We had a longer drive today than I expected. I understood the distance from Port Augusta to Ceduna was about 295 kilometres but it was actually around 450 kilometres. I’m glad that we got away by 0830 as the extra time helped us significantly. We travelled across the northern region of the Eyre Peninsula where the vegetation changed significantly over the distance that we travelled.
Port Augusta has an annual rainfall of around 200 mm so the environment around there is quite arid. I think it can be classified as semi-desert.
The first major site that we came across was the tired old city of Iron Knob. There was a time when Iron Knob and the nearby town of Iron Baron were hugely productive with a population at Iron Knob of over 3,000 workers all employed by, or working for, BHP. Today it is typical, struggling, mining town with closed up shops and empty houses but with a local population who are determined to keep the town alive.
We drove around some of the streets for a few minutes and stopped at the War Memorial – one of the town’s focal points.
There are still some remnants of the mining days scattered around the town.
After leaving Iron Knob, we noticed that the vegetation had changed to a lightly covered mallee style forest that was interspersed with salt bush.
Our next stop wa at Kimba which bills itelf as the half way point between Sydney and Perth. It is noted for two things – the enormous painted silo showing a young girl in a wheat field along with the Big Galah.
These silos in Kimba were painted by an artist named Cam Scale in September 2017. This mural spans five and a half silos, with dimensions of over 60 meters wide and 25 meters high. It depicts a captivating scene of a young girl amidst a wheat field at sunset, brought to life with stunning colours that appear to shift and evolve with the changing light from dawn until dusk. The artist took 26 days to paint this mural, and used 200 litres of paint in the process.
The BIg Galah is situated on the highway. It is there to entice tourists to stop and send money in the road house. It is one of many ‘Big Things’ that can can be found in may places around Australia.
Even the public toilets in Kimba sport a mural although I have no idea what little adventures may eminate from a toilet block.
After Kimba, the vegetation was transformed into gigantic wheat fields. This area produces tons and tons of wheat and canola. The location of most of the little towns along the way can be identified on approach by the tall silos that were built along the railway line. In some places there were silos without a town – just a siding on the old ralway line.
We continued on with a plan to have lunch at Poocherra. We actually hit the jackpot by earkier deviating into the little town of Wudinna which had a bakery and a nice little park where we could eat the sandwiches that we bought at the bakery. As it turned out, this was a much better option than Poochera which we later found was singly uninviting and sad.
Also, by the side of the highway, at Wudinna is a distinctive granite sculpture. The “Australian Farmer” commemorates the spirit of Australian farming communities from pioneering days to the challenges of rural living today. It is a reflection of life, spirit and soul of the farming community.
By now there were wheat fields that were well established with enormous fields spreading as far as the eye could see to the horizon. It’s very hard to take an interesting photo of a large wheat field. Even though they are impressive in size, they consist of just a green field with no specific point of interest.
The roads here are in good condition and the spring wattles in flower add an extra element of color.
We drove on for much of the last part of our day without stopping. Partly because we want to get to our destination at Ceduna but also because there really wasn’t anywhere interesting enough to stop. Our motel looks over the Southern Ocean and we will have more time to explore this town on our return trip.
