We’re currently in the lands of the Barngarla people – the traditional owners of the areas around what’s now known as Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Port Augusta (known as Goordnada to the Barngarla people, where we are tonight). We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Barngarla elders past, present and emerging.
We left behind Adelaide today and started the drive north up beside the Spencer Gulf, and across the top of the Yorke Peninsula. It was a slower start – the kids wanted to get a play in at the park just down the road from where we were staying in Glenelg. So once we were packed, we did that and then got on the road closer to 10am. After a little while, our first stop was Port Wakefield for a bit of morning tea and stretch of the legs. We found their AFL field in the town, which the kids were happy to see and run around with the footy for 10 minutes or so.
Only 45 minutes or so up the road, we started to drive past Snowtown – and sitting at the side of the road was a sign for The Big Blade. We’ve got our own list of big things that we want to see as we drive around Australia, but we’re totally up for adding to that list. So we quickly did a detour and headed off the highway into Snowtown, and found the Big Blade in the middle of town. It’s the blade from a wind turbine, and it was donated to the town by the companies that built the local wind farm, as a thank you for all their support. It was great to read through so much information about the project and how much energy the wind farm generates.
We headed onwards to our planned lunch stop: Port Pirie, another hour up the road. We found a really nice park just beside the Solomontown Beach, and got to work in the wind on our holiday sandwiches, with a bit of leftover pizza from the other night as a bonus. Quick side note: super thankful for our car fridge! It not only means that we can take basic fridge things (like cheese, margarine, milk etc) from place to place – but it also means that we can have those things on sandwiches for lunch when we’re travelling!
After lunch, given Port Augusta was only an hour up the road, we headed in to the Port Pirie National Trust Museum, at the site of the old Port Pirie Railway Station. I’d chosen to drop by this place because of some really positive and glowing reviews on Tripadvisor – so I knew we were going to probably have a great time here. But it really was a wonderful experience – both of the guides working that day were so knowledgeable, so friendly, and so passionate about the history of Port Pirie. And again, it was one of those experiences where we learnt so much that it was hard to retain it all! We were all kept entertained throughout the visit by a question and answer sheet that they gave the kids – essentially, it was like a treasure hunt, but needing to look through the displays to find the answers to a series of questions.
One highlight was being able to climb the main tower you can see in the picture on the Museum page I linked to above – it was destined to be a clock tower, but apparently the government reneged on a promise to provide the clock once it was built. But the upside for tourists is that you can now climb up (albeit on some very narrow stairs / ladders!) to the top and get an amazing 360º view of Port Pirie.
We’re in our first cabin tonight in a caravan park. There’s a few of these lined up throughout central Australia, as it just became a far more cost effective option for short stays. Equally, most of these Discovery Parks have really decent reviews. And although all three kids are sharing a room (which is, let’s call it, difficult for bedtime), the place is great for a couple of nights.
Looking forward to heading in and exploring a bit of Port Augusta tomorrow!
