Thursday, October 14, 2010
Travelling day again. Not raining but overcast & wind still cold. Drove from Port Augusta to the lovely town of Quorn where we stopped for a look at the town & the railway station. One of Australia's best known steam train journeys, the Pitchi Richi Railway has its home here. Unfortunately the train only runs at weekends & school holidays, so we didn't get to ride on the train. The track here is the South Australian narrow gauge & was originally known as the Port Augusta - Quorn Railway when it opened in 1879. It closed 77 yrs later in 1956 until it was restored in 1974 by the Pichi Richi Preservation society. Very neat friendly town with a really nice coffee shop!
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| Quorn, Flinders Ranges, SA - Railway Station; Town Buildings; Rose, wish you could smell it! |
Continuing on towards Hawker we passed many homestead ruins. One really impressive ruin was Kanyaka Homestead - 'a testament to early pastoral history, these prominent ruins are remnants of a flourishing period [early 1860's] when 40,000 sheep were shorn & up to 70 men & their families were on this station [originally 950 sq kms]'. A little further along we stopped at the base of a 3 km walk to Aboriginal Caves. Had a look around & took a few photos of the colourful flowers, but didn't have time to do the walk. Stopped again in Hawker for a look around the town. Lots of murals painted on walls. There is also a painting called Wilpena Panorama, but we thought the entry cost of $7.50 each was a bit much, so just looked at the other very nice paintings on display.
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| Flinders Ranges, SA - near Hawker: Kanyaka Homestead Ruins - Stables; Toilet; Through a window; Kitchen; Homestead Building |
We arrived at 'Rawnsley Park Station' caravan park about 1.30 pm, checked-in, set up the van & had a rather late lunch! Bit of a look around & took a few photos in the afternoon. Cloud was very heavy & threatening! The rain started just as we headed off to the camp kitchen at 6.30 pm with our wine, cheese, salami, tomatoes & biscuits to listen to a Jazz group 'Jeremy Cookes & Friends'. Stayed there till about 8 pm before making our way back to van in the rain! Very enjoyable evening & after the wine & nibbles dinner was a non-event!
Only trouble with our site here was the distance from the amenities block - especially with the rain! Finally warm & dry in bed lulled to sleep by the steady rain!
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| Flinders Ranges, SA - Rawnsely Park Station: The 'Penguin' between the trees; Tree Reflection in creek near our site; Eucalyptus blossoms & one of my friendly native bees!; Scenery near Caves walk |
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