AUSTRALIA – SOUTH – OUTBACK (Coober Pedy, Yunta, Moomba)
Day 31 Fri Oct 20
I filled up with gas at Eucla ($2.77) and had my first phone data for a while so worked on these posts.
Nullarbor NP. Stop at a wayside for the Great Australian Bight Marine Park. About 900 Southern Right whales visit the area ever winter.
Bunda Cliffs. A line of dramatic cliffs that drop off into the southern ocean. A high white band of rock is at the bottom. They stretch for 100’s of kilometres along Nullarbor NP.
The highway passed through Nullarbor (gas $2.77), the beginning of the Nullarbor Plain, a treeless area of low desert plants. Then there was a huge variety: lovely forest (what this country must have looked like before it was all cleared for agriculture), no trees, and then after Nundroo (gas $2.02!!!), the start of another big wheat belt that continued for several hundred km. Pass through Penong (gas $2.08), Ceduna (gas $2.00, on the ocean, has an active oyster fishery, stopped at a large grocery store to replenish), and on to Wirrulla.
Here I had a big decision to make about even continuing to Coober Pedy. The Gawler Mt Road leaves to the north from here – 484 km, 7’12” – but I asked at the bar and was told to avoid it at all costs. It is sealed for a km, then awful gravel for 186 km. “It’s much better to go via Port Augusta.” – 911 km and 9’26”. Seeing as my rental car is banned from driving on unsealed roads, this was a no-brainer. I’ll decide at Port Augusta if I will even go to Coober Pedy (besides the big detour, one negative is the gas is $3.95!!!!).
ON Wirrulla town.
Mileage: 660 km
Day 32 Sat Oct 21
I continued on to Port Augusta, and bought groceries. Gas $2.03
From Port Augusta, I drove at dusk and there were many animals on the road – at least four kangaroos crossed in front of me.
ON Wayside unmarked about 100 km south of Wilpena Pond.
Mileage: 459 km 2579 km
Day 33 Sun Oct 22
I had about 55 km to drive to Wilpena Park Headquarters. Three emu and several kangaroos were again on the road.
The dramatic mountains of the Flinders Range are south of Wilpena Pond – pretty red cliffed mountains.
Wilpena Pond Park Headquarters Fee $15
There is a resort and campground here. The trails start just past the park office but are presented in a confusing way, all as individual hikes, walk to the Hill Homestead and they all depart from there.
Hill Homestead 3.1 km flat. Follows Wilpena Creek through some large eucalyptus and gum trees, many burnt out. Pass through Pound Gap, the only way into the pond. The pond originally held a large sheep operation started in 1851. The 120,000 sheep caused environmental havoc and severely disrupted the aboriginals. A severe drought in the 1860s caused many sheep to die.
The Hill family arrived in 1889 and built the present stone house in 1901. They had 9 children and the oldest daughter is profiled in several of the storyboards.
Trails from the Hill Homestead. None looked interesting and simply through the forest on the bottom of the pond.
St Mary’s Peak 8.9 km. It is sacred and the summit should be avoided. The Tanderra Saddle below the summit provides good views.
Bridle Gap 5.7 km
Malloga Falls 7.8 km. Usually dry. Edrowie Gorge
Wangara Outlook. Follows the ridge immediately behind the house to two lookouts, the farthest 500 m. Both look east and south across the pond, a rather underwhelming view. Thinking that this was surrounded by rock walls, all the hills gradually slope up and encircle the pond. None are rocky but were enough to keep sheep and cattle in the pond. From the upper lookout, there were good views down to the gap.
I returned to the park headquarters and started my drive, 163 km, back to Port Augusta.
FLINDERS RANGES Tentative WHS are the largest mountain ranges in South Australia, which starts about 200 km (125 mi) north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over 430 km (265 mi) from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna.
The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabited the range for tens of thousands of years.
Its most well-known landmark is Wilpena Pound / Ikara, a natural amphitheater covering 80 km2 (31 sq mi) and containing the range’s highest peak, St Mary Peak (1,171 m (3,842 ft)). The ranges include several national parks, the largest being the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Parks.
It is an area of great geological and palaeontological significance and includes the oldest fossil evidence of animal life in the Ediacara Hills, southwest of Leigh Creek. Similar fossils have subsequently been found in the ranges, including at Nilpena.
The southern ranges are notable for the Pichi Richi heritage steam and diesel railway and Mount Remarkable National Park.
