide than to Sydney and is a lot closer to Adelaide. The mining ore goes to South Australia.

[@jama211]

Also this is why I'm a bit annoyed we have daylight savings here in SA. We're already 30 minutes ahead of where we should be normally, and the sun would set in summer after 8:30pm with no daylight savings needed. Being 30 minutes ahead of Queensland seems crazy in summer. If we had to keep it, why not change business hours 8-4 rather than change the clocks, you'd end up with the same result but with no confusion with timezones. Ah well...

[@australien6611]

​@@jama211exactly! Im so glad we voted against daylight savings here in WA. Its such a stupid concept in Australia. If you want more daytime at the end of the day just get up an hour early and leave the rest of us alone

[@clintonalver2715]

Exactly, SA should be utc 9.

[@xpusostomos]

When you say SA "should" be +9, you mean the centre of the state? Where nobody lives?

[@TriteHexagon]

A few weeks ago I was talking with my friends about timezones and this timezone popped up in conversation. We were very confused about the matter, I'm glad I can now send them this video explaining things a bit better!

[@demonindenim]

cute pfp, your channel looks interesting. love some good chiptune :)

[@TriteHexagon]

@@demonindenimOf all the places to get a new followers I didn’t expect this video. Hope you enjoy your stay!

[@RegularSchmuck]

Love how niche these topics are, such unique and top quality content!

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Another funny time zone quirk in Australia is Broken Hill in NSW using a different time zone to the rest of the state. It uses South Australia's Central Time instead of NSW's Eastern. Also, Tweed Heads, on the NSW / QLD border has a time zone border with one hour's difference running right through the town when NSW adopts daylight savings in summer and QLD doesn't.

[@joelwebster8227]

Brilliant! ACWST is a whopping 15 minutes behind JST - Japan Standard Time - where I am.

[@nb2008nc]

Phenix City, Alabama does this too. It is official in the Central Time Zone, but follows Eastern, as its economy is dominated by the US Army base located across the river in Georgia, where Eastern Time reigns.

[@ellingly]

Daylight savings makes it further complicated, too. Technically SA goes to 2.5 instead of 1.5 hours ahead of WA during daylight savings time, so the disparity between Border Village and Eucla would be even weirder during summer without at least some concessions. ACWST normalises that a bit, though it is a bit weird to go back in time 1h45m when you drive the stretch from the Nullarbor Roadhouse to the Border Village

[@sjkxo1333]

Haha I loved out on there for a bit (Cocklebiddy and Madura). It was a pain trying to explain to travelers that we are 45 minutes ahead of Perth.

[@hughboyd2904]

I stayed at Border Village back in 1986. I remember this weird quirk of SA/WA. Love it! Definitely worthy of a video, so thanks for doing it justice.

[@nevillewran4083]

84 was my first time. They had the fake newspaper stories about 'nymph' sightings on the walls. A ploy to draw tourists and an excuse to show pics of nearly naked blond girls. Went thru last year and they were still on the walls. Kind of an out-dated notion.

[@joebaker2311]

The difference between official and unofficial time zones reminds me a little of the Jackpot NV. Most people that work in and visit Jackpot live in the neighboring time zone. So while Jackpot is legally in the Pacific time zone they observe Mountain time.

[@jdillon8360]

interesting quirks for sure. The time difference at the border would only be 1 hour and not 1 and a half if SA and the NT did the sensible thing and adopted UTC +9 instead of +9.30. Those 2 regions of Australia fit perfectly inside the UTC+9 zone, so why they are 30 minutes out of sync makes no sense. I think we should also get rid of "dayllight savings" nationwide but hey, that's just me.

