Having failed to drive fast from either Broken Hill or Mildura to Ceduna, I was determined that I would at least see how well I could eat up the miles between Port Augusta and Ceduna. It was hopeless:As this list shows. Night 126: Port Augusta - Shoreline Caravan Park Lunch: Kimba - a mistake not to spend more time here Night 127: Wudinna - Showgrounds - would like to come back and explore the Gawler Ranges Night 128: Poochera - Poochera Hotel Caravan Park Nights 129-131: Ceduna - Shelly Beach Caravan Park I got to Ceduna in time to cast an out-of-state vote in the national election, but decided I wasn’t ready for the Nullarbor crossing yet …
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Two slideshows to suggest the interest and beauty of the South Australian hills. The firstis shows a bit of historic Burra and the second one the Mount Lofty/southern Flinders Ranges that surround it. After I left Morgan the plain appeared flat, but it was really sloping gently upwards and then the first folds of the northern Mount Lofty Ranges emerged from a thunderstorm. I spent a week in Burra (O) and another three nights moving through the ranges before I descended to the flat land and spent a night at the foot of the range before merging into the traffic on the A1, A major highway running up to Port Augusta. It’s Burra Burra if you’re referring to the district but just Burra for the town. Actually Burra started off as half a dozen different small towns. It was the first place copper was found in Australia and was developed through Cornish migration and Cornish technical knowledge and equipment. Since 2017 when it was added to the National Heritage List, much has been done to preserve and showcase its history. There were so many attractions I stayed 7 nights in the showground and 1 more behind the Bon Accord Hotel. Red Banks Conservation Park would have been a wonderful place to bush camp not far from Burra, but I just made an afternoon visit. From Burra I’d intended to drive directly to the A1, but I ended up very grateful to a local’s suggestion that I take the scenic route. She said it wouldn’t add any extra time; however it proved so nteresting that it added an extra 3 nights. My route ran through - Spalding, - Jamestown, - Gladstone (A) where I parked behind the hotel-turned-café The Booyoolee Brew, - Laura (B) where CJ Dennis lived, - Wirrabara (C), - Melrose (D), - Wilmington, - Hancock’s Lookout (E) where I parked and enjoyed the view over the Spencer Gulf evening and morning, and finally to - Horrock’s Pass beyond which no more water flows into the Murray Darling River. I stopped one more night at the bottom of the Pass, - Horrock’s Pass Bush Camp (F) where I could look back for a night and enjoy a final view of what South Australians call The Divide. Google says that it takes 2hr 40min to drive from Mildura VIC to Morgan SA, so how come it took me a week? Firstly, my last couple of days in Victoria were a bit torrid! I had the RACV pull Bertha out of a bog, I sent Bertha away on a truck to have her tank flushed out (yes, I drove her into the bog one day and put petrol into her diesel tank the next), which meant that I end up walking a long distance across Mildura to make my Double Vax appointment. I didn’t leave town til after dark and so spent night 108 down a track near Lake Cullulleraine (A), where it was very quiet and I slept very late. The next day I crossed into South Australia at Yamba (B) and spent nights 109&110 resting beside the river at the lovely Riverbend Caravan Park just before Renmark (C). When I left I had a quick squizzy at Renmark, a town I had heard of and which has a beautiful river frontage. Secondly, the Riverland area, where the Murray-Darling meanders full of water due west, until it suddenly takes a right-angled turn due south, is a delightful area. There is always the river and its billabongs, there is a lot of irrigated farming (rows of fruit trees and grape vines are now so familiar) as well as many tourist attractions which I ignored. There are frequent small towns, established with solid public buildings and wide streets in the 19th Century, that show signs of prosperity and population expansion. On the same day that I looked at Renmark I paid quick visits to Berri, Loxton, Kingston-on-Murray, Waikerie and Ramco, before spending nights 111-114 close to the river near the Ramco Apex Park. Eventually I crossed the river by ferry at Morgan and spent half a day there before driving away from the river gums onto the dry salt bush plain. |
AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
February 2024
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