Journey to Kingaroy

After a few days without Internet coverage I am now in a town called Kingaroy and I'm able to catch up on where I've been. After leaving Mackay our first nights stop was at the St Lawrence Recreation Grounds. The recreation grounds are run by volunteers and they kept the amenities block the cleanest I have ever seen for a rec ground. These grounds are situated next to a vast wetlands that had literally thousands of Magpie Geese.When I walked down to have a look I was also greeted by 22 Grey Kangaroos. This amazing sight was quite a bonus.

The big boy and one of his girls

Thousands of Magpie Geese

The next day it was off to a very tiny settlement called Dululu. As we pulled in I thought this spot was a bit ordinary, but as it turned out it was quite a nice quiet bush setting for the night.

Our next night was another free camp in Mulgildie, another tiny township. But this time we were literally camped in the car park of the Mulgildie Pub. The camp was free but seeing we were at a pub we decided to have dinner there and it was very tasty.

We are now in Kingaroy which is known as the "Peanut Capital of Australia"because Australia's largest peanut processing plant is located in the town and the peanut silos dominate the skyline.

Hughenden and Prairie

Hughenden is the second town we are staying at along the Dinosaur Trail. With a population of around 1200 people it is quite a nice little town. But as with most of these outback towns there are a lot of shops closed down. One example is the Grand Hotel which in its heyday would have been a beautiful building but now it sadly sits derelict. Oh the stories this pub could tell!

Grand Hotel

Hughenden was established back in the 1860's and was originally known as sheep country. For some reason these days there are very few sheep only cattle. As with Richmond, Hughenden sits on the banks of the very dry (at the moment) Flinders River which is Queensland's longest river. I would love to see it flowing in the wet season. The towns water supply as with so many outback towns is drawn by bores from the Great Artesian Basin. While on a drive we came across this whistling bore. It was funny driving along the road in the middle of nowhere and coming across a turnstile. This bore is approx. 500 feet deep.  Why it whistles is said to be a bit of a mystery. But one possible explanation is that a cave in somewhere in the shaft of the bore has created a wind tunnel. 

The Whistling Bore

A turnstile in the middle of nowhere - weird!

The Flinders Discovery Centre is the home to an extensive fossil collect from around the world and the local area. "Hughie" is the star attraction; a life size skeletal replica of a Muttaburrasaurus. 

Hughie

The township also is home to many impressive dinosaur themed sculptures and statues.

Darby the Dinosaur

Mutt - Full Bodied Fibreglass replica of Muttaburrasaurus Dinosaur

I loved how the setting sun glowed on this Windmill

One of our days we decided to head out to the tiny settlement of Prairie to check out the Prairie Hotel. Prairie was originally established as one of the main horse change centres for Cobb and Co. Coaches. It is now a tiny settlement of 50 with a primary school that has on an average eight students. The pub is filled with a huge collection of stock and hat, other historical memorabilia and also some pretty weird stuff. Such as the two female mannequins sitting just inside the front door and the dentist chair being used as one of the bar stools!!

The Prairie Hotel

These mannequins were a bit weird

Didn't want to sit in this chair

Lots of very loved hats

Berri on the River Murray

We have just left our lovely stay in Berri. We stayed at a free camp called "Martins Bend" right on the River Murray. Seeing we didn't have electricity it wasn't possible to update my blog so now I will do a bit of a catch up.

Our Martins Bend campsite

The area is known as "The Riverland" probably because it's where the cool waters of the Murray feed the wetlands and floodplain forest. The result being some very productive land that consists of vineyards and citrus and almond groves. The town of "Berri" was a really nice little river township. The name Berri is taken from the Aboriginal word "Beri Beri", meaning "bend in the river". It is the commercial hub of the Riverland, with lots of fresh produce stalls on the outskirts of town.

Our first visit was out to Loxton to have a look at the "Tree of Knowledge". The Tree of Knowledge is a weather chart with a difference. This magnificent old river red gum provides historical dates of the high river levels over the years.

The Tree of Knowledge - get a look at the 1956 flood level!!

Then it was off to the historic pub the "Overland Corner Hotel" built in 1859.

Due to it's historic significance it is now owned by the South Australian National Trust.

Historic Overland Corner Hotel

We have done quite a bit of fishing in this beautiful river and I was lucky enough to catch a good size "Yellow Belly". We were also treated to some beautiful skies at sunset.

