Auburn, Moonta, Point Turton

Spent 2 days at the lovely little council run CP at Aurburn. Only $22 plus $3 for a cable if you dont have satellite. Very pleasant helpful staff, and good facilities.
Drove to Tarlee, good coffee at the Grasshopper Roadhouse there, down towards Gawler and back. Must remember to turn OFF the fan when driving through smoke. Farmers burning stubble - ute stank for a few days afterwards!
Huge old processing place at Seppelsfield. Beautiful old palm trees lining the road.
Then to Moonta. Surprised at how very flat the land is - grain everywhere. and so windy all day. Not good for the fuel consumption. Probably only the 3rd time I have felt the van shaking the ute around a bit. Roads are not great - need resealing! Climbed up from the plains on to more high plains. Not sure why I thought a peninsular would be 'mountainous'!!!!
Moonta is like Burra - old Cornish copper mining town. Spent a very windy couple of nights at the Port Hughes CP, and caught up with friends. One has a beautiful old Corninsh cottage so it was great to see inside one. I could live there quite happily.
Went to Wallaroo to empty the loo. Big ship in port being loaded with grain.
Down to Point Turton for Easter. Very long straight roads here but the edge of the seal is a bit rough so not keen to get off the road to let all the trucks pass!
Very pretty spot at the CP - only a small place but I think very pleasant place to stay. Tucked under a cliff and the jetty just over the road - maybe someone will offer me a fish...... or a crab even better....
Went to Warooka to get a bit more plastic pipe and some more brackets for the TV aerial. Need to get it higher for a signal - now have all of 5 channels - but wont be able to watch Downton Abbey tomorrow night - how sad. At least I can catch up on the computer!

Burra

Excellent meal at the Exchange Pub last night. A very popular place it seams - many families with children dining out. Only room for about 20 people to stand in the bar, and big plates of hot Dimsim nibbles on the bar for happy hour (6-8pm)

 Had a great morning doing the Tourist thing in Burra today.  What a quaint old town. First place I have felt the need to explore for a long time.

Paid the $20 (consession) for a key and a book then headed off to the copper mines.

What an excellent tour - drove along the well marked route and the key gives accesss to many sites and through gates!

Up very steep stairs to the top of the Mine building - once again I cannot make the photo turn around for some reason ..... Wonderful view over the ponds from the top balcony!
The old mine  pit is now used as a deep dive training pond for navy and police.

The Cornish built the round chimney stack - they didnt like corners as spooks could hide in them, and the scottish built the square stack! (they dont scare as easy?)


Went to the old police jail and stables. All the floor pavings were stones slabs on their side which made for very uneven walking. Dont know how the horses managed to stand in the stables either - same floor and a very sloping one at that.

Of to the Redruth prison and girls reformatory. Some very interesting reading of 'goings on' there also. Wooden floors are so worn that the knots stick up as bumps all over them now.

Lovely old school in town - thought it must have been a cathedral until I got there! Went into the brewery and down into the warren of underground cellars.

Along the edge of the park there are very old ex-government tennant houses which have been renovated and turned into cottage accommodation now (Paxton Park).

Also Tivers Cottages, and several B&B's in town.

Hade coffee and scones up the street from the info centre and was served with the coffee in a beautiful antique gold leaf cup and saucer, tiny old teaspoons, jam and cream in  silver serving dishes and an antique plate! And no camera. The only time I wish I had the phone camera activated to send photos!

Mildura, Renmark, Burra

 Headed to Mildura with a very sore molar. Had 3 days at a CP - found a dentist and had tooth extracted. Had to make sure the swelling face was going to go down before I left - so not much sight seeing done!

Did get to Lock 11 just in time for the 'SS Melbourne' to go through. Really surprised at how fast the lock fills.

Drove to Renmark through huge areas of grapes. Have found out that the ones covered in white plastic are table grapes being protected from rain. Did the right thing and cooked veg, and ate the bananas and was stopped at the border although it was fairly cursory. I must have looked honest!

 Apparently the fruit fly zone from Kerang to past Mildura is not free of fruit fly so fruit bought there still cannot be taken over the SA border - there have been several outbreaks recently in the 'free' area.

 

Stayed at Martins Bend free camp at Berri. Big area and the river is lovely. Dump point also.

Few spits of rain over night. Decided to go back to the repair shop in Renmark and get a new lock barrel for the door. What a shocking day to be driving. Extrememly windy and the dust.....!!!! Checked out Lyrup Ferry  down on the river flats. Many lagoons, swamps and old flood areas with big dead trees around here - all quite different. Decided not to cross over to the free camp but carry on to Ramco.

Bought some divine large yellow flesh free stone peaches from a roadside stall.

Found the camp at Ramco Point but signs everywhere around the boat ramp saying no camping so chatted to a local and drove along the river road. Several places to park right beside the river so stayed the night just past a house boat.

Woke in time to catch sunrise and watch dozens of fish jumping! Really should buy a rod! 