The Heysen Trail and Mawson Trail run for several hundred kilometers along the ranges, providing scenic long-distance routes for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders.
The flora of the Ranges are largely species adapted to a semi-arid environment, including sugar gum, cypress-pine, mallee, and black oak. Moister areas near Wilpena Pound support grevilleas, Guinea flowers, Liliaceae, and ferns. Reeds and sedges grow near permanent water sources such as springs and waterholes.
Since the eradication of dingos and the establishment of permanent waterholes for stock, the number of red kangaroos, western grey kangaroos, and wallaroos in the Flinders Ranges has increased.
The WHS application was made on the basis of its unique geological and palaeontological values. One example is the rock engravings that are understood to be the oldest artwork in the world, some dating back 40,000 years.
In Port Augusta, I got gas and groceries again and started to Broken Hill. None of the wind turbines on a high plateau were turning. After some wheat, the terrain turned to flat pastoral land with lots of sheep. There is a lot of road kill. 320 km Port Augusta to Broken Hill. Pass through some high hills crossing the Horrick Pass.
ON Wayside towards Broken Hill. It was cold at night with a breeze and I had on all my warm clothes – wool shirt, vest, puff jacket.
Mileage. 428 km
Day 34 Mon Oct 23
Giant Gum Tree in Orroroo. Down a dirt side road along the river, this is a truly big gum tree. I bought cheap gas for $1.96 at Yunna and had a great hot shower in the gas station bathroom.
AUSTRALIA – NEW SOUTH WALES – CENTRAL AND WESTERN
BROKEN HILL (pop 17,588, peak pop 30,000 in the 1960s) is a city in the far west region of outback New South Wales. An inland mining city, is near the border with South Australia (48 km) on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is 315m above sea level, with a hot desert climate, and an average rainfall of 235mm. The closest major city is Mildura, 300km to the south and the nearest State Capital City is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, more than 500km to the southwest and linked via route A32.
The town is prominent in Australia’s mining, industrial relations and economic history after the discovery of silver ore led to the opening of various mines, thus establishing Broken Hill’s recognition as a prosperous mining town well into the 1990s. Despite experiencing a slowing economic situation into the late 1990s and 2000s, Broken Hill remains Australia’s longest-running mining town.
Broken Hill, historically considered one of Australia’s boomtowns, has been referred to as “The Silver City”. Although over 1100km west of Sydney and surrounded by desert, the town has prominent park and garden displays and offers a number of attractions, such as the Living Desert Sculptures.
History. In 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range, and at the time referred to a “Broken Hill” in his diary. Silver ore was later discovered on this broken hill in 1883. This broken hill no longer exists, having been mined away.
Broken Hill’s massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world’s largest silver–lead–zinc mineral deposits.
Although now depleted somewhat, mining still yields around two million tonnes annually. Sheep farming is now one of the principal industries in the area and there are considerably more sheep than people – almost 2 million Merino sheep.
The Sulzer diesel-powered plant completed in 1931 was one of the earliest examples of the use of diesel power generation in Australia. The Broken Hill Solar Plant was completed in 2016. A 61 cm pipeline from Menindee on the Darling River supplies water making it a relative oasis amid the harsh climate of the Australian outback. In 2004, due to severe drought across much of the Murray Darling Basin Catchment area, the Darling River ceased to flow and the Menindee Lakes dried out. Broken Hill essentially ran out of water, with muddy sludge coming out of some taps. In April 2019, a new 270 km pipeline was constructed from Wentworth on the Murray River.
Climate. Broken Hill has a cold desert climate
Demographics. The indigenous community increased from 0.6% in 1971 to 10.0% in 2021, partly owing to the migration of non-indigenous Australians away from Broken Hill. In the 19th and early 20th century, Afghans worked as camel drivers in parts of outback Australia and built the first mosque in New South Wales (1880).
Mad Max 2 was shot here at the Pinnacles and Mundi Mundi Plains.
Whites Mineral Art Gallery & Mining Museum. 2000 hand-made dolls and bears, mineral art, history of mining, many mining artifacts, and building dioramas. Not so interesting. $12.50, $10 reduced.
Pro Hart. Kevin Hart (1928-56) was an over-the-top person – artist, car collector (4 Rolls Royce), and gun collector. He had one of the largest private art collections in the world (all sold on his death), bodybuilder, and collector. See only his art and watch a 1 1/2-hour video on his life. $5, 3 reduced
Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery. In a lovely building in downtown Broken Hill, has regional artists and aboriginal art. Free
Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum. A very well-done and informative museum with great displays and curation. Minerals, crystals, geodes, and a lot of Broken Hill history. Enter by donation.
