1/11/25 Pro Hart Gallery

       Leaving Peterborough , travelling toward Broken Hill , we had a camp beside a dry creek about 300m away from the road . It was about 120klm from Broken Hill , and meant we could have an easy drive in the next day . The wind was behind us for the drive , so that made it easier as well . Our brakes seemed to behave today so that was a real bonus !! Next day we headed into town and made our way to the racecourse , where we stayed for 4 nights . The ute was in for a service on Friday , so we had some time to go for a look around town .

    Time for some culture , a visit to Pro Harts Gallery . To our surprise , the entry fee was $3 each for seniors . The gallery is actually an old garage that was converted to Pro's studio , where he created his masterpieces . It's now a 3 level gallery that the family keeps open for anyone that wants to have a look . Before we wander around looking , we sat and watched a video of his carpet ads , then some history of his life and family . It gave us a real insight into his life and the inspiration for some of his paintings . One of his famous creations was done on carpet for the tv ads we all seem to remember . This is a smaller version of it , also painted on carpet . Dragon flies feature in lots of his paintings . 

       There's plenty of his paintings to look at and shop also selling souvenirs as well as prints and paintings

        This compilation adorns 2 walls in the gallery beside where he used to paint & create .

     This is his studio .

    Another dragon fly , this one being reclaimed by ants .

    He enjoyed his cars , there are 3 Rolls Royces and 1 Bentley on display . This is the one he painted , right down to the hub caps .

    We spent a couple of hours checking the gallery out , it was a really interesting afternoon .

26/10/25 Jamestown & around Peterborough

 

    With some adjustments made on the brakes , we headed down the highway toward Port Pirie , then to Jamestown . Things seemed to be working okay for the moment . Stopping in at Jamestown , had lunch in the RV park after being told the caravan park was booked out , Hmmmm. 

   On the side of one shop was a large mural from times gone by .

    The main street was quiet - it was Sunday after all - so we could park nearly anywhere with the van . Verandahs in front of most shops made for a nice streetscape . 

    The chemist had a lot of old products they used to sell - lots of memories there .

     Continuing on to Yongala , we stopped for the night in the RV Park beside the tennis courts . Yongala is a small village with not too many houses and even less shops . The pub closed down a few years ago as well . We mainly stopped to get out of the howling winds that were getting stronger & stronger . After a cold night , we headed into Peterborough - 12 kms away - stopping again at the RV park for a night . We headed out for a drive around the district . Peterborough is an old railway town and was a major stop on the railway system . There is also a lot of wheat grown here as well . Many smaller old farms have been swallowed up , making larger properties , but the downside is all these old houses & buildings falling into disrepair - the valley we drove through was littered with old stone buildings .

    The old tank stand had seen better days , the windmill has also fallen down .

     Another older one .

     Just for a splash of colour , some canola & Pattersons Curse .

    We found Black Rock Lookout , which gave a great view of this vast valley NW of Peterborough .

     After we'd had a look around we went to get in the ute , but this Shingleback lizard decided it liked the shade under the ute , we had to start up and hopefully help it make a decision to move out of the way - it did .

     With that done , we headed back to Peterborough via as many back roads as we could find . Another cold night , but we survived again , then made the short drive down the street & up to Frank & Margarets place ( they have a van the same as ours ) . We drove in & set up , waiting for them to arrive home from some time away . We made some tea for us all , so they didn't have to worry about cooking after driving home from Adelaide . They arrived home & after unpacking some of their fridge items , we settled in to some chatting and a few of Franks home brews before dinner . 

    We managed to get the ute booked in for a service at Broken Hill , so unfortunately we only had one night with Frank & Margaret , before heading toward Broken Hill tomorrow . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=11NqL1aQ_3dlVOHwGouANYHmvQr0Awzg&usp=sharing

22-24/10/25 Port Augusta & Quorn

 

      We drove to Port Augusta and stayed at the Motorhome Park so we were close to the service place for tomorrow . 

     We put the van in and set it up over the pit , then left them to it . Heading out to the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens for a look and some lunch . This is the Red Cliffs Lookout .

     From the same lookout - back toward Port Augusta .

     Lunch at the cafe was excellent and before long we'd made our way back to the van , just in time to get ready to hitch up and take for a test drive . We were over the moon that we could get it done in a week from when we arrived . They had the parts and did the brakes & bearings . We went for a drive to bed the brakes in , and came back with brakes getting very hot . Things were checked and adjusted and we headed off , but only 5klms away at Stirling North , so we could go for another test drive in the morning . Going for a test drive we covered about 40klms and came back , more adjustments , and away we go . Heading to Port Pirie we got about 60klms down the road and things weren't going well , I rang and they told me what to adjust and we came back to the workshop again . More head scratching and adjustments , so we stayed at Stirling North again  for the weekend . 

    For some relief , we headed over to Quorn , about 40klms away , home of the Pichi Richi Railway . This is some of the country on the way over the ranges .

    It's classified as Arid Lands - it certainly is that , this goes all the way down to the Spencer Gulf .

      This is the Lattice Girder Bridge for the railway , and was built in England and transported out here and rebuilt , the 3 sections below were built in Australia when the weight of the trains increased . It is near Tickle Belly Hill - I kid you not 😆

     The old water tank at the Quorn Railway Station .

      Quorn Railway Station , the Ghan Railway used to stop here before the main line from Sydney bypassed Quorn .

     Murals adorn the public toilet building , these are Qandongs and coincidentally the Quandong Festival is on tomorrow .

