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

Observations of a River

After visiting friends in Waikerie we headed off to explore further down the Murray River, or, The River Murray as they call it in South Australia. We found a delightful camp spot right on the banks of the river at Swan Reach. After setting up camp and sitting by the river with a cuppa we remarked to each other that even though we had seen dozens if not hundreds of boats during our journey along the river, we had not seen much boating activity, with most just moored to the banks. Well, no sooner than we had made this remark the river seemed to come alive with activity. For the next two hours we were constantly entertained by the passing traffic of all kinds. From small tinnies to cruise boats and paddle wheelers, and a number of rented houseboats. The rented houseboats varied in size from pretty big to bloody enormous. We were sitting there wondering how much it would cost to hire one of the large ones, when up the river came one such boat (pictured in the foreground below) and attempted to moor to the bank opposite.

The approach seemed to be a little fast requiring some serious reverse revving of the engines. Although it did not contact the bank too hard the skipper then selected forward gear with the wheel turned hard to port and gave the engines plenty of revs. This caused the boat to slew violently sideways and the tall superstructure crashed heavily into the upper branches of the very large gum tree you can see behind the boat. What can't be seen in the above picture is a large rope swing attached to the tree which only moments before was being used by a group from the other boat seen on the right. There was much loud screaming and the crashing of falling branches but eventually they managed to straighten the boat up and get it tied to the bank. Thankfully it seemed that no-one was hurt and so those on board began to assess the damage. Even though the houseboat was littered with broken branches there seemed to be little damage except to the fancy new rented ski boat lashed along side. A very large branch crashed right down into it totally destroying the canopy and almost causing it to sink. The branch required the strength of several men to lift it out of the boat and this, along with the rest of the debris was simply thrown into the river. The group on board seemed to be an extended family and judging by their general demeanor seemed the type that had more money than sense. This was later confirmed when they began to use the high powered ski boat to do high speed violent manoeuvres in the river in an attempt to dislodge the rider of a ski tube being towed behind. Later that night they held a disco party on board using the boat's very powerful music system and lots of flashing lights. This very noisy music blasted until very late much to the annoyance of all of us camped opposite. By the way the houseboat moored next door, that had been there first, could not take these antics and shifted several hundred metres downstream.

Murray River Images

A selection of shots from along the Murray River at Moorook and Swan Reach S.A.

Click on an image to enlarge

Melrose to the Riverland

A collection of shots from our journey through Melrose, Redbanks, Burra and the Riverland.