I then drove down the Silver Highway 300 km towards Midura.
ON Park in Wentworth, 30 km from Mildura.
Mileage: 500 km
Day 35 Tue Oct 24
MILDURA
RAAF Memorial and Museum. Plinth with a standing airman surrounded by 3 black stones commemorating the airmen of the Sunraysia District and the RAAF Mildura Base. The Museum is only open from Friday to Sunday.
Mildura Arts Centre. Photographs of Mr Lindt of the Mildura area and its irrigation dating from the 1880s. Upstairs is a nice exhibit of 30×30 art.
Rio Vista is a Queen Anne-style mansion built by the Chaffeys in 1889-91. They established the first irrigation scheme in Australia but went bankrupt. The family lived in the house till 1950 and opened as an art museum in 1969. It is a lovely home that is part of the museum. There is a lot of wood and several marble fireplaces. Free
Mildura Holden Musuem. There are about 25 Holdens all collected by one man. Formerly known as General Motors-Holden, it was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three years, it switched entirely to importing cars. The 164-year-old company ceased trading at the end of 2020.
Holden’s primary products were its own models developed in-house, such as the Holden Commodore, Holden Caprice, and the Holden Ute. However, Holden had also models under sharing arrangements with Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota, Isuzu, and then GM subsidiaries Opel, Vauxhall Motors, and Chevrolet.
It became a subsidiary of the United States–based General Motors (GM) in 1931 when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden’s Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998 and adopted the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005. It stopped vehicle and engine production in 2017.
Holden produced nearly 7.7 million vehicles. During the 1950s, Holden dominated the Australian car market. The 1951 “ute” became ubiquitous in Australian rural areas as the workhorse of choice. It remains one of Australia’s most recognizable automotive symbols and was synonymous with the ‘Australian way of life’, coming to symbolize the stability of post-war Australian capitalism. In 1957, Holden’s export markets grew to 17 countries.
$12, 10 reduced
WILLANDRA LAKES REGION WHS
The fossil remains of a series of 13 lakes and sand formations (lunettes) that date from the Pleistocene can be found in this region, together with archaeological evidence of human occupation dating from 45–60,000 years ago. It is a unique landmark in the study of human evolution on the Australian continent. Several well-preserved fossils of giant marsupials have also been found here.
The Willandra Lakes Region, in the semi-arid zone in southwest New South Wales (NSW), contains a relict lake system whose sediments, geomorphology and soils contain an outstanding record of a low-altitude, non-glaciated Pleistocene landscape and the glacial-interglacial climatic oscillations of the late Pleistocene, particularly over the last 100,000 years. Ceasing to function as a lake ecosystem some 18,500 years ago, Willandra Lakes provides excellent conditions to document life in the Pleistocene epoch, the period when humans evolved into their present form.
Willandra contains some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens sapiens outside Africa and the period when humans became dominant in Australia, and the large species of wildlife became extinct.
Sites also illustrate human burials that are of great antiquity, such as a cremation dating to around 40,000 years BP, the oldest ritual cremation site in the world, and traces of complex plant-food gathering systems that date back before 18,000 years BP associated with grindstones to produce flour from wild grass seeds, at much the same time as their use in the Middle East. Archaeological remains such as hearths, stone tools, and shell middens show a remarkable adaptation to local resources. Pigments were transported to these lakeshores before 42,000 years BP. Human fossil trackways are aged between 19,000 and 23,000 years BP.
Officially called Willandra Lakes, it’s Mungo National Park which is the main attraction. A normal 2WD is ok.
Large lakes dried out about 18,000 years ago and the sand left around the edges has gradually been sculpted by wind and rain called lunettes.
Get in. 109 km from Mildura, the last 70 km on an unsealed road of variable quality – mostly rough hard packed clay, some sand and a lot of washboard which is doable without a 4WD to the visitor centre. Closed in rain – penalties apply (this road when wet would be a horror show). The Mungo Lodge just before the park entrance is a resting/lunch stop for most tours.
Stay. The main campground is just inside the park boundary. Belah campground is about 25 km along the Mungo Tract.
See.
Visitors Center. Has a great timeline for the area and reasonable displays with archaeology, the aboriginal story and wildlife.