Sunset in the bush

One morning we woke up to an amazing sunrise over the river.

Good Morning beautiful Murray

Under the bridge in Berri is a mural that depicts the Aboriginal heritage of the area and is a tribute to Australia's famous Aboriginal tracker, Jimmy James.

Berri's Mural

One of the totems surrounding the mural

Today we drove through the tiny township of Karoonda, which is an important cereal and sheep farming district, hence the big Merino ram that sits in the towns railway reserve.

Yep he's a RAM!!

Victor Harbour

We are currently staying in Victor Harbour for a few days. We are camped in the driveway of Shane's Auntie Jean and her hubby John. It's a bit weird being set up in a driveway! Victor Harbour is a said to be one of South Australia's premium seaside cities. The cities economy is based on agriculture and fisheries, but tourism is possibly the main economy. With an out of holiday season population of around 14,500 it is a very pretty city with lots of beautiful bays.

Very pretty Victor Harbour

Today we went for a drive to the historic town of Strathalbyn for lunch with Jean and John. With a population of only around 4,000 Strathalbyn still has four pubs, The Victoria, The Robin Hood, The Terminus and The Commercial. Its funny no matter how small a town is they always have a pub (or two).

The Robin Hood Hotel - one of the four pubs in town

I won't ever get sick of taking photos of the old buildings.

The town is also host to an annual collectors, hobbies and antique fair held on the third weekend of August every year, hence the numerous antique stores in town. As with most of South Australian towns you also have a collection of beautifully restored historic buildings.

This porcelain Laurel and Hardy set grabbed my attention.
But at $75 I left them alone.

Shane was happy when he found the local Lolly Shop!

Clare, South Australia

We are now in a village called Clare. Most people who have been reading my blog for a while may know that my first grandchild's name is Clare. It's really weird seeing our little girls name on everything. The township of Clare is situated in the Clare Valley which is one of Australia's oldest wine going regions, best known for Riesling wines.  As with a lot of South Australian townships there are a lot of beautifully restored old buildings.

Clare Hotel

 

Clare historic buildings

 

Today we went for a drive through the Clare Valley, spoiling ourselves with beautiful scenery and interesting history. We stopped off at a tiny village called Mintaro to visit the historic house "Martindale Hall". Unfortunately photography was prohibited inside the house, so you'll just have to believe me it was pretty amazing. Martindale Hall was constructed in 1879-80 at a cost of 30,000 pounds. The owner Edmund Bowman Jnr. built this beautiful house to entice his fiancee to come out to Australia and marry him. There are several stories but she didn't end up marrying him and he married a local girl.
 


Martindale Hall

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

Kalgoorlie to Salmon Gums to Esperance

After leaving Kalgoorlie we drove to a sleepy little town called Salmon Gums. It's a real shame how as time goes on some towns just start to decline. Salmon Gums is one such location. There are only a few buildings left, a school and as always the local pub. We stayed overnight at their community caravan park, which was very basic but was great value for money. It cost us $15 for the night and we had power and some old but very clean amenities. There was only one other old guys staying there so I had the shower block all to myself. This morning I woke to a beautiful sunrise but couldn't be bothered getting out of bed to grab my camera.

No matter what state of decline a town is in there is always the PUB!!!

So now we are in Esperance for a week. This is the last Western Australian town we will be staying in before we head across the Nullabor Plain towards South Australia. But until then I will be exploring some of the amazing beaches this area is known for.

Farewell Kallgoorlie Boulder

Our last full day in Kalgoorlie Boulder before we start heading south for Esperance was a day of housework things. Stuff like stocking up on supplies, filling the petrol tank and getting spare fuel.  Also getting to a few other things that needed doing.

Then I took myself off to get a few photos of the historic buildings along Kalgoorlie's main street Hannan St. I have never been in a city, town or anywhere for that matter that has so many old historic buildings. It seemed that every time I turned around I was confronted with another beautiful relic from the past.

Kalgoorlie Town Hall - Erected 1908

Kalgoorlie Public Buildings....

...1899

Exchange Hotel ....... this is one amazing building!!

The Australia Hotel .... now guest accommodation

 

Even the butchers had very fancy buildings!!

Cohn's Building - Erected 1899