14/4/22 To Peterborough

 

  Our journey today is to Peterborough , but our first stop is Ororroo - another classic town with all it's old architecture , and most of it is intact !!

   Stopping on the way into town we find the Giant Redgum , and giant it is , as you can see with us parked beside it for photo only - I moved it after the photo as they are notorious for dropping branches - and they weigh an awful lot , more than the van and ute are able to take !

   It's first branch is 6.2m above ground , and it's over 10m around the base !!

   From the tree to the lookout at the water tank - after a lot of flat country to get here the valleys are amazing , flanked by mountains in the distance . The large building in the middle is the hospital and the township is beyond .

   Here's some of the old settlers cottages - some restored & loved , some not so .

 Catholic Church & Rectory

   Main street views , verandahs all intact

   The information centre - check the detailing at the top of the corners .

  Main street views .

   After chatting to a few of the locals , we headed off to Peterborough to see Frank & Margaret , where we will be staying for a few days . 

  Peterborough is known as Steam Town , for good reason , it's on the main line between Adelaide and Sydney and was an important and busy town during the steam era . There's the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre - no photo's from inside as we haven't been through there yet - that's for another visit . Here's the outside view though .

   Frank & Margaret told us about the Goods Shed - there was an exhibition on over the Easter weekend , showcasing some of the work done there by local artists doing wire work & paper mâché , so we went for a look . Here's some of their work .

    This flower arrangement is all from wire !! apart from the pot & stool of course .

   This one is amazing , it's life size and great detail of the rodeo rider & horse

    Two old mates playing cards 

  And a dragon in mid air .

     A grass tree - all wire

 Peterborough also has some amazing architecture , here's some of the hotels & houses . 

  The theatre .

Peterborough Hotel

  A well loved house 

   And a not so well loved one , used to be a backpackers so I'm told - few stories involved with that one .

  Another well loved house 

   This the RSL , we had dinner there on thursday night with Frank & Margaret . We have dined there before - 4 years ago - and they remembered us !! They are a very welcoming community , Frank & Margaret are very involved in the community .

  Another hotel

  Town Hall

   Some of the shopping area 

   Well , that's it for Peterborough , we had a great 3 days , riding around town , catching up with Frank & Margaret is always a pleasure . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1cl8KGhVKAwfi7y_KXV7PtmFVXjghw9Ky&usp=sharing

13/4/22 Wilmington

 

   Today we headed into Port Augusta , the road leaving ? hill is still horrendous , and doesn't get any better till we get past the prison & closer to town . I know it's easter shortly , but this place is nuts - hundreds of people are out shopping for the holocaust ( how rude of the shops to be closed for ONE day!!)

 After fighting the hoardes in the supermarket , we fuelled up and got the hell out of there . The old wharf has been fenced off , but I managed to stretch up & over the fence to get this shot .

   Solar and wind power now dominates the view as we head south , then turn off and go up Horrocks Pass to Wilmington . It is so nice seeing a mountain range again ( it's the little things ). The ute wasn't so sure though , first time going up for so long , but handled it well - bit more of a load to pull with full fridge , pantry and fuel tank !!

   Wilmington is just over the range and is based on the foothills of the Flinders Ranges . It was one of many towns to assist graziers and wheat growers etc . Lot's of beautiful old buildings , most of which are being looked after . Deciding to stay the night was a good choice , some washing to do and a bit less driving will be good . After lunch we headed into town and checked out a lot of old buildings , here's some of them .

The streetscape looks great .

   On the drive over Horrocks Pass , we again saw a sign for a lookout , we went back to have a look . Wow what a view back to Spencer Gulf .

 We were perched up in the Flinders Ranges with some of the best views .

 Port Augusta is to the middle top of photo

   You can see the fold lines in the ranges and the track we came up .

 And of course an aerial view for when a lookout isn't high enough hahaha .

That's your lot for today , here's a map link : - https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OJCzUtbFH6VGasCuieWU8-djoRVHTHNh&usp=sharing

12/4/22 Question Mark Hill Port Augusta

 

   Leaving Minippa , we kept going for the day and ended up at Question Mark Hill near Port Augusta . The road was interesting to say the least , we turned off the hwy and proceeded down this bitumen road that also took you to Port Augusta - it was probably one of the worst roads we'd been on , rough as guts - it had an 80klm speed limit , then it went to 110 - don't know how you would have stayed on it at that speed , we would've been shaken to pieces !!!  We found the campsite and pulled up to suit the wind , more dust was being sucked straight off the ground and blown toward Port Augusta . We were joined by 2 other vans , a 4wd with rooftop tent , 3 wizzbang vans and a car for the night .

  We were looking out over to Lincoln Gap and the new wind farm . Sunset was pretty good , that's all we've got for today , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1EcweQ5fZp2ghUi6aTpCm54P4qDDQ5Viv&usp=sharing

11/4/22 Tcharkuldu Rock Minnipa

 

Okay , another drive day , more wind - mostly cross headwind . Stopping at Ceduna for the Quarrantine Inspection , the officer asked where we come from , and I said we'd left Kalgoorlie over a week ago , he replied "no rush then " before checking the fridge & pantry and let us carry on . We shopped a little and continued on . 

 The winds weren't being the most friendly ,so at Minnipa we pulled off the hwy and headed to Tcharkuldu Rock , to another free camp . We arrived and drove around the rock to the west side where the wind wasn't as bad , only trouble , there was bull dust everywhere , so we found a sign to the dam and ventured down that track . Had to stop occasionally to break off dead branches that would have damaged the van .

  And this is where we ended up , nicely protected and quiet .

  The drone came out for a fly , this is looking north to the Gawler Ranges over a couple of small wheat fields . Tcharkuldu Rock is at the bottom of the photo .

   This is Tcharkuldu Dam , originally constructed to supply water to Minnipa - 3 million gallon capacity.

  

 It was nice to be in the woodlands as the sun went down .

  The dam is interesting , it has concreted inflow ramps , one that is behind me in this photo directs the initial water inflow into a smaller pond to assist with removing sediment , the water settles and then flows over this one into the main dam .

 At this end is the old pump pit & tower , the water was pumped out into a pipeline that went the 6klms into town . The pipe has long gone .

This is Tcharkuldu Rocks worker/ surveyors hut , used for the workers etc when they were constructing the walls around the base of the rock , the tank and the dam.

   These are the walls at the base of the rock to catch runoff and direct them to a tank .

 A walk up the rock was in order , and we commented it was like being on Kangaroo Island again , with the shaped rocks - not as big as Kangaroo Island however , but just as interesting .

  Here's a little size comparison , other rocks were larger .

   There were caves to shelter in .

   And great contours on the rocks .

 

  This old tree stump was about 40cm thick , a gnarled old trunk & branches .

    There were the odd flower or two up on top as well .

   Paddy melons were growing here as well .

 Views were outstanding , with the neighbouring wheat fields and sections of woodland .

  This is the tank that the water flows into , not sure what it's used for now ? maybe the farm house that's about 300m away .

  Moss & algae create different colours & marks on the granite outcrop .

  After our walk , we hit the road again , the wind was a little more favourable today , but there were some interesting clouds around as we travelled toward Port Augusta .

 Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1RMwCRS4lRdbGhRyT8WVGuUxErDXVHa1d&usp=sharing