40-60,000 years ago the lakes were full when this area was much wetter and the Lachlan River flowed into them with spring surges. At their peak, the water was 15 m deep.
50,000 years ago. First Aboriginal stone artifacts. This period lasted 20,000 years. Mungo man was buried near the shore and Mungo lady was cremated – the oldest remains of humans outside Africa.
40,000 years ago. The area became drier. Evidence of middens, fireplaces and artifacts.
The period of glacial maximum and sea level was 120 m lower. There were glaciers in Tasmania. The lakes started to dry.
20,000 years ago. Glaciers thaw and rainfall decreases. The Lachlan River abandons the Willandra channel and the lakes never fill again. Lunette building begins. The water around the floodplains thickened with mud and clay. When the lake was full, the wave action pushed sand onto the leeward shore. Wind transported the sand onto the shore to form the big sandbanks called lunettes.
About 31,000 years ago, it is believed that the Earth’s north-south axis moved 120 degrees from its present position and returned again over several thousands of years.
10,000 years ago. Semiarid. Stable for the next 10,000 years. The lunettes begin to erode.
1850. Europeans arrive. By 1880, overstocking, rabbits and drought significantly decreased the vegetation. Many mammals go extinct. Erosion of the lunettes accelerates.
Mungo NP was formed in 1979 and was declared a WHS in 1981.
The Meeting Place. Aboriginals gather here. Has recreated human fossil tracks, the world’s largest collection of ice-age human footprints.
Mungo Woolshed. 1869, has an underground water tank.
Foreshore Walk. 2.5 km starts at the Visitors Centre through the surviving pine woodland.
Pastoral Heritage Trail. 6 km loop that connects the 1860s Mungo Homestead with the 1920s Zanic Homestead.
Mungo Tract. A 70 km self-guided loop road that links all the main attractions of the park. 2 hours return. Two-way to Red Top and one-way counterclockwise after. Drivable with a 2WD.
Walls of China (Mungo Lunette) is a crescent-shaped dune formation that is naturally eroding. 9.6 km along the Mungo Tract. Has a board walk, 20-30 minutes. Can’t pass the boardwalk without a licensed tour operator. Gives rather distant views of the lunette with red sand at the bottom white, wind-blown sand at the top and small 4 m eroded buttes. Quite underwhelming. The Walls of China is a real euphemism.
Red Top. 5 km past the Walls of China parking area. Gives the best views of the erosion of the lunette.
The Mungo lady and Mungo man were buried 5 km south of here at the base of the lunette which is only accessible with an official guide.
From Red Top, I drove back to Mildura.
ON Small park on the north outskirts of Mildura.
Mileage: 290 km
Day 36 Wed Oct 25
I started driving late towards Adelaide, had a nap and it became too late to get to the Barossa Gallery, so I stopped and decided to basically take a day off to read and relax. It was windy and cold. I believe I have a lot of time (6 weeks) to see the rest of Australia and will be travelling at a much more relaxed pace.
ON Wayside about 100 km east of Tanuda.
Mileage: 242 km
Day 37 Thur Oct 26
TANUNDA (BAROSSA VALLEY)
Chateau Tanunda. Built in 1890, the building is a gorgeous two-story bluestone with red trim built into a hillside. Storyboards tell the history. Wine tasting is available depending on the vintage. Free
Barossa Regional Gallery. The large display on Hermannsburg, a German settlement near Alice Springs. A great 1877 manual pipe organ was fully restored. Photos and biographies on several Tanunda WWI casualties. Free
Greenock Aviation Museum. 15 km NE of Tununda at a farm, it has a Vampire, Mosquito, Dove, and Avro Anson planes and cockpits from 5 other planes, 2000 1/72 scale models, many engines, photos, diagrams and all sorts of junk and parts. It is all the collection of a man now 80 who was a pilot. There is also a tractor and agricultural Collection. $5
Map the Miner, Kapunda. This large monument celebrates the contribution of Cornish miners to the mining industry in Kapunda that dates to 1844 with the first metal mine in Australia. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Cornwall, with its copper and tin mines produced the best hard-rock miners.
With a structure of steel tubing, the statue is cold-cast bronze (bronze with resin reinforced with fibreglass). He has a reinforced felt hat with a candle, a pick over his right shoulder and a hammer in his left hand. It was inaugurated in 1988. Map is “son” in Cornwallese so it means “Son of Cornwall”.
I then drove 120+ km to the Yorke Peninsula.