[@TheBillABCTV]

You are right in a way how ever SA and NT in 1899 wanted to move 30 minutes closer to Melbourne. But that does not change the fact in Eastern WA 4:30am sun rises in late spring and early summer. I would like Eastern WA to be 1 hour ahead of Perth all year round and be 30 minutes behind NT and SA. I also wish all of Australia had daylight saving in the spring and summer months. Yes i agree with you daylight saving nation wide. Also 4 time zones instead of 3 with Western QLD being 30 minutes behind Brisbane is i had my way time zone suggestions for winter and Summer are: Winter: AWST [+8h, WA], ACWST [+9h, Eastern WA], ACST [+9.5h, NT, Western QLD, SA & Broken Hill], AEST [+10h, QLD, NSW, ACT, Vic & Tas] Summer: AWDT [+9h, WA], ACWDT [+10h, Eastern WA], ACDT [+10.5h, NT, Western QLD, SA & Broken Hill], AEDT [+11h, QLD, NSW, ACT, Vic & Tas]

[@shaun5552]

If SA were UTC+9 and without Daylight Saving then it'd be sunset at 7pm in the middle of summer and sunrise at 4:30am. From a practical perspective that's far too early for typical lifestyles and the present arrangement with sunrise at 6am mid-summer and sunset at 8:30pm would suit most people far better.

[@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly]

Daylight saving is of more benefit in the south. In the north the length of the days are not as extreme so there is not much benefit.

[@jdillon8360]

@@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly I'm from Melbourne. I don't see any benefit in having daylight saving. We're all just getting up 1 earlier and pretending that the sun is staying in the sky for an extra hour.

[@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly]

@@jdillon8360 It's adjusting times to suit lifestyle. The same effect could be achieved by changing business hours from 9-5 to 8-4 during summer. Somewhere along the line it was decided that it was easier to change clocks than change routines by an hour. People don't want to get up at 6 AM but they are happy to get up at 6 AM if they think it is 7 AM!

[@Mildewpants]

This was super-interesting. Not likely to visit Australia any time soon (poor in UK), but when I hopefully eventually do this seems like a fun weird thing to experience :). Time is weeeeird. And totally relative to the individual 🙃

[@kirkc9643]

It's an extremely short flash in a 2,850 km drive between Perth and Adelaide. most would only make a quick stop for fuel.

[@illiiilli24601]

As someone who lives in Perth, i doubt I'd visit

[@andrewbaans7400]

Lord Howe Island has its own Timezone as well. The time there is half an hour ahead of Sydney. During day light saving they put their clocks half an hour forward so that it is the same time as Sydney.

[@canadagood]

Here in Canada, our national CBC commonly says something like "Broadcast at 6 PM. 6:30 in Newfoundland". Similar statements on Australia Broadcasting must be much more confusing... (though perhaps they don't broadcast in Eucla?)

[@philwallens5750]

Interesting - reminds me of working in China which has one official Timezone for the whole country, so the locals in the far west of Xinjiang unofficially took 2 hours off “Beijing Time” which, by the sun, was some 4 hours ahead. Had to be careful making appointments. Is it still the same?

[@coweatsman]

I visited Xinjiang in 2016 and the unofficial time zone is real. China would be best having 3 or 4 official time zones.

[@jaengen]

It’s ridiculous that a country as large as China has only one timezone.

[@revinhatol]

Of course there are three more timezones missing in all the maps: 1: UTC+6:30 for Cocos (Keeling), just like in Myanmar 2: UTC+7 for Christmas Island, just like in Jakarta 3: UTC+11 (DST: UTS+12) for Norfolk Island

[@smurftums]

The time zone between NSW and South Australia does not follow the border. Broken Hill keeps to South Australia time.

[@TheBillABCTV]

Unlike the rest of New South Wales, Broken Hill (and the surrounding region) observes Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30), the same time zone used in nearby South Australia. This is because at the time the Australian dominions adopted standard time, Broken Hill's only direct rail link was with Adelaide, not Sydney. Similarly, Broken Hill is regarded as part of South Australia for the purposes of postal parcels rates and telephone charges. Broken Hill also used to be a break of gauge station where the state railway systems of South Australia and New South Wales met.

[@chaslane7517]

Broken Hill, in NSW, runs on South Australian time.

[@vixseboxse]

Thanks, great video! Good to add that time zones were only introduced in Australia in 1895, well after the telegraph station was established. Until then every place had its own (very) local time.

