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South Australia 2022

May - June 2022
A 21-day adventure by Chris Read more
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  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 2

    Griffith

    May 24, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We arrived in Griffith from Sydney via a quick look at some very attractive buildings in Leeton, an hour or so up the road.

    Griffith appears to be a most prosperous and friendly town, with some unique history, and we enjoyed a day wandering around under a cloudless blue sky, taking in some fascinating sights.

    From the Visitor Centre, with an Australian Navy aeroplane perched inexplicably out the front and a clever memorial incorporating a Dethridge Wheel (used for measuring water allocations), we walked up and down the very impressive Banna Street and navigated Walter Burley Griffin’s radial street design to the City Park with the Main Canal flowing slowly through it.

    Then it was off up what seemed to be the only hill in the district for a look at the Hermit’s Cave, where in 1920-something Valerio Ricetti made his home in the overhangs and crevices, closed in by dry-stone walls. We spent an hour or so enjoying the sunshine and stumbling up and down the hill looking at the various structures, all amazingly put together from rocks moved solely by him and largely under cover of darkness.

    Poor Valerio was a great stone-mover but a bit unlucky, having been jilted by the barmaid he loved, left his wallet in a brothel and then interred during the Second World War as a suspected spy. He also lived on the hill under the impression that he was the only Italian in the area, a short wander from Griffith where half the population have Italian heritage.

    Our last stop was the Griffith Pioneer Museum, an impressive collection of old buildings and memorabilia gathered from the surrounding area. Australia is a bit full of such outdoor museums, but this one was made interesting due to the particular history of the area, with the development of the M.I.A. and the Italian heritage of the people (not to mention the winemaking) strongly emphasised.

    Speaking of wine, we didn’t taste a single drop, although this will definitely not be the case for the rest of the trip!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 3

    Swan Hill

    May 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Leaving Griffith, we drove south through the very attractive town of Jerilderie to Deniliquin and hence Swan Hill.

    Deniliquin was nice too; we checked out the Road Transport Wall of Fame but it was a bit hard to talk about it over the incessant roar of the trucks going past.

    And Swan Hill was great, with a long, scenic pathway along the riverfront and lots of historic spots noted.

    Then there was the Pioneer Settlement, surely a standout of its genre, with historic (or, at least, old) buildings gathered from around the place, a former paddle wheeler, a steam locomotive and enough old farm equipment to power an ocean liner.

    It was thoughtfully laid out and there was a huge amount of information about each exhibit. There were horse and cart rides, trips in a vintage car, blacksmithing demonstrations.

    After dinner we wandered back to the Pioneer Settlement for “Heart of the Murray”, a superb - if a bit brief - depiction of the history of the river and its peoples. We sat overlooking the river and watched lasers, water and fire combine to tell the story, to a soundtrack combining the narration with the various innocent “oohs” and “ahs” of the school children in the audience. A great experience!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 7

    Mannum

    May 29, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We continued our Murray River theme at Mannum, 1,260 kilometres downstream from Swan Hill but only about 475 across country.

    Leaving the straight, flat roads with irrigation ditches and crops growing on each side, we travelled along straight, flat roads with nothing much on each side to Ouyen and thence, having surrendered a tomato to the fruit fly inspector, to South Australia and Pinnaroo.

    From there it wasn’t far to meet up again with the Murray at Tailem Bend and a quick drive north to Mannum.

    As the town from where the Murray River paddle steamers originated, there was quite a lot of history to take in, with the Mannum Dock museum keeping us interested for quite a while both inside the building and outside where the PS Marion was open for a look around.

    It was intriguing to see some more of the history. In Swan Hill we stood on the PS Gem; in Mannum we saw photos and accounts of her sinking and subsequent salvage.

    We read of William Randell, who started the whole Murray paddle steamer thing (and Mannum, along with it) and looked down into the dry dock he built to service the ships. Not bad for a miller from Devon who had never built a boat before, and went on to be a member of parliament!

    The following day we drove north along the river as far as Swan Reach, another very small, quiet and attractive town. The various viewpoints along the road had some great views of the Murray from high on the cliffs, or at least they did once the fog had lifted!

    It hasn’t been all exploration and history, though. We have checked out all the old wares on sale in the town and did manage a drink or two overlooking the river from the beer garden of the Pretoria Hotel.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 8

    Clare

    May 30, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    We temporarily farewelled the Murray River with a day in Goolwa, where we took a Coorong Discovery Cruise down through the lock and past the mouth of the Murray to make a brief stop in the national park.

