Menindee and its History

It was a cold morning in Broken Hill with the temperature being around 3C. As we left, we stopped at the Junction mine which sits toward the southern end of the Line of Load in Broken Hill. It’s an abandoned mine that worked on rich silver ores with a shaft over 500 metres deep. The mine…

Looking Around Broken Hill – Day Two

Having seen many of the sights in the city of Broken Hill on our first day here, we set our second day aside to visit a couple of interesting remote locations. We began by driving to the (almost) ghost town of Silverton. Driving there is something of an outback experience. The road is made but…

Looking Around Broken Hill – Day One

Broken Hill is in New South Wales but it is so remote that it still retains the 30 minute time difference of South Australia. The city is based around a hill that was almost pure silver, lead and zinc. It is a mining town right on the edge of the desert. It’s not a big town…

Our Long Drive to Broken Hill

In a final look around Burra before leaving, we found a few sights that we hadn’t yet seen such as the old railway station. The last trains from here ran in the 1990s. Railway lines were once the life blood of rural Australia but have now been replaced by modern road transport. Trucks now transport…

Moving Inland to Burra

Over the last couple of days, we have explored most of the flat agricultural area of the Yorke Peninsula. Today, we moved through some more undulating country which is more focused on grazing rather than grain cropping. In a previous post I mentioned that most of the land on the peninsula is used for growing…

The Yorke Peninsula Art Trail

I have found two differences between this area of the Yorke Peninsula (and generally through South Australia) with Victoria. In Victoria, timber was commonly available to early settlers as an inexpensive and expeditious method of construction. Many early buildings have either rotted away or fallen down. In South Australia, early settlers used stone for constructing…

South to Dhilba Guuran da-Innes National Park

Yesterday,, we spent our day travelling south of Edithburgh to the very southerly end of the York Peninsula. Just after leaving Edithburgh,we came across the Wattle Park Wind Farm. It has been operating since April 2005. When it was officially opened in June of that year it was Australia’s largest wind farm at 91 megawatts.. Its…

We’re on the York Peninsula

Yesterday, we travelled from Hahndorf to the little town of Edithburgh on the York Peninsula. This is not near the location of Coffin Bay and its famous oysters – that’s the Eyre Peninsula – hundreds of kilometres away. Near Port Wakefield is a Proof Range where the army tests artillery weapons and ammunition. It just…

A Visit to Hahndorf

We only had a short 75 km to travel from Victor Harbor to Adelaide and then Hahndorf in the Lofty Ranges behind the capital city but it took us all day. The first part of our journey was across the top of the Fleurieu Peninsula and it took us through some beautiful undulating farming country…

Our Day in the Fleurieu Peninsula

Our second day in Victor Harbor began with a late start and then an easy drive along the Fleurieu Way towards the end of the peninsula. Some of this drive took us along the coast with some very photogenic locations. Looking to King Head from The Bluff Petrel Cove Beach at Victor Harbor Waitinga Beach We…

Driving Along the Linmestone Coast

Over the last two days we have driven north along the Limestone Coast Region of South Australia as we travelled from Mount Gambier to the seaside town of Victor Harbor. On the way, we made a number of divergences to a variety of scenic places and enjoyed some interesting scenery. On the very first part of…

Exploring Around Mount Gambier

On this easy going and relaxed trip, we have spent the last two days exploring the area around Mount Gambier. Yesterday, we looked around the region closer to town and today, further to some places further away along the coast near Port Macdonnell. Mount Gambier is known for its unique geological features, including its limestone…