Went from Ramco to Caldell and found myself at a ferry crossing! Passed huge areas of grapes and citrus orchards (5000ha according to my book)

Thoroughly enjoyed the drive to Burra. No wind for a start and very good long straight road with not much traffic. Such a change once over the river and up to the top of the cliffs - nothing but flat salt bush with a few scattered trees as far as they eye could see.

Once in to the gentle rolling hills I was back into grain land. Burra is an amazing little town with really cute old buildings. Called in to the pub to find out where the showgrounds were - will go back for dinner I think.

Cohuna, Nyah, Lake Benanee

Gave up on free camping and all the heat after 6 day at Aysones Reserve so off to Cohuna Caravan park for 2 days. Power, long hot shower and even a swim (well a 'float') in the lake which was surprisngly refreshing. Just had to have a shower to get rid of the smell of mud afterwards. Nearly lost my crocs in the mud  - and felt like a beached whale trying to get back up onto the bank!

Even managed to see a sun rise - thanks the the cockie 'alarm clocks' in the trees!

Headed up to Swan Hill and on to Nyah to the free camp at the Harness Club. Lovely place to be. Big trees for shade, toilets, drinking water and a dump point which is not in the book. Ample parking all around the grounds and the river is pretty close.

Very friendly group of campers the 4 nights I had there. I think the fact that we had happy hour out on neutral ground in a shady spot meant that people felt very welcome to bring their chairs over to join us all. Much nicer than sitting under someone else's awning maybe. Also the first time I have ever seen people playing cards - and much hilarity going on!

Interesting country all along here. Miles and miles of irrigation channels everywhere. The place certainly responds to water - lush green with crops, lucerne and even grass for dairy cows. With no irrigation the place looks like a desert with low scrub.

From Nyah to Robinvale there are hundreds of acres of trees - maybe olives although not the grey ones I am used to. There is an olive business with 2.5 million trees so it must be them I guess. Very clean ground underneath. Also need to find out why so many grape vines have white canvass over each line of vines. Not like bird netting at all. 

Lake Benanee free camp is OK but all dirt. Clean facilities and the lake would be pretty on a fine day. This would be one of the first overcast days I have struck for a long time.

Black Cockatoo, Greens lake, Aysons

Cool and cloudy again. Left around 10 – drove up through the Coonawarra wine region, Penola, to Narracorte then Black Cockatoo Bush camp. Pretty dry and sandy, $8 for site – no power but good clean toilets and solar heated shower. Big area – but only the caretakers here in their van! About 3km of good(?) dirt road.

Stopped to get the right headlight bulb replaced - $12 – and bought 2 more ($16).

Good roads in SA – very few bumps, but a wide sealed verge with lots of passing areas. Pleasant change. Very quiet evening- read for a while. Caretakers went out so no-one to talk to.

Fri March 1^st VIC again.

Remembered it was a friends 70th birthday on 2^nd so headed back to Greens Lake!  Forgot to take ute out of high 4x4 – was wondering why I seemed to be using a lot of fuel!!!!! Again!!!! 18 & 20L per 100km – ouch! I so need a flashing light  instead of the little diagram thingie on the dash!

Enjoyed the drive – nearly 8 hours with a few short stops to do 450km but who is in a hurry! It is still very dry everywhere. Arrived around 6.30. Five other Nomads there.

Sat 2^nd

Off to Maroopna with the birthday boy. Did washing, had coffee then lunch with  friends and family, and back to the lake about 3pm. GN lady I met at Mt Gambier arrived – is staying with me for 2 nights so reorganised the van beds etc. Cooked a big stew for shared dinner party. Very pleasant evening – bed around 10.30. Thought we would sample the bottle of Rum Liqueur that I bought in Kunnunurra - WOW talk about rocket fuel! Decided it would be great as a medicinal product - to kill external cuts etc like they used to do in the wild west!
Quite ‘noisy’ sleeping in the tent again - can hear coughing, tent zips, bugs and birds. Didnt hear my companion down the other end of the van though, and I presume she didnt get too disturbed by my snoring.

Sun 3^rd

Beautiful calm warm morning, and a quiet day – feeling a bit weary – broken sleep I guess.   

Flipped off my caravan step this afternoon as I trod on it – and twisted my back and banged my shin – AND spilt my drink!!!! Ouch!

 Noisy party way down the other end of the lake late in to the night - fruit picking backpackers  in full voice.

Mon 4^th

Went to Kyambra to get a new step - $75. Metal one now.   Put the van back together – rearranged the bed etc. Tried a 19v computer charger - need to get one as my computer doesnt like the 12v one - would save running the genny to charge it all the time..  

Tues 5^th

Off to Aysons Reserve this morning. The other nomads have almost all gone and the thought of the Pole who has lived in a tent at the lake for 3 months being my closest companion - I dont think so! We have all ended up at the reserve as a group again. 

Seems to be mossie free but there are a few flies. Put the yabbie net in the river.

Wed 6^th

 Caught 4 yabbies but they  are really are too small to be bothered with so let them go. Could have used them for bait though. Woke up to a real morning chorus – haven’t heard so many birds for a very long time. Lots of Kookaburras also. Will stay here a few days I think. Long weekend coming up and a food festival at Swan Hill so will be busy on the roads.