Eltham to Flinders Ranges

It was 9:30 am on a wet and overcast Monday 20th May as we headed out of Eltham. We met a strong head wind as we turned onto the Calder, which lasted until we crossed the Great Dividing Range. From then on it was good driving conditions, except for the first 20 km north Wycheproof which involved heavy rain and plenty of water on the road. But then, just as it happens in the cartoons, we drove though the final curtain of rain onto a dry road. Except for the aforementioned wet period the country is very dry and looking very poor.

We stopped for lunch at Wedderburn and then pressed on to Sea Lake – not exactly a town that impresses – but the cappuccino was good. It was time to find a campsite and the navigator (i.e. Shirley) duly nominated Lake Tyrrell free camp site – 7 km north of Sea Lake. A few minutes later we were there and a few minutes later we were set up for the night. It was 3:45 and we had covered 370 km on day one.
A few minutes later I met Arthur who pulled in after us. Arthur has a deaf wife so his main talking companion is a 14 year old border collie. He brews his own beer and proceeded to extract a 10 litre keg, complete with tap and gas, from the fridge in the back of the Land Cruiser. I did not get offered a glass but it had a good head. Whenever he runs out of beer he has to stop for 3 to 4 days to make a new brew – which is 20 litres. Arthur, his wife and his dog live virtually on the Gippsland Lakes. This is his 7th trip to Darwin. There was a “tinnie” on top of the Cruiser so I guess he likes fishing. Not a bad life – travelling, fishing and brewing your own beer. We were in bed by 8:30 .

Day 2 - Early to bed and early to rise. Readers who know Shirley may not believe this but we were on the road at 7:30 am, after an impressive sunrise. Our first stop was Ouyen – famous for its vanilla slice. Ouyen is similar to Sea Lake – not very impressive. However we found a coffee shop and had a great coffee and an excellent vanilla slice. Later that day we found out that Birchip had recently claimed the “King of the Vanilla Slice” title.

We completed the 190 km to Mildura and arrived about 11 am. The car and caravan was parked in the carpark at the Sunraysia Resort where great friends, Wally & Bev, had a two bedroom apartment. So our second night was to be spent in luxurious surroundings.

The four of us headed across the border into NSW to the Gol Gol pub for lunch, which was excellent. After lunch Wally and I walked the 200 metres down to the Murray river, while Shirley and Bev invested $20 in the pokies. We wandered back in some time later to see that the ladies has racked up around $85 on the machine they shared. “We will cash in when it drops back to $80” they said. Instead of dropping back it proceed to gather momentum until they “cashed in” at $370 – a profitable lunch. It was a quiet afternoon and evening.

Day 3 saw a leisurely start around 9am while heavy rain belted down. This continued all of the 140 km to Renmark where we stocked up on vegetables & fruit and filled the fuel tank with diesel. Our next stop was the Overland Corner Hotel – a little 1859 pub on a bend in the Murray river.

It was then a fairly boring drive to Burra, the SA answer to Maldon in Victoria. Burra is a pretty little town nestled in a valley, and it a National Trust town. It is apparently one of the best preserved mining towns in the state. By 5pm the camp ground was full, so it was lucky we rang through this morning.

It was built to cater for overland drovers and stage point for coaches. We stopped for lunch and had cream of broccoli and cauli soup. One of the residents was a “ferro hound”, apparently a good hunter who does not shed much hair and does not have a “doggie” smell. There are only 650 of them in Australia. This guy is helping to reduce the ferrel cat and rabbit populations—but plays with the neighbours cat.

It was then a fairly boring drive to Burra, the South Australian answer to Maldon in Victoria.  Burra is a pretty little town nestled in a valley, and it a National Trust town.  It is apparently one of the best preserved mining towns in the state.   By 5pm the camp ground was full, so it was lucky we rang through a few hours before we arrived.

We had completed another 340 km.  

Burra worked out to be a lovely place with 50 historic sites to visit on a drive/walk yourself tour.  It’s history was founded on copper mining, which closed about 1981, and fine wool merino sheep.  In 1970 a merino ram was sold for $27,000 (I wish I had a mob in my super portfolio).  It also had a brewery that brewed a beer still available in South Australia. The cellar would make a great restaurant in Melbourne.

 

Many of the miners dug their own accommodation into the clay banks of local creeks.

Many of the buildings were built from local sandstone and are still in (or have been restored to) excellent condition. 

 

Burra is also known as the home of Australia’s largest dinosaur - a Diprotodon.

Burra was a mining town owned by the mine.  Four other towns sprung up close by, and the “burra” of five towns was eventually given its current name.

We were also able to try on period clothing at the town hall museum.  Shirley looked splendid in her new sun hat.

 A local expressed disgust that the new roof on the town hall leaked more that the rusty old roof that it replaced.  This was fully tested with 45 mm (nearly 2 inches) of rain in the last 2 nights. 

 

The apple wine and cider winery had magnificent views of the local area, but their liquid products did not impress.

On Day 5 we left Burra after a relaxing sleep-in and headed towards the Flinders Ranges.  Our first coffee stop was Peterborough which was one of the few towns to expand during the depression—thanks to the gold rush and being on the Broken Hill to Port Pirie rail line.  Peterborough also lays claim to being an outpost for stray Adelaide dogs who were sent to this part of the world to help reduce the rabbit population.   We could not find our whether that strategy worked—or not.

It was around this time that we crossed the “Goyder Line”.  Goyder was the surveyor general from Adelaide who, in 1865, created an artificial line that defined two areas—one best used for sheep grazing and the other best used for wheat farming.  This is apparently a good guide—even today.

We then stopped at a town with the interesting name of Orroroo.  It is a lovely little town and proudly highlights a “Giant Red Gum”.  The Eucalyptus Camaldulensis is over 500 years old and has a circumference of over 11 metres just above the ground.  If it had been cut up, in days past, it would have yielded 1400 fence posts. 

Our next whistle stop was Carrieton, on the map courtesy of the magnificent mosaic on the walls of the public amenities.

 

We were about to enter the Flinders Ranges.  Please look at the next posting.............