[@trinkabuszczuk6138]

I’m in Perth and have friends in Adelaide who we’ve previously visited but we flew. I’ve always fancied the drive across the Nullarbor and this is one more reason. Quirky af! ☺️

[@jmpprice3153]

Really interesting - had never heard of this rime zone issue in this part of the country before but I'm surprised that you didn't also raise the status of Broken Hill (NSW) during your video. Broken Hill and a large chunk of its surrounds through to the NSW/SA border officially takes the South Australian time zone but it's as rare as hen's teeth to see, between central and eastern time zones, the appropriate deviation that should wrap around Broken Hill on any zone zone map, Whether that time zone map is Australian or otherwise. Maybe you could pick up this time zone issue at the same time ? Keep up the interesting work mate. You outline points of interest, argument and difference with awesome clarity in your videos so keep it all up.

[@SabreVDM]

The only time I've ever seen this shown on a map is by Apple. Their timezone maps on their MacOS shows ACST stretch into New South Wales to cover Broken Hill.

[@coweatsman]

Broken Hill also takes the phone area code from South Australia. That's if anyone still uses fixed landlines.

[@ondrejsedlak4935]

Yup, got to experience this oddity a few months ago when I was driving a truck from Perth to Melbourne. Not that having the correct time means anything out that way.

[@andrewfitzner1662]

I worked at Nullarbor station , SA in 1979 and we had an unofficial time zone in summer of non daylight saving SA time.

[@totalvet]

Camped in Kununurra in the mid 80's and was warned that the tour busses staying there operated on NT time rather than WST as it was more convenient and got them on the road earlier. Sort of made sense when you consider how far east this is but not much fun listening to buses idling at 4am by our clocks!

[@myladycasagrande863]

Great bit of info! I'll make sure to add it to the list if my brother ever throws his "New Year's Everywhere" party, ringing in the new year in every time zone.

[@PeterMarshallBris]

Love these quirky videos that point out anomalies. I've always wondered why central time settled on the half hour. Would be much more convenient to have 3 zones all on the even hour.

[@rossmurray6849]

I just learnt about another weird time zone in Australia. The city of Broken Hill in New South Wales uses the same time as South Australia. It is very close to the South Australian border and a long way from Sydney. In fact, it's a long way away from anything of interest.

[@wazza33racer]

Eucla.......has a sign at its location, proudly declaring "EUCLA, hub of the universe!". Eucla is on the WA side of the border, and a few hundred meters up the road on the SA side is "Border Village" truckstop. Broken Hill, despite being in NSW, is actually on Adelaide time. At Poeppels corner, you can stand in 3 different time zones

[@ironframe5989]

Personally I think Kununurra should adopt this time zone. I was there a couple of years ago and did a sunset dinner cruise. From memory we arrived back at the dock in complete darkness just after 6pm and returned to our caravan as the evening’s social event was over. Bizarre!!

[@CasuallyCold]

A strange thing about time zones is that the United States 🇺🇸 covers 6 time zones, Mountain or MST based in Phoenix, Pacific or PST based in Los Angeles, Central or CST based in Chicago, Eastern or EST based in Washington D.C, Alaskan or AST based in Anchorage, & Hawaiian or HST based in Honolulu. But if you include territories even the uninhabited ones, the United States 🇺🇸 covers 11. The same amount as Russia 🇷🇺.

[@mabamabam]

Australia is 7 with territories, not counting nonsense ones like the video.

[@paulcasey5204]

Wish I'd known about this back in 1980 riding my motorcycle across the Nullarbor. Reaching Caiguna, it was still light and well before sunset according to my watch (still on Perth time) so I decided to push on to the next roadhouse. About halfway the light started to fade noticeably and I ended up with a very, very nervous ride because dusk is not a time to be on that road on a bike. I was jumping at every shadow and seeing non-existent wombats behind every bush and rock.

[@RARDingo]

I always thought they should have something similar for the Birdsville region. Sunrise is almost an hour later than Brisbane, even though they are technically the same timezone.

[@dennishall6098]

Whilst there are several countries and portions of countries on +30 obscurities, There are only 3 +45 zones that I am aware of, Nepal, The Chatham Islands and this obscure one near Eucla in Western Australia.