GO TO AUSTRALIA – SOUTH – COAST
COOBER PEDY (pop 1,566) is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km (526 mi) north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway and halfway to Alice Springs. The town is sometimes referred to as the “opal capital of the world” because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called “dugouts”, which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.
The name is from kupa piti, usually translated as “whitefella – a hole in the ground”, relating to white people’s mining activities. The first European explorer was John McDouall Stuart in 1858. The town was established in 1915 when the first opal was discovered.
it sits on beds of sandstone and siltstone 30 metres (98 ft) deep and topped with a stony, treeless desert. Very little plant life exists in town due to the region’s low rainfall, high cost of water, and lack of topsoil.
The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides (“dugouts”). A standard three-bedroom cave home with a lounge, kitchen, and bathroom can be excavated out of the rock in the hillside for a similar price to building a house on the surface. The town’s water supply is from a bore and treatment plant from the Great Artesian Basin. Problems with ageing pipes, high water losses, and lack of subsidies contribute to consumer water charges being the highest in South Australia.
Mining. By 1999, there were more than 250,000 mine shaft entrances in the area and a law discouraged large-scale mining by allowing each prospector a 165-square-foot (15.3 m2) claim. Coober Pedy supplies most of the world’s gem-quality opal; it has over 70 opal fields. An opalized fossil skeleton of an Umoonasaurus is in the Australian Museum.
The Prominent Hill Mine, 130 km southeast of Coober Pedy is a copper-gold mine. The Cairn Hill iron ore/copper/gold mine is near Coober Pedy, the first new iron ore mining area opened in South Australia since the 19th century
Oil reserves of tight oil (oil trapped in oil-bearing shales) are near the outskirts and hold 3.5 and 223 billion barrels of oil, providing the potential for Australia to become a net oil exporter.
Tourism. The town has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since 1987, when the sealing of the Stuart Highway was completed. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry. Attractions include the mines, the graveyard, and the underground churches (the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church). The Umoona Opal Mine and Museum is a popular attraction.
The local golf course – mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime heat – is completely free of grass, and golfers take a small piece of “turf” around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs, the Coober Pedy golf club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Both the town and its hinterland are photogenic and have attracted filmmakers: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Red Planet (2000), and Mortal Kombat (2021).
Josephine’s Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage
Faye’s Underground Home
Serbian Orthodox Church
Umoona Opal Mine & Museum
Crocodile Harry’s Underground Nest & Dugout. Caves, Sinkholes and Saltmines: Coober Pedy:
Coober Pedy Golf Course. Bizzarium.
============================================
AUSTRALIA – SOUTH – COAST (Adelaide, Port Augusta, Nullarbor)
Yorke Peninsula is located northwest and west of Adelaide between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strait. The most populous town in the region is Kadina.
Home to the Narungga people comprised of four clans.
Most of Yorke Peninsula is prime agricultural land, with mostly small rolling hills and flat plains. The southern tip, sometimes termed the “foot”, is surrounded on three sides by the ocean, and forms a 170,000-hectare isolated “mainland island”, with large tracts of excellent native vegetation. The southwestern tip is occupied by Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.
Yorke Peninsula is a major producer of grain, particularly barley. Historically this has been sent out by sea because there are no rail services. A deep-water port was opened in 1970 near the south-eastern tip at Port Giles to export grain in bulk.
I drove about 20 km into the peninsula – about halfway to Androssan, the first town. Androssan has a deep water port and cliffs of red clay. Grain is the major industry, there is no beach and fishing is the main tourist draw. There was only wheat and pasture with a low line of hills running down the center and saw no reason to continue as there is basically nothing to see or of interest.
Tramway Museum, St Kilda. About 7 km off the highway, this is only open from 12-5 on Sundays. Have a large building full of trams and offer tram rides into town on Sundays. $10
I drove the 1.5 km into St Kilda (not much here except a marina) and had fish and chips at the St Kilda Hotel.
ON On the side of the salt lake next to the marina in St Kilda.
Mileage. 314 km
Day 38 Fri Oct 27
It was a short drive into Port Adelaide, just north of the city.
National Military Vehicle Museum. Open only on Sundays.
PORT ADELAIDE. North of Adelaide, there are many wonderful stone buildings, many with verandas from the 1880s.
