Power and Water again

Turning on to the bitumen we drove onto Morgan where we had a lunch stop, pumped the tyres up and had a quick look at the little town.  Not much to see on a Sunday afternoon so we continued on towards Peterborough where we were going to stop for the night.  The plan was to do some washing and we were both looking forward to a long hot shower!

We stopped a while later for our first real coffee at Burra, a lovely little village in the Clare Valley.  This chimney caught our attention on the way in.  We found this was Peacocks Chimney, built in 1857, it was connected to the boilers providing steam for a Cornish Winding Engine in Peacocks engine house.  It was demolished in 1971 to make way for the modern open cut mining operation and rebuilt on it's present site in 1972 as a combined Burra District Council and National Trust project.  The figure at the top of the chimney is Johnny Green, the mascot of early Burra Miners.

We did make it to Peterborough an hour or so later but so did the clouds and with rain threatening we decided to leave the washing until our next stop.  But the shower was wonderful. Being in a caravan park again was a bit of a shock to the system after a week in the bush.  The barking dogs from the surrounding neighborhood and the crowing roosters the next morning  were a little more jarring than the crested bell birds of the previous week.  We were just opposite the camp kitchen so could hear people chatting away until dark.  Not a bad thing of course but just a change to the silence we had been used too.   There was a wonderful herb garden planted in front of the kitchen area and a big sign Inviting people to share these.  What a lovely idea.  

While I had a shower Bill found some little black chooks and at first thought he was looking at little purple swamp hens but on closer inspection found they were a Black Tail Native Hen.  We found them in a number of locations over the next few days.

We left the next morning feeling lovely and clean and drove into the town where we did some shopping to replenish the supplies, especially the fresh fruit and salads. After that we had a look at some of Peterborough's highlights and of course a coffee before jumping back in the car for the next part of our trip.  

The sculpture and story of Bob the Railway dog was a cute addition to the main street along with the steam train along the road.

Not long after we stopped at Orroroo where we found the Giant Red Gum.  This wonderful old tree is said to be over 500 years old and it is still growing.  The flock of noisy Corella's  were making the most of its huge branches and were having a great old time while we were there.

We had a walk along the lovely old main street and then drove up to have a look the view from the Tank Hill Lookout before continuing on our way north.

Our next stop was at Carrieton, named after Governor Phillips daughter, where the local community have made a ceramic mural on the walls of the local convenience. It tells the story of the history of Carrieton and was made to celebrate 150 years.   There were four or five panels made up of 880 clay tiles.  This is just a small part of it.

Our last stop was at Hawker where we had lunch before finding the visitors information centre.  Here we checked out accommodation options at Wilpena, did a final bit of shopping, yes I had forgotten some things, and then started on the final leg of our journey that day.  

As we drove the last 56 kms to Wilpena we were blown away by the landscape we were passing.  It seemed to be layer upon layer of spectacular red ridges.  We were to find out later we were seeing the Elder Range, the ABC Range, Rawnsley Bluff and the South East Rim of the Pound.

The smallest rock we saw on the way was this cute little artwork at the last intersection.  Somebody obviously had a sense of humor and it sure kept the tourists amused as we all stopped to take our photos of it.

Ten minutes later we had arrived at Wilpena Pound Resort.  We booked into the campground here and while we were now quite happy without power and water it was good to have the choice again.  Yes we were plugged in for the next week!

Our initial plan had been to stay for a couple of days and move on a bit further up but we decided that we would base ourselves here and drive out and about so booked in for the next five days.  The camp sites were quite roomy bush sites with good bathrooms hidden amongst the trees, the much needed laundry and a shop.  What more could we want.

And so an hour later we were relaxing under the awning once more and settling in for part two of this wonderful adventure.  We couldn't wait to explore this spectacular place but first there was washing to do.

until tomorrow........