Hi dear readers, I hope you and yours are doing well. It is freezing here in the south west of Western Australia where I live. There are blue skys, but I don't seem to be able to get warm. Several groups of friends of ours are gearing up to head to northern Australia for the winter.
Last time I brought you part 2 of our travels across Australia from west to east. If you missed it, you can catch up here - Across Australia Part 2 - Western to South Australia.
This week I will share the few days we were in South Australia on our way to Victoria. Here is a map. We are going from Western Australia, across South Australia to Victoria on the eastern side of Australia. This map is of the South Australian section from our SPOT tracker.
After our overnight camp in the Recreation Ground at Kimba, we were on the road again via Port Augusta for a fuel up and grocery shop. Heading south we turned east away from the coast near Winninowie, past the wind turbines and up through Horrocks Pass through the Flinders Ranges. This is a steep and winding narrow road, then a steep descent on the other side and into the grain growing area.
We stopped at the town of Orroroo for lunch. They have a park that runs down the middle of the main street where we had our picnic lunch. It looked like a lovely town to explore more, however being a Sunday not much was open. Perhaps an overnight stay next time!
Back on the road again our next stop was Peterborough. We have been through here before, but never stayed, so we decided to book into the caravan park. We did washing and had a good shower after those nights free camping on the road across the Nullarbor where we only had a quick basin wash each night.
The Peterborough caravan park has farmland on two sides and some shade, plenty of space and some drive through sites. We could pick our own spot.
The next morning we drove into town at what we thought was 7.51am only to find our clocks were an hour behind and it was actually 8.51am!
We had a walk around town looking at the federation buildings, had a virtual train ride in the old train carriages, learnt about Bob the Railway Dog (a train hitchhiker in the 1800s), social history displays in the rooms of the YMCA building, the Federation quilt in the Town Hall, and learn some of the history.
In the 20th Century Peterborough was a major railway hub and crossroads for trains crossing the country. It is quieter now, and I recommend at least an overnight stay.
We had morning tea in Cafe 229 in the old Capital Theatre building which is full of fascinating memorabilia, friendly service and great food!
We were then back on the road again 24 kilometres to Terowie. The name is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "hidden water". Established in 1872, Terowie was an important railway town until around 1970. From a population of over 2000 people in 1940, the population dwindled to less than 200. The town is mostly deserted now but it is a great place to stroll and see many original buildings, several of which have been restored by locals. In the old North Eastern Times building we viewed a fascinating old photo display.
Make sure you collect a map and information at the Visitor Centre which is manned by volunteers. There are a few businesses trying to keep the town alive. I found it a fascinating town for a wander. You can free camp at the old railway station.
At the Terowie Railway Station in 1942 General Douglas McArthur made a famous speech (here and in other places in Australia) in WW2 after he had fled the Philippines during the Japanese offensive, saying "I shall return". He did return to the Philippines in 1944.
Our next stop for the next few nights was Burra (64 kilometers to the south) where we booked into the caravan park. We walked through a park by the river next to the caravan park when it was a little cooler later in the day.
There is lots to explore in Burra and surrounds. If you are in town for a few days the Burra heritage passport is a great way to explore, with keys to heritage sites and museums through a self-guided tour. Pick up from the Burra Visitor Information Centre.
Burra was made famous when copper was discovered by shepherd Thomas Pickett in 1845. By 1850 Burra had one of the world's largest copper mines.
I just found this great historical site - Burra History Group
Some of Burra's attractions include, the Midnight Oil House (3km from town it was famously used on Midnight Oil's "Diesel and Dust" record cover), Burra Town Hall, the art gallery, Burra Railway Station (limited opening hours), learn about mega fauna along a 5km interpretive walk trail at Red Banks Conservation Park, view the old Burra mine site, Unicorn Brewery Cellars, Redruth Gaol (used in the filming of the 1980 Breaker Morant movie), Paxton Square Museum, miner's dugouts. You can stay in the Paxton Square Miner's Cottages.
Below you can see.. clockwise from left to right Paxton Square Miner's cottages, grape vines along shop verandahs, war memorial, Saint Mary's Anglican church, Burra School, Burra Town Hall, Redruth Gaol, old Burra copper mine site, and in the centre the Midnight Oil house.
The Midnight Oil House - and cover of the album Diesel and Dust. The lighting in my pic is a little different.....
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After lunch we had a walk around town to look at some of the old buildings. There is a heritage town walk. Mintaro heritage walk. The town was founded in 1854 by Jospeph and Henry Gilbert. It was declared a State Heritage Area in 1984.
We then drove to Martindale Hall, only 3km from Mintaro.
Completed in 1880, Martindale Hall demonstrates the lavish opulence of the era. Built by the Bowman family who lived here for 11 years, it was purchased by the Mortlock family in 1891, until 1965. It has been a State Heritage listed property since 1980, and was gifted to the South Australian Government in 1986. In 2014 Michael and Sharon Morris, became caretakers of Martindale Hall.
You can also visit the coachhouse and peer through the windows
From Burra we also drove down to Greenock in the Barossa wine growing region to visit friends, and stopped to look at some painted silos.
That's it from me for today. Next time we will drive through the Murray River region to Renmark and then cross into Victoria.
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