[@banksiasong]

Note the reference to Mr A. C. Gregory of Qld at the Intercolonial conference of Surveyors in 1892, the "time drop" at Williamstown Victoria when it adopted Standard Time, and the hourly rules between zones. Still no mention of the Border Time Zone, but this article seems to stamp the beginning of official time zones in Aust.

[@steverempel8584]

There's a small town in Northern Ontario called Atikoken, with on about 1500 people that basically has its own time zone. Officially it doesn't. It goes by Eastern Time for half of the year, and Central time for the other half. I think the way it works out, the change between timezones is at daylight savings time, and it does this to basically cancel daylight savings out. But there's not indication of this setup existing in any official timezones I'm aware of.

[@grantb8168]

TTK does it again. Unexpectedly firing off facts and details about something or another in his videos, which often I know little to nothing about. Sometimes you make me feel like a foreigner in my own country. Lol. Nice job and great video.

[@robincray116]

Crossing the Nullabour (name of the region) often requires spending at least one night in those roadhouses. Booking motel rooms and trying figure out what timezone they operate at for time of arrival was quite the experience.

[@tommunyon2874]

Until daylight savings time became a more nationwide practice in the U.S.A. Los Alamos was the only county in New Mexico that went on daylight time. It was convenient to have a 10 a.m. appointment in Santa Fe and to be able to leave Los Alamos at 10 a.m. to still make the appointment on time.

[@colinmccarthy7921]

I have relatives living in Perth,Australia.I learn something new everyday.

[@ShoeysAdventures]

Having lived in WA all my life, was a bit taken back (or forward :D) by the change as I wasn't expecting it, nice little nugget for the Nullabore.

[@AnnabelleAndBensAntics]

So please this popped up on my feed! I used to live and work at border village and the amount of times people can in so confused about our tiny time zone always made me laugh. Fun fact even the local border police run by it which makes it even weirder that it's not government recognised!

[@Antient.Briton]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I drove into the Eucla Caravan Park on the 2nd of April 2007 on my west, and nobody had a clue what the time was!

[@JelMain]

Very similar things happened along the early Great Western Railway in the UK, as the times of dawn and dusk at Greenwich were slightly behind the further west you went. Decent watches used by train crew to regulate their running soon threw up the discrepancy.

[@J_Teriyaki]

I recall trying to interpret a Greyhound Australia timetable back in the 1990s from Perth to Adelaide and thought there was a typo or 5. Regards from Rockhampton 👍

[@Anuchan]

Sounds like the time zone for the train to Hogwarts.

[@Mal0wens]

I'd always marvelled at how many time zones we have during Daylight Savings, but had no idea this was in the mix too. What a surprise!

[@javiercastro8466]

Your cell phones (if there is service there) should automatically lock into the towers and derive the time zone, if I understand it correctly, but it would be interesting to confirm it. I remember crossing from one time zone into another and watching the phone and BAM, new time zone!

[@y2an]

This harks back to the days before railways, when “time” was local. The London to Bristol railway in England brought a realisation that time had to be standardised between the east and west sides of England… and everywhere else. Almost…

[@JD-wn3cc]

It makes sense now you have explained it, but it raised more questions about the time zones either side. I thought all the timezones around the world were rounded to 1 hour increments

[@frankmerrill2366]

On the other side of the world, Newfoundland And Labrador (easternmost Canada) are half an hour ahead of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In turn, those three Provinces (on Atlantic Time) are an hour ahead of New York City, Washington DC, et. al. (which are on Eastern Time).

[@brisvegasmamil5694]

And Broken Hill in far west NSW is on SA time…. also not shown on the maps at the end of the video.

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Very interesting and well presented. Cheers mate.👍

[@petesig93]

Why does this time zone not apply in Kununurra and Wyndham in the Kimberleys, where many more people have to live with a distorted time due to the Western Time Zone being based around Perth (eg. the sun sets at 5.15pm in July, and not too much later in Summer).

[@mabamabam]

AWST is not based on Perth. Perth is about 430km west of actual +8 time. Caiguna is 480km east of it. Kununurra probably doesnt care much because its tropical. Early sunsets are nice when its hot.

[@notroll1279]

I never understood that half-hour step between SA/NT and the four Eastern states plus ACT in the first place. If they had decided to go for the full hour, those communities might just have decided to do the Broken Hill thing and adopt the neighbouring state's time.

