Renmark to Port Augusta

RENMARK TO PORT AUGUSTA – 27/6/2021 to 6/7/2021

After a one night stay in Renmark we headed off through the small towns of Morgan, Burra and Peterborough to our destination at Orroroo. These small towns have some lovely old stone buildings and houses. The mountain ranges around this area are mostly treeless and weathered to a smooth looking, undulating surface and are dotted with dozens of wind turbines. We arrived in Orroroo and decided to organize our Covid tests at the small local hospital just to be on the safe side even though we were told at the border that it wasn’t compulsory. We drove to view the huge river red gum tree near town which famously has a girth of 10.6 metres – a real giant! After our night in Orroroo we decided to purchase some of the local café’s award winning pies (which were very tasty) and headed off through the pretty town of Wilmington. The road wound its way through a mountain range and down towards Port Augusta and the Spencer Gulf arriving mid afternoon. We have seen hundreds of wind turbines on mountain ranges on our trip in S.A. so far. After getting set up in camp I hit the laundry after learning that the washing machines and dryers were free – bonus!! The weather is beautiful – 18C and sunny. Frank discovered that one of the air bags which form part of the rear suspension on the Pajero is split and although it doesn’t prevent us driving, he decided it was better to get it replaced before we get onto any rough dirt roads but finding one in S.A. is harder than expected so it had to be ordered and sent over from Victoria which meant that we were to remain in Port Augusta until 6th July. We decided to do some day trips during that time. First we drove to Quorn which is north towards the Flinders Ranges and is the town that the old Ghan railway line still operates to. Called the Pichi Richi Railway it passes through the famous Pichi Richi Pass and finishes at the historic Quorn railway station. Unfortunately it wasn’t running on the day we were there and not to be seen. The original Ghan line was built in 1879 to Quorn before being extended to Marree, Oodnadatta and Alice Springs and was used extensively during WWII to carry troops bound for Darwin. Some 50 trains a day ran at that time. The town of Quorn has some lovely old buildings including some large hotels which sit prominently on street corners. We drove a loop road around the area to see Warren Gorge and a couple of lookouts which gave views over to the Flinders Ranges. On another day we drove south to Whyalla which is famous for being the first Steelworks site in Australia as well as for its ship building. We had good views of the town and the Spencer Gulf and overlooked the new circular jetty. This area of the gulf is the breeding grounds of the giant cuttlefish and there are numerous cuttlefish artworks around the town. We also took a trip another day to Port Pirie which is also an industrial town – this one has one of the largest lead smelters in the world. It is situated on the opposite side of the Spencer Gulf to Whyalla and has a lovely historic railway station in the centre of town and other well kept old buildings. On other days in Port Augusta time was spent in the arid region Botanic Garden which had some unusual species of eucalypts and acacias etc. Also the Wadlata Outback Centre which had displays of all things relevant to the Flinders Ranges area dating back to the creation of the area to the Aboriginal dreaming stories, to the history of European settlement. There was a lot information about the beginning of the Ghan railway line. It was an amazing “tunnel of time”.Read more