South Australian Aviation Museum, Two hangars have about 28 planes from fighter jets, helicopters, and passenger planes to biplanes. Several can be entered. All beautifully restored. $15, 10.50 reduced
National Railway Museum. Cars from the Tea and Sugar train, a beautifully restored 1911 sleeping car, and another from 1949. Several locomotives and railway paraphernalia. $17, 10 reduced.
South Australian Maritime Museum. Has a ship the Actwa II next to several nice ship figureheads. Many paintings, photos, ship models, and descriptions of shipwrecks. $21.50, reduced 16.50
ADELAIDE
Cooper’s Brewery. There have been no tours since Covid. It was suggested that I go to Cooper’s Ale House where I could get souvenirs.
Adelaide Gaol. From 1841 to 1988, this housed 300,000 prisoners. There were no women after 1969. South Australia was the first colony established without convict labour. The original prison was built in a radial design with 5 yards and 4 observation towers. A New Building was added later. It is basically unchanged since the 1880s. See cells, the hanging area in one of the observation towers, kitchens, induction area, and yards. 44 men and one woman were hanged here and buried on the grounds. In WWII, it held military prisoners and draft dodgers. $16.60, reduced 13.50
Samstag Museum. In the University of South Australia, the second floor has three videos, part of an Indigenous festival, none very interesting. Free
David Roche Foundation. David Roche (1930-2013) was one of the sons of a wealthy family who were large land developers in West and South Australia. He inherited his money in his 20s and spent a lifetime collecting art and involvement with show dogs. His house can be seen on tours (10, 12, 2 $20, reduced $17) or you can see the main exhibit, basically a huge collection of 240 Wedgewood pieces, a few still life paintings, a marble statue of King George IV and a lovely huge malachite vase. I came late after the last house tour so didn’t see that but it appeared to be extravagant and gaudy. $15, reduced $10.
ON On War Memorial Drive across the river from the zoo and botanic garden.
Mileage. 70 km
Day 39 Sat Oct 28
I left the car parked on War Memorial Drive and walked to the botanical garden, museum, and all the sites in downtown Adelaide.
Adelaide Botanic Garden. International photographer of the year – $10, reduced $8. A lovely garden with pools, canals, and big trees. Free
Santos Museum of Economic Botany. In the Botanic Garden, this 1881 building houses 3000 specimens from around the world wonderfully displayed in glass showcases – seeds from many plant families, aboriginal uses, timber, fibres, and palms. Aboriginal art. Free
Ayers House Museum. In the House and Biographical Museums, this is a beautiful stone house with round observation sections on the corners. It is the present-day name for a historic mansion named after Sir Henry Ayers, five times Premier of South Australia and wealthy industrialist, who occupied it from 1855 until 1897. It is the only mansion on North Terrace to have survived.
The two-story mansion is constructed of local bluestone and is Regency period in style. Originally a 9-room brick house, it was transformed it into a 40-room mansion mainly during the 1860s. It is well preserved. Internally, the rooms feature hand-painted ceilings, stencilled woodwork, and memorabilia from the Ayers family, demonstrating the wealth of the owners at the time it was built. Ayers also commissioned a basement to escape the hot Adelaide summers.
The house has had many uses, including a club for injured soldiers from 1918 to 1922, and an open-air café from 1914 to 1932. Costumes, silverware, artworks, furniture, a 300-kilogram (660 lb) chandelier, and the original gasoliers were displayed in the museum area. The bedrooms became the “fine dining” Henry Ayers Restaurant; the stables housed a bistro. Four private event rooms were used for weddings and events. Now an event venue. No tours for 2 years.
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. It is Australia’s leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander multi-arts and cultural venue and has successfully promoted reconciliation with, and understanding of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples via exhibitions and performances that feature artistic expression, participation, and interaction. Free
Masonic Centre Museum. In the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple building (1925), it has a majestic stone structure with four columns.
Art Gallery of South Australia. In a very large gorgeous building, this has everything – mostly Australian painters, several Rhoden’s, and aboriginal art. I especially liked the fine paintings on wood by Albert Namatjira. Free
Museum of Classical Archaeology. Open to the public only on the first Tuesday of each month from 11-3. Part of the University of S Australia.