[@Abigael317]

Such a reasonable explanation of daylight savings time!!! I legit LOVE this!!! Thank you!!!

[@asteroidrules]

As an American I have to say both that this seems quite silly and also that the reasoning you gave for this timezone makes a lot of sense. I live right near the western edge of our eastern timezone and our sunrises and sunsets are almost an hour off from when they occur on the east coast of the country.

[@MattMcIrvin]

It seems like the kind of thing that happens when you have very sparsely populated areas--faraway officials don't care much about you, but that also means you have some latitude to make your own rules.

[@travcat66]

I noticed the signs as I came across the Nullarbor, west to east, but was puzzled by my iPhone not updating my clock times

[@smamurai]

The issues you raised about why they need their own timezone are fairly common for any communities near timezone borders. These communities manage without having a special dedicated micro timezone, you just get up and go to bed a bit earlier.

[@ShalphyLee]

Been to the WA/SA border roadhouse village once when driving from Melbourne to Perth. It was so confusing!😂

[@klokar21]

This is why nobody takes us seriously with town names like "Cocklebiddy"

[@toni4729]

I have actually seen it on a map, although, I'll admit it's been some years since I've seen it. Maybe twenty years or more. I'm in Oz too.

[@stephencarey3952]

I have a question. How can the time in Perth be 5.21 am when the sun rises and it be 4.21 am in Eucla AS the sun rises, when the sun rises from the east, not the west? Surely it would be the other way around? If the sun rises at Eucla at 5.12 am and it's still 4.21 am in Perth, with no sun rising?

[@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly]

You've got it a bit mixed up. The sun rising example would be the case if there was NO separate time zone in Eucla. So at 4.21 am (Perth time) the sun rises in Eucla but it takes another hour for the Earth to spin east before Perth sees the sunrise at 5.21 (Perth time). With different time zones, the sun rises in Eucla at 5.21 (Eucla time) but it is still dark in Perth (4.21 Perth time). When the Earth rotates enough for sunrise to hit Perth it will be 5.21 (Perth time) but the sun will already have been up for an hour in Eucla where it is 6.21 (Eucla time).

[@stephencarey3952]

@AshleyReynolds-vc6ly but that's my whole point watch the video

[@johnblyth9787]

I was born and raised in Australia and 40 years ago drove Perth to East Coast. I have never heard of this time zone. I am now 67 almost 68. One is never too old to learn. Thank you for this snipet of info

[@peterglennkelly3885]

I drove the Nulabor on 3 occasions in a 4 month period about 5 years ago. I didn't realise until the last trip across. Must look at the road signs more often.....

[@scharftalicous]

As an Aussie this time zones existence surprised me, didn't know it existed until I drove into it. Very convenient as it means the petrol stations are open at the times you'd expect them to be

[@AquaMarine1000]

Broken Hill, an outback town in NSW, has a separate time from the rest of State.

[@greiglyas1]

I've driven the Nullabor and the two 45 minute time zone changes are well sign-posted, so there's no confusion.

[@marklittle8805]

Australia just loves to have things a little different. This is something I never thought I would see, a 45 minute deviation

[@Rulerofwax24]

I really like interesting time zones like this. I've had Kathmandu UTC+5:45 on my phone screen for years.

[@Locutus]

Take a shot every time he says Austraya! 🥃🤤 Joking aside, good video!

[@lostb01]

There is also another unofficial timezone just east of broken Hill to over near embalm roadhouse between cobar and Wilcannia, it too is sign posted

[@donpeat7707]

Somewhat to the west, across the ditch in Kiwiland, which is UTC+12 (in winter), we also have a little known additional timezone, and that is Chatham island time (CHADT) which is 45 mins ahead of NZ time.

