Ardrossan to Quorn – Southern Flinders Ranges

Leaving Ardrossan we headed north away from the coast. It will be strange being away from the ocean after spending so much time with wet feet. The first town we pulled into was a tiny village with a huge history - Snowtown.

Back in 1999 this unassuming building took Snowtown to the forefront of the Australian news. On May 20 1999, the remains of eight victims were found by the South Australian Police in six plastic barrels in an unused bank vault in Snowtown.

I sort of felt a bit ghoulish taking photos of this building but it is part of our Aussie History now.

Back in 1999  this unassuming building took Snowtown to the forefront of the Australian news. On May 20 1999, the remains of eight victims were found by the South Australian Police in six plastic barrels in an unused bank vault in Snowtown.

"The Snowtown Murders (also known as the bodies-in-barrels murders) was a series of homicides committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner, and James Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999 in South Australia. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted for helping to dispose of the bodies. Only one of the victims was killed in Snowtown, which is approximately 140 kilometres north of Adelaide, and none of the eleven victims nor the perpetrators were from the town.
Though motivation for for the murders is unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals or "weak". In at least some instances, the murders were preceded by torture, and efforts were made to appropriate victims' social security payments and bank funds.

 

It wasn’t long before we had arrived at our destination for the night. Quorn is another small village with lots of beautiful old buildings. Quorn was surveyed in 1878 and named after Quorndon in Leicestershire, UK, as part of the preparations for building the railway line from Port Augusta. Even today Quorn's main attraction is based on it's railway history with the Pichi Richi Railway.

This old Bar fridge in one of the old pubs was amazing

 

Some Quorn art !

 

Good Morning Monday

Today is our last day in Adrossan and as usual we intend to have a very lazy day. I woke early (5.30am) and as I looked out my window I could see what looked to be the beginning of a very nice sunrise. So up I jumped camera in hand and headed down to the wharf to get some shots. Oh, I did put clothes on, I didn't head down in my PJ's! I couldn't believe how many people were on the wharf fishing already. But I was not there for any fish today I was there for the beauty of a new day.

Ardrossan certainly has outdone my expectations

I don't think any of the fishermen there even noticed the sunrise!

Even though this shot isn't of the sunrise it's my favourite.
I love the way the sun lit up the wharf

Port Broughton to Ardrossan

Well what an interesting few days I have had since my last post. After having ringing in my ears for about 5 days I ended up spending our last night in Port Broughton in hospital. I came down with a bad episode of vertigo, which in turn had me throwing up violently. Shane bundled me up and got me to hospital. It was really weird as I couldn't walk straight no matter how hard I tried. They think it may be caused by a middle ear infection, but not sure. After getting and injection to stop the ringing, dizziness and vomiting and spending the night in Port Broughton hospital I am now OK, although my ears are still ringing.

After a night in hospital I felt almost 100% better

So we are now on the East side of the Yorke Peninsula in another seaside village called Ardrossan. At first I was a little bit apprehensive about coming to the Yorke Peninsula. After reading the tourist brochures nothing really grabbed me. But after having time here I now see why it is popular with South Australians, it is a really pretty area. It has some lovely small villages, spectacular scenery, beautiful countryside and coastline.

I don't think I will ever get sick of looking out at the ocean

Ardrossan is a thriving seaport with a population of about 1100 people. With an abundance of blue swimmer crabs, great fishing, shipwrecks and an interesting history it is no wonder it is so popular with tourists.



Yet another Wharf! This one has been good to us.
Shane got six Blue Swimmer crabs for my dinner

Wattle Point Wind Farm.
When this wind farm was officially opened back in June 2005,
it was the biggest wind farm in Australia with 91 megawatts.

As this weekend is a long weekend in some Australian states this peninsula is pretty busy. We have visited some of the normally quiet little settlements and even though there are a lot more people around they are still delightful.

The Stansbury village had some beautiful murals

Today I spent the day in one such village, Stansbury at the Stansbury Seaside Market. Due to a cancellation, I was lucky enough to get a spot to have a stand with my jewellery. It was a glorious day, not a cloud in the sky, the sun beaming down, but not to hot, the beautiful blue ocean beside me and having the privilege of sharing my jewellery with the masses. The market was quite busy and I had a fairly successful day.

My little stand for DavineRaeDesign

Copper Coast

The Copper Coast is situated on the northern Yorke Peninsula, which is exactly where we are at the moment. We have been on drives checking out some of the small townships in the area. We have also spent a morning fishing, but alas to no avail. When all else fails walk across the road to the pub and have Salt n' Pepper Squid.

