The Final Instalment

We are now well and truly on the way home. We said goodbye to Yvonne and Bob in Yunta as they travelled off ahead of us on their way home and some family commitments. We chose to stay a little while in Broken Hill because, even though we had been there numerous times, there were still things of interest we had not seen. This time it was the 'Big Picture' and Bell's Milkbar at the top of our priority list. We would like to recommend the Big Picture to anyone visiting Broken Hill as something not to be missed. It is the worlds largest painting on canvas and is just spectacular. (for obvious reasons no photos allowed)

After leaving Broken Hill our next point of interest was Mutawintji National Park. Being our first visit we were keen to undertake some of the walks. Unfortunately access was restricted to several areas within the park because of flood damage,but that still left plenty to explore. In the several days we were there we managed to do the Mutawintji Gorge Walk (6 Km) and the Rockholes Loop Walk (7.5 Km) and the Homestead Creek Gorge Walk (7.5 Km)

Click on any image to enlarge

Mutawintji Gorge

Mutawintji Gorge

Rockholes Loop Walk

Rockholes Loop walk

Homestead Creek Gorge

The scenery in Mutawintji is really quite attractive and there were lots of wildlife, especially birds. Of particular delight were the flocks of Budgeriegars but the only one we could get a decent photo of were the Emus that wandered around the camping area. Unfortunately not all the wildlife is desirable, we saw several hundred Feral Goats which are a real problem. We were not surprised to learn that last year they removed over 9100 goats from the park.

lots of Emus around the camping area

Just one of the many goats we saw

On the Rockholes Loop walk we also saw plenty of Aboriginal Art, both paintings and etchings (Petroglyphs)

Paintings

Etchings

Etchings

After an enjoyable visit to the National Park we continued along the unsealed back road to White Cliffs. In all during this leg we covered well over 200 Km of unsealed road with most of the last 150 Km being the roughest we had ever towed the van on. It was just a brief visit to White Cliffs, we had intended to stay longer but the only place we could camp would have had us stepping out of the van onto a very thick carpet of prickly burrs. We had already had a couple of bad experiences with burrs on this trip, so we chose to move on.

Broken Hill to White Cliffs 'road'

It was an easy run from White Cliffs to Wilcannia where re-joined the highway to head east. Our journey then had us travelling through Cobar, Nyngan to Narromine for an overnight stop and then on through Dubbo to Orange to visit family. We would have stayed longer in Orange except when we awoke the next morning in the caravan park we were greeted by a temperature of minus one degree and quite a bit of frost. Far too cold for my liking, so it did not take long to decide to head for home on the coast and some warmer temperatures (we hope)

A frosty morning in Orange

That's it from me for now. I hope you have enjoyed some of my rambling descriptions of our travels,

Cheers, Alan.

Photos of Peterborough and District

Just a few pics from Peterborough and on the way to Broken Hill.

Click on an image to enlarge.

Centenary Quilt - Peterborough Town Hall

Who's a Big Kid?

Memorial to 'Bob the Railway Dog'

'2 Bobs'

Welcome to Peterborough

Olary S.A.

Mingary Siding

Mingary at Sunrise

Clare to Peterborough

After having such a great time in Clare there was just one more thing to do before our departure, We travelled out to the small village of Mintaro to visit Martindale Hall, a very grand mansion from the 1800's. Some may recognise it from the film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' in which it was used as the 'School for Girls'

Martindale Hall

Martindale Hall

It was a pretty dull drissly day, just perfect for exploring all the rooms and grand hall of this magnificent old building. Understandably they do not permit photography inside. Whilst in Mintaro we also made a stop at the Tin Shed gallery where some of us just had to pick up some goodies, then it was back to Sevenhill for some comfort food at the 'Little Red Grape' bakery and Caf'e. 

It is an easy drive through Spalding and Jamestown to Peterborough. Interestingly, Jamestown is the birthplace of R.M. Williams the founder of the famous boot and clothing company. Visitors to Peterborough are certainly left in no doubt that the town has a strong railway heritage because no matter which way you approach you are greeted by a model steam train, all made by a local craftsman.

Although today all the railway workshops have closed, Peterborough is surviving as a crossroads for tourists   just as it was for the railways for more than 100 years up until the early 1970's. No visit would be complete without taking in the nightly sound and light show at 'Steamtown', we really enjoyed it. History and rail buffs will also enjoy a trip to the small town of Terowie, just 24Km away. Unfortunately these days not much more than a ghost town, Terowie, like Peterborough, was once a thriving railway town. History records that it was here that, during WWII, General Douglas Macarthur made his famous "I shall return" speech. Today all that remains of the extensive railway infrastructure are a few crumbling buildings, deserted platforms and rusty rails.

Arial Photo of Terowie Rail Yards 1966

Remains of Terowie Station

One of the strangest sights in Terowie today is a yard full of 'Tin Men' where visitors are asked to take lots of photos, here are just a few:

Back in Peterborough, we were privileged to be able to attend an inaugural dinner and movie at the recently opened Caf'e and bakery in the old Capitol Theatre. Patrons were treated to some excellent local talent during the late afternoon, followed by a 3 course meal and then a new release movie, it was quite an experience.

Capitol Theater

Heading to Clare

Leaving the Murray River behind we headed into the hills towards the top of the Barossa Valley. A pause in the small historic village of Sedan saw us taking the heritage walk and then it was on to Nuriootpa for lunch, some shopping and a long walk through some of their beautiful parklands. The next stop was the historic town of Kapunda, the site of the first successful metal (Copper) mine in Australia. It was also the home of Sir Sidney Kidman the famous Australian cattle and horse baron, who was also the largest single property owner in the history of the world. We stayed two nights in town and undertook the town and mine heritage walk as well as visiting the fantastic museum. It was the first day of their bi-annual Farm Fair on the Friday so before our departure we spent the morning wandering through the many exhibits and enjoying lunch from some of the unique local produce stalls.

We arrived in Clare on Friday afternoon and set up there for the next 6 days. On Saturday out came the bikes and we rode the 'Riesling Trail' from Clare through Sevenhill to Penwortham and return. Our good friends, Yvonne & Bob arrived on Sunday and it was terrific to catch-up with them again. They had come to join us to help Sue celebrate her birthday on the Tuesday. We all had a great time in Clare despite the cool rainy weather which prevailed from Saturday afternoon until our departure on Thursday.

Sue's 60th Birthday

On the day of Sue's 60th Birthday we all went on a food and wine tour of the Clare Valley. We had a wonderful time being driven around in a private Mercedes 4WD by our jovial guide, David. We visited plenty of wineries housed in historic stone buildings and got to sample some exclusive wines not normally available to the general public. Sue really enjoyed it and was very pleased she chose this way to celebrate. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Our happy driver, David