    The weather was pretty bad, and the southerly winds were pushing the tide up and creating quite a maelstrom at the entrance to the river. In fact we actually had to rise up in the lock to reach the level of the sea.

    The scenery, though, was fascinating, and the bleak weather made our quick visit to Storm Boy country all the more appealing. We hopped off the boat and walked some distance through the dunes into a fascinating and peaceful - if cold - environment.

    We stayed the night in Goolwa then in the morning did a rather tedious drive, skirting around Adelaide, through Gawler and on to Clare.

    There wasn’t much happening in Clare that afternoon - apart from 11-degree temperatures, strong winds and intermittent rain squalls. We arrived too late for a mooted winery lunch so did some washing instead!

     Before leaving Clare the following morning we took a drive out to Mintaro for a look around the historic town, then out to Martindale Hall - a grand stone mansion built in 1880, incredibly stylish and filled with some magnificent pieces of furniture.

    As it was built by a rich guy - he even imported 50 tradesmen from England - Martindale Hall was surrounded by a polo ground, racecourse, boating lake and a cricket pitch. Kind of makes our cabin in the caravan park seem rather puny!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 11

    Moonta - Little Cornwall

    June 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    It was a quick drive from Clare across to the coast at Port Wakefield and across the top of the Yorke Peninsula to Moonta. Our accommodation, overlooking the jetty at Moonta Bay, had spacious, well-appointed rooms, marvellous water views and an annoying flock of birds that cooed and squawked and rattled around on the roof in football boots at all hours of the day and night.

    Then it was off to explore a part of the so-called “Copper Coast”.

    Paddy Ryan, an alcoholic shepherd, found some copper near a wombat burrow in 1861, and, undeterred by minor issues such as a complete lack of drinking water, an industry was born. Cornish miners, fleeing the tough times in their homeland (and apparently not thirsty) soon put their mining skills to good use and the Moonta Mines thrived until after the First World War.

    The site of the former mines, heritage listed, is a huge, rather desolate, area of tailings heaps, ruined buildings and assorted old junk. We walked and drove around to quite a few of the main items, but the information on each when we got there was a bit sparse.

    There is also a popular tourist railway, formerly used to transport the ore, but due to a stuff up on our part we weren’t there on a day that it was running.

    We visited the museum, located in the rather grand former Moonta Mines school building, which covered both the mechanical processes in the mines and the cultural and economic impacts of life in Moonta.

    It was a tough life. The shortage of good water brought frequent and deadly outbreaks of typhoid and there are many unmarked children’s graves in the cemetery.

    We also enjoyed wandering the town - there is no shortage of attractive old buildings - and a few windswept walks down on the coast.

    And we had a couple of Cornish pasties.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 13

    Port Augusta and Quorn

    June 4, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We headed north west along the straightest of straight roads, through the other copper town of Wallaroo before passing through Port Pirie (a lead town) to the head of Spencer Gulf at Port Augusta, our most westerly point of this trip.

    We first headed out to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden, at the start of the Stuart Highway (and 2,700 kilometres from Darwin).

    The Matthew Flinders (he sailed up Spencer Gulf, and, yes, named it after an ancestor of the late Princess of Wales) Red Cliffs lookout provided great views of the waterway, and the garden itself was a wonderful walk through a succession of arid Australian climates.

    The Wadlata Outback Centre was our next stop, a fascinating and detailed journey through time in the outback and the animals and people that inhabit it. All the usual historic outback aspects were all featured - flying doctor, school of the air, Oodnadatta postman - with vivid and clever displays.

    The following day we caught the Afghan Express to Quorn, a cold, ratting, bouncing, smoky, 90-minute trip on the Pichi Richi Railway.

    The scenery of the South Flinders Ranges was beautiful, but by the time we reached Quorn the weather had turned cold and windy, so after a quick lunch and an even quicker walk around we took refuge in a pub before boarding the train for the return trip.

    There were some delays on the way back due to some damage to the tracks, so we were a little late getting back to Port Augusta station, which took no time reminding us of the dark side of the outback world with the number of discarded wine cask bladders by the tracks. In fact, there were many people wandering around the town with nothing apparent to do and with open bottles of liquor in hand. Not only was it confronting to our sensibilities, it is a bloody national tragedy.