     The Anzac Memorial was a great display , the detail in these wire mesh sculptures is amazing !!

     Something else SA does really well are roses , they must love the climate , they thrive .

     The main road in to town .

    

     Further up the street .

     The weather wasn't looking great for the weekend - another reason for us to stay and see it out .

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1rWqf62wk3SWWM_gf-K-DPuSggU9doEI&usp=sharing

21/10/25 Alligator Gorge

    A short drive away fro Wilmington is Alligator Gorge in The Mt Remarkable NP . An interesting drive up through the ranges . This was looking back toward Wilmington .

     A bushfire had been through here recently judging by the devastation .

     The road wound its way through the hills eventually getting to the first carpark for the lookout and gorge walk . These were some of the steps down into the gorge .

      Down in the gorge was interesting , the creek has almost dried up , some pools of water are still there .

 Rain started to fall , so we headed back up rather than carry on - we'd been warned about how slippery the rocks are when wet .

                           

      Great views with the fresh green grass growing off the sides .

    There were thousands of mauve flowers growing and flowering under all the burnt trees , making the most of conditions .

    Back to the van before the rain came - not that there was much .  Heading into Port Augusta to be closer for the van service , tomorrow . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1FJe9FfzlvqzX7BugORU7H3vY14C_ros&usp=sharing
 

15-20/10/25 Island Lagoon , Hancocks Lookout & Melrose

 

    Off we go towards Port Augusta , not before a stop at Island Lagoon Lookout . This is Fish Mountain , it sits in one of the southern ends of the lagoon .

     Continuing on we cruised into Port Augusta , and was lucky enough to get in for our brake change in the van - next week - so we kept going and arrived over the range at Wilmington .  After setting up we headed off to Hancocks Lookout , which gives you a great view of Spencer Gulf . There was plenty of green wheat fields , green grass and purple flowers taking over - Pattersons Curse !! It did look good though .

    Here's part of the view out to Spencer gulf .

     There are some amazing River Red Gums around the Flinders Ranges , this one surrounded by purple , yellow and green .

     It was pretty windy up at the lookout , so we went for a drive around Wilmington , this is looking towards Mt Remarkable .

     Next day we headed south along the ranges to Melrose , which sits on the eastern side of Mt Remarkable . This is the oldest continuously licensed pub in the Flinders .

   There's a brewery just up the road - Jacka bros Brewery 1877 , been around for a while .

     Just above the brewery is the Brewery Tree - a red gum growing in the middle of the road , you have to drive around it .

 

     Some of the wheat crop has suffered from lack of rain at the right time and is being slashed for hay , this is one of those , it's surrounded by Canola .

     We also found a timber slab hut , there's so many old huts & buildings in SA , and a lot that have been let go .

     Here's one of those .

     We did a bit of a loop drive around the valley and found this painted silo at Wirrabara .

    Near Wirrabara was a lookout , so away we went . What a surprise we got to find another view of the Spencer Gulf from the Southern Flinders . This was looking out towards Port Pirie .

It's a long way from everywhere 😉

    Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1tKbZwEpzUe1YH4s7tgNbzbwl4CDNDqs&usp=sharing

13/10/25 Andamooka & Lake Torrens

 

     Following on from Woomera , we head north again to Roxby Downs . It was about 70klms , and through more barren looking country . There must be something in this area judging by the road kill - there were so many kangaroo carcasses on or beside the road . The road was a bit ordinary as well , very bumpy , not smooth at all . There's a lot of traffic that uses this road as well , as it is access to Olympic Mine - a gold , lithium and copper mine - there's 700 kms of roads UNDERGROUND !!! 

   Roxby Downs is another very tidy town with lots of houses a Woolworths supermarket , golf course , swimming pool , sports ovals and a caravan park . Lots of temporary housing for workers . There's a few different villages for mine workers , and an industrial area out at the Olympic Dam mine as well - Really surprised us both !!

    Andamooka was only 38klms away from Roxby , so we headed out for a drive . It's another opal mining area , not as large as Coober Pedy , but similar landscape , as can be seen in the next photo of the approach into the small township .

     It was also close to Lake Torrens , another large salt lake . We flew over it 16 years ago on the way back from our Lake Eyre flight , and were suitably impressed - enough to go for a drive out to it . 

    Stopping on the way out beside a creek bed , we found some ripple stone in the creek bed - more evidence showing us this was all underwater millions of years ago .

    You can see the ripples go different directions in different layers .

        The track brought us out to the lakeside , the lake just disappeared into the horizon , bloody enormous !!

     We hadn't reached the white salt , and wouldn't  be finding it by driving out there either , so it was time for the drone . The little white dot just below middle of the photo is the ute .

    Another view .

     Then we found the mysterious creatures of the lake .

 

     There were even some skeletons of one haha .

Even the kangaroos get in on the action here , with lots of paw prints filling with salt crystals .

     A grass seed seemed to be in a strange place .

      Salt crystals up close .

     We stopped at the creek and had some lunch , disturbing these kangaroos .

     This Big Red Kangaroo didn't go much on us either , he was over 1.8m tall !!

      After a few days in Roxby Downs , we headed south again . I did a rough count on the way out of town , and I got up to 133 dead kangaroos in the first 30 kms from Roxby Downs -  I stopped counting then !! 

     Back to the highway and on to Port Augusta . The van needs some new brakes after 11 years and we could get them replaced at Port Augusta , so that was our next stop . 

  Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1cqZgc2SYlU405aKMD-k-SVdMW_ddV70&usp=sharing