Murray to Clare Valley

West-north-west across the Mighty Murray River and its’ vast plains. They are simultaneously featureless with stunning vistas. In the distance the Flinders Ranges ripple the horizon. As weget closer they grow and bring changes. The range is a continuous line from the south on the Fleuiure Peninsular all the way into the Strzelecki Desert out near the NSW and Qld borders. We will follow the range for a week to Wilpena Pound and then back-track a little to avoid the Oodnadatta Track for the leg into the N.T. on the Stuart Hwy.
We arrive in Burra and stay for free in a paddock out the back of the Burra Bon Hotel (just buy a few beers). The range here is Called Mount Lofty Range. The Ranges bring the changes.
Look at the maps; the satellite shows the hues have changed from reds to greens; google displays more closely located town names; the toppo shows the alignment and the elevation of the range after the expanse of floodplains; the land use is so different, from massive cropping (who uses all these grapes?), through sparse pastoral, to here in Burra which had a very focused mining history.
For a while (1860-1890) the largest mine in the Southern Hemisphere, it was producing 5% of the worlds copper. It was a wealthy area. It shows in the quality of the buildings that remain. So many beautiful houses from the 1800’s.
We did a self guided tour that provides a key to get you into some well maintained or restored mining, administrative, commercial and domestic sites.Read more