     Nonetheless, we enjoyed the offerings of Port Augusta, and look forward both to the next part of our trip and to maybe returning in the future.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 16

    Loxton

    June 7, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We left Port Augusta and drove through ever-worsening weather to Clare, where we stopped once again and, other than a terrific Indian meal, saw nothing.

    The following morning we drove to Burra, a heritage town some 40 kilometres northwest and highly recommended for a look around. However, it was 12 degrees, windy and raining, and as we were on holiday for relaxation not flagellation we drove through without stopping.

    The rest of our drive took in Morgan - another picturesque river port town with a railway museum and a paddle steamer under restoration - and Waikerie - much more 21st century with magnificent grassy river banks and facilities.

    Our destination for the next two night was Loxton; thriving, handsome and, again, perfectly situated on a bend in the river.

    From there we drove back some distance to Banrock Station Wine and Wetlands Centre, where we first walked the wetlands then sampled the wine along with a more than decent lunch.

    We learnt quite a lot on our walk about the problems affecting the river, among them salinity (caused oddly enough by over-irrigation) and the very rascally “rabbit of the river” - the European Carp. Banrock Station drained one of their wetland areas and ended up with 60 tonnes of carp to dispose of.

    Back in Loxton, we walked the peaceful (if chilly) river bank as much as we could - this was by far the most beautiful and quiet stretch of the Murray we had come across.

    Before we left the area we visited the gardens of “The Pines”, a rather fancy old home bequeathed to the town on the passing of its owner.

    Then, on the way out, we took in one last sight, Lock Number 4, 516 kilometres from the sea but, incredibly, only 13 metres above sea level.

    There are 10 locks altogether on the Murray, embedded into weirs that are both a boon to boat operators, irrigators and anyone with a property within cooee of the water but which have significantly changed the natural environment, with the natural ebb and flow of minor flooding eliminated, affecting vegetation and animal and bird habitats. In any case, it was a nice spot for a walk along the river and a few photos.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Australia 2022
    Day 19

    Hay

    June 10, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We’ve now said goodbye to South Australia, with its dry landscapes, Scobie poles and water pipelines stretching out from the Murray to nourish all parts of the state. What a great trip it has been!

    We continued our Murray River odyssey with a night in Mildura, where we caught up with friends and wandered along the very scenic riverfront, past Lock 11 and up to the replica Mildura Station Homestead, first property in the area and later home to the Chaffey brothers who founded the Mildura irrigation scheme.

    Then we swapped the Murray for the Murrumbidgee, driving for three tedious hours along the Sturt Highway through Balranald to Hay, our final destination.

    As well as some scenic walks along the river, Hay offered both the expected and unexpected.

    We expected, and really enjoyed, Shear Outback, the shearer’s hall of fame and museum. With lots of information, displays and humour, as well as a shearing demonstration that was skilful, informative and down to earth, it was a morning well spent.

    We also knew what to expect at the Bishop’s Lodge House, a historic building, strangely enough built to house the local bishop, and made from corrugated iron and tin, with sawdust insulation. Apparently the building materials and design of the building proved very effective in the harsh climate.

    We sort of expected the Dunera Museum, located at the former railway station and telling the often poignant stories of the European refugees transported to Australia from Britain in the HMT Dunera, and subsequently interned in Hay (clearly not chosen for its similarities to Europe - note that these people were refugees, not criminals). They then were moved on and replaced with various other internees, including some Japanese POW’s.

    What was unexpected were some of the stories from the Hay Gaol Museum.

    Originally a prison, then between the world wars a hospital, then a prison again and then for thirteen years until 1974 it was a maximum security institution for girls aged 13 to 18. Run by the oxymoronically-named Child Welfare Department, girls were brought drugged from Sydney, travelling the last 180 kilometres in the back of a Dodge panel van. No windows, no seatbelts - in fact, no seats - just the back of a panel van.

    Still, at least the girls could talk to each other about their adventures - they were allowed a full ten minutes, twice a day for conversation! At all other times at this Luxury Escapes contender, they had to keep their eyes averted and work their arses off.

    So we have finished our trip with some great experiences in a really nice town, and learnt a bit into the bargain.

    Looking forward to getting home tomorrow and catching up with family and friends.    Read more

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