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Should that be "Somewhat to the EAST"? 🤔 Or have the earthquakes in the Shaky Isles REALLY moved the land?! 😉😊

[@donpeat7707]

@@theoztreecrasher2647 Ha, yes, my bad! East it is!! 🤔😁

[@orsonstarbuck]

Arizona has its own "timezone" because half of the year it does not participate in daylight savings time. It is nice not having to switch the clocks. When the rest of the USA does away with DST, I assume this "timezone" will be eliminated and it will just be Mountain Time. Fun Fact: The Indian Reservation and most businesses adjacent to Arizona but physically in California just follow Arizona Time since their customers are all coming from AZ. The nearest California city is about 60 miles away. They just put up a little sign somewhere by the entrance saying Arizona Time.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

Wow! Something I never knew.

[@Grumpy-sy7wr]

I spent some time in Eucla back in the 1970s, and as far as we were concerned, it was as official as anything else could be then. It was a tiny place then too, more like a city now by comparison, it even has streets now. 😂

[@jaycee330]

Love this little quirk. The USA has a quirky timezone in Arizona as well, parts of it don't follow the rest of Arizona's mountain time zone.

[@Tzvi092]

Your detailed answer actually 😂raises the question, Why is it UTC+8, then 9.5, 10, 11? Why not 8,9, 10, 11. As for the tiny extra time zone, if thr others were to normalize, it might be absorbed... or not, for sentimental reasons

[@b43xoit]

Cut a strip off of one end of a blanket and sew it onto the other end. That gives you a longer blanket, right? If not, it makes no sense to assert that a different method of accounting for what time it is will give you a longer daylight period.

[@theaussieviking8555]

Actually, the time zone is actually official and is used by both the Norseman Court and Eucla Court (2 x JP's). But when WA dallied in Daylight saving and the new Act was passed, it slipped through the cracks.

[@arthurwatts1680]

Lived in Adelaide for 18 months back in the 80s and I don't recall anyone ever mentioning this, although I'm not surprised. These 'towns' are so tiny that the term 'hamlet' might be more appropriate, and I doubt that the locals really care unless they have satellite TV and want to watch the footy.

[@kanealoha]

Great video - thanks!

[@revinhatol]

And btw, these five villages could make a GR-R-REAT new territory! Here are its proposed names *Nullarbor *Auralia *Hampton

[@PCLoadLetter]

With a population of, what, a thousand people?

[@revinhatol]

@@PCLoadLetter Eeyup.

[@GeelongCableLocations]

This is so cool, thanks for making this video, I never would have known this without it

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

Cheers to the folks at Border Village who let us hang around a few days so WA wouldn't quarantine us.

[@geoffreyhui830]

The first time that I encountered an unofficial time zone, I believe, was on Heron Island. They ran on H.I.T., or Heron Island Time, one hour ahead of Queensland. I wouldn't know if this is still the case at present.

[@papaquonis]

Another one of those endless frustrating time zone quirks Tom Scott was talking about on Computerphile

[@beachbum4691]

Another brilliant insightful video :) I live in Perth Western Australia and offer the following > The function of the cables run from Cottesloe Beach to the east coast of the Australian colonies with all its' stops first in the city of Perth, and all the relay stations to the border with South Australia was hoped and intended to do two things, firstly to connect these colonies with as much of the Empire as possible because the same east about continuation of the submarine cables which traversed some 1721 nautical miles between Direction Island in the Cocos group in the northeastern Indian Ocean to Cottesloe beach relay station a few miles from where I'm sitting in Scarborough Western Australia, (the remains of at least the 1926 cables are still visible on the beach) these cables would take messages to all points east of London the first cable at Cottesloe arrived in 1901: and in part it was intended to celebrate Queen Victorias' "'something"?, But obviously went on to connect the rest of Australia and New Zealand with London (and importantly India where the warehouses were) in some measure it safe to say that the Australian colonies were set up out of the warehouses of India. Long ago I knew someone whose great-great?-grandfather had been involved in the construction of the cable lines running from Perth to the east, in those days he worked for Telecom as generations of his family had previously. We're all retired now, I'm 80' Best wishes to all :)

[@ADF_Cable]

Fascinating! I'm in Torquay VIC and had no idea! Subbed and liked, cheers

[@julianlak1017]

Makes you wonder about central standard time… probably matches Adelaide but what about the rest of NT and SA?

[@lawrencewhiting4927]

. . . . Melbourne us to be 15 min behind Sydney before the standardisation of time zone in Australia!