South Australian Museum. Mammals, aboriginal, Egypt, Antarctic, geology and minerals, and S Australian biodiversity exhibits. Free
State Library of South Australia. In the NM Architectural Delights, it is the only modern building in a long line of great stone edifices – a lovely sloping all-glass entrance that continues along the east side where the cafe is. See the Treasures Wall inside with many old photos. It adjoins the grand 2-story building in front. Free
The Centre of Democracy. In the State Library’s older section, it outlines the political history of Australia and the principles of democracy in a small room. Free
Migration Museum. Prior to WWII, British subjects were preferred. 182,000 came as displaced persons after WWII. From the 50’s on, southern Europeans were the predominant immigrant and after 1975, many Vietnamese arrived. Free (donation)
Mayfair Hotel. In the NM Hospitality Legends, it is in an 80-year-old insurance building but has only been the Mayfield Hotel since 2015.
St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral. With lovely rough brown stone between cream accents and a large square bell tower, the inside is unusual with the lateral naves the same width as the central nave. The ceiling is peaked wood framed. The 8 columns per side with nice pointed arches have 4 small round columns encircling the main columns. All the windows are orange glass giving it a very quiet subdued look. The W of the Cross are coloured bas-reliefs in nice big wood frames.
Central Market. Many eateries, specialty shops, and veg/fruit stands. I had a felafel bowl $14. Note it closes at 3 pm.
I walked back through the botanical gardens to the car and started my drive south from Adelaide. Gas $1.80.
The road climbs up into the Adelaide Hills with great views down into the city.
Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, Crafers. This lovely garden has five creeks that drain into a large lake created by a dam. Walk around the lake passing 5 very nice small sculptures – water, wood, plants, senses, and the Earth. It is renowned for its rhododendron garden with flowers best in September/October. Free but pay for parking.
Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary, Mylor. Has indigenous animals that can be petted and fed. It was closed by the time I was here.
The drive through the Adelaide Hills is one of the prettiest in Australia – fields, horses, cows, and lots of large gum trees.
ON Park in Hahndorf for a lovely quiet night. Had a nice picnic table.
Mileage: 40 km
Day 40 Sun Oct 29
Hans Heysen – The Cedars, Verdun: In the NM House and Biographical Museums, it is 2 km outside of Hahndorf on 35 acres. See Nora Heysen’s (1911-2003) studio with many still lifes and her biography. See Hans Heysen’s (1871-1968) studio built in 1912-13 with its great pine ceiling and beams and the diffused light window. It also has several pieces of art. The gardens are lovely. See the Ford Model A and the small camper he had specially built to travel to the Flinders Ranges where he painted a great deal. The house with its original furniture can only be visited on tours at 11 and 2. $17, reduced 13.
I continued my drive south through South Australia.
Kangaroo island. In the NM M@P & Islands series, the ferry costs $177 each way with a vehicle. I didn’t go. Cape Willoughby Lightstation is on the east end and Flinders-Chase NP is on the east.
The Normanville Hotel, Normanville. In the NM Hospitality Legends series, this hotel was built in 1851. It is primarily a dining room (with a great stained glass skylight) and a bar.
VICTOR HARBOUR
The Cockle Train. On Sundays and Wednesdays, leaves Victor Harbour at 10, and passes through Middleton and Pt Elliot for the 30 km journey to Goolwa. $35 return. I didn’t do this.
GOOLWA
Artworx Gallery. Don’t miss this lovely private gallery. It has a little bit of everything – wonderful realistic paintings, glass, jewelry, metal sculpture and many more from the many talented local Goolwa artists. Free
I drove down to Goolwa Beach and had a much-needed shower outside at the beach shower.
I had a decision to make – either go along the coast to Robe or along the main highway to Naracoorte. I didn’t think I had the time to go along the coast and still get to my tour time at Narocoorte so took the less picturesque route.
ON Wayside 200 km from Naracoorte.
Mileage: 261 km
Day 41 Mon Oct 30
AUSTRALIAN FOSSIL MAMMAL SITES. WHS
Riversleigh and Naracoorte, situated in the north and south respectively of eastern Australia, are among the world’s 10 greatest fossil sites. They are a superb illustration of the key stages of the evolution of Australia’s unique mammals during the last 30 million years.
Australia is regarded as the most biologically distinctive continent in the world, an outcome of its almost total isolation for 35 million years following its separation from Antarctica. Only two of its seven orders of singularly distinctive marsupial mammals have ever been recorded elsewhere.
Riversleigh. Older fossils from the Oligocene to Miocene, some 10-30 million years ago. They demonstrate changes in habitat from humid, lowland rainforest to dry eucalypt forests and woodlands and provide the first fossil record for marsupial moles and feather-tailed possums.