When all else fails head to the pub for Salt n' Pepper squid

Port Broughton Hotel - majestic

Most of the towns in this part of the world are seaside villages and really quite pretty with great history. The first settlement we visited was inland and named Mundoora and was really tiny. Why did we go, they had a market. We are suckers for a market, and for such a tiny township it was pretty good.

Mundoora Soldiers Memorial Hall

Kadina is the largest town on the Yorke Peninsula. In the late 19th century, Kadina had a population of 20,000 due to the copper boom. These days the population is around 5,000.

This amazing Bougainvillea was absolutely beautiful.

This area sure has some magnificent houses

We then headed back to the coast to Moonta and Moonta Bay. Moonta's origins in 1860 were very fortunate - a shepherd noticed traces of copper on a wombat burrow. With the huge influx of skilled miners from Cornwall changed South Australia's cultural mix. Still now so many years on the township still cherishes its Corwall history.

Moonta Historic Station

Another township we visited was Wallaroo. The township of  Moonta may be the historic centre but Wallaroo is the apex of the Copper Coast. A deep sea port and home to the Spencer Gulf prawn fleet, it's a very popular holiday town.

Wallaroo was very pretty for an industrial town

Today we drove north into the township of Port Pirie which was founded in 1845 and is the site of the world's largest lead smelter. It also produces refined silver, zinc, copper and gold.

Historic Port Pirie Station

This Port Pirie was spectacular

Port Augusta to Port Broughton

WooHoo - this is my 700th post and I'd like you to celebrate my milestone with me. If you leave me a comment you will have a chance of winning a piece of jewellery from DavineRaeDesign.

Just one of the three givaways that are up for grabs.
All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog or facebook

We also had another milestone on our Aussie Adventure. Today the distance we have travelled on our Adventure ticked over to the 30,000 kilometres.

Our milestone - 30,000kms

After heading off from Port Augusta our first stop was at the small seaside village of Port Germein for a nice Ham and Cheese toasted sandwich for breakie. Originally named "Hummock Harbour", Port Germein was once an important transport hub for the surrounding districts. Back in 1881 the Port Germein jetty was the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.

Port Germein Jetty

A lighthouse was erected at the end of the jetty in 1894. The lighthouse was manned until 1917, when it was replaced by a AGA flashing light. The lighthouse was relocated to it's current site in 1975.

Port Germein Lighthouse

We are now at our home for the next few days Port Broughton. Port Broughton is another small seaside village located on the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of Spencer Gulf. The population of around 950 swells to over 4000 in the Summer holidays due to its close proximity to South Australia's Capitol Adelaide.

Yet another wonderful view from Myrtle

Port Augusta - a circle is complete

Today as we left Arno Bay the wind was giving a very strong farewell, but the closer we got inland the less the wind was pushing us along. Our first stop was in Cleve, which had some nice art throughout the town.

One of Cleve's murals

 

Yes, this is sheep country

 

 

These guys looked real until you got up close

 

Heading further north our next stop was in Kimba, which is the halfway across Australia point from Sydney on the Eastern shores to Perth on the Western shores. It is also home to one of Australia's "Big Icons". Kimba's "Big Galah" stands 8 metres tall and was erected in 1993 by the Venning family who still own the "Halfway Across Australia Gem Shop". One year as an April Fools Day joke an egg was placed in the nest, so we an assume with that evidence the Big Galah is female.

Kimba's Big Galah

 We thought we might stay at the free camp in Iron Knob, that was until we drove into town. Oh my I don't think so, we drove in and straight out and onto tonight's destination Port Augusta. If you have been following our "Aussie Adventure" from its beginning you may remember back on May 10th, 2013 we stayed here just prior to heading off on our expedition up the centre of Australia. It's pretty exciting that we have completed a circle. As I look back on what we were like then, I get a smile on my face, we were so new and green when it came to all this "on the road stuff" and we were so excited. 

As the Spencer Gulf winds into Port Augusta is become less imposing, but still beautiful

So as I sit here with the wind once again shaking poor Myrtle from side to side I feel a little sad that the Western Australia part of our adventure has ended. I have so many wonderful memories of the west that will stay with me forever. But we are still on the road for a few more months and tomorrow we head south onto the Yorke Peninsula to have some more adventures. Please continue to join me and I would love to hear your comments. 

 

Our Aussie Adventure reaches another milestone

SPECIAL NOTE

My next post will be my 700th post. Wow when I first started writing my blog back on February 3rd, 2009 I never ever thought I would ever write 700 posts. So to celebrate my big milestone I would love to give away some gifts. As some of you would be aware I design and make jewellery. So over the next week everyone who leaves a comment on my blog or on my facebook post and mentions 700 will go into the draw to win a piece of my jewellery. There are three pieces in total. Please have a go and leave a comment.