Just before the roadhouse is a road signed for Riverslsligh WHS. But it turned out to be a 445 km drive via Gregory, all gravel after Gregory (not a practical way to get there as it is much shorter from Camooweal past Mount Isa).
The site is scattered over a large area – section D is where some important finds have been made. The finds have been removed for study and processing at the Outback on Isa Museum in Mount Isa.
Naracoorte Victoria Fossil Cave. Fossils from the glacial periods of the mid-Pleistocene to the current day (from 530,000 years ago to the present) illustrate their response to climate change and to human impacts. Included are superbly preserved Australian ice age megafauna (giant, now extinct mammals, birds, and reptiles), such as the enigmatic extinct marsupial lion. Also, modern species include marsupials such as the Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian tiger, wallabies, and possums; placental mammals including mice and bats; and snakes, lizards, frogs, and turtles. They span the probable time of arrival of humans to Australia.
Pre-booked online (37$) for the Victoria Fossil Cave guided tour (1 hr at 10:15 and 2:15). The number of people is capped at 25. https://www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au/plan-your-visit/tour-prices-and-times 10:15
Get there. 14 km south of the village of Naracoorte and a long drive from the Great Ocean Road.
See.
Wonambi Fossil Centre with a simulated forest and swampland. Diprotodon statue, an ancestor of wombat and Koala bear is the largest mammal found here and is buffalo-like.
Victoria Fossil Cave (1.5km), the temperature inside the cave is a constant 17. Two parts, the normal cave tour with lovely stalactites and stalagmites, and the fossil bed tour. The highlight is the fossil deposit first discovered in 2069 almost 100 years after the cave was first discovered when they were looking for guano. The first part that is seen has many visible bones, is one metre deep and is not being excavated (part of the UNESCO agreement) and a cave stretching back 65 metres. Most of the animals found here ended up in this dark pit because they fell incidentally through eight openings in the ceiling of the cave. The most important are the large rainbow serpent, Wonambi naracoortensis, believed to have inhabited the dark cave and which preyed upon the unfortunate mammals which fell in the cave, and the Marsupial Lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, which had a very peculiar jaw bone and human-like fingers. The sediment is in cones that are layered depending on the dryness of the soil in the interglacial periods – dry and light during the glacial periods and dark during the wetter periods. This section is being actively excavated but is expected to take another 300 years to finish as the layers are up to 8 metres deep. The scientist in charge has been for 35 years.
120 different species have been found. The wonombi (rainbow snake) is a giant 5 m-long snake. The skeletons of two of the most impressive species found here have been put together. One is from a marsupial lion, and the other is from a leaf-eating kangaroo that lived in the trees (one of nine species of such kangaroos that has been found). The megafauna went extinct 60,000 years ago here whereas in Queensland they lasted until 20,000 years ago.
Millions of fossils – 30% of extinct megafauna, 93 species of vertebrates – ranging from the Tasmanian Devil to wallabies, extinct mammals, and even turtles. They accumulated over the last 500,000 years, and are very well preserved in sediment deposits. They provide an opportunity to study the impact of climate change on biodiversity before and after Australia was populated – a snapshot of life during the Pleistocene epoch as well as provide evidence for changes in climate and vegetation. Whereas Riversleigh provides a view of the ancestors of the Australian fauna, Naracoorte’s fossil record spans a period when their descendants became extinct.
Tickets. It is necessary to book online (10:15 and 2:15 37$) for the Victoria Fossil Cave guided tour (1 hr). The number of people is capped to 25. https://www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au/plan-your-visit/tour-prices-and-times.
Get there. 14 km south of the village of Naracoorte and a long drive from either Melbourne or Adelaide.
See.
Wonambi Fossil Centre.
Victoria Fossil Cave (1.5km), the temperature inside the cave is a constant 17. 2 parts, the normal cave tour with lovely stalactites and stalagmites, and the fossil bed tour. The highlight is the fossil deposit (which is still being excavated,
The Stick-Tomato Cave with huge columns near the visitor’s center is self-guided. Two walks leave from the Victoria Cave parking area: Limestone Cliff Walk – 1.6 km and the Stoney Point Walk – 5 km.
The drive from Naracoorte to Mt Gambier was lovely through green pasture land, cows, sheep, horses, and many gum trees.
ON A small park in Dartmoor. It rained and the table was not covered but I managed dinner wrapped in my ground sheet.
Mileage: 379 km
GO TO AUSTRALIA – VICTORIA