Sunday 30th October
Happy 9th Birthday Alex.
It is a short run of 80 km from Whyalla up to Port Augusta at the head of the Spencer Gulf. Its location makes it an important town, as all rail and road traffic going across the bottom half of Australia passes through it. It is also the last coastal town for all traffic heading north through central Australia to Alice Springs and on up to Darwin.
The Port Augusta Railway marshalling yards are directly across the gulf from our motorcamp and there is a continual stream of huge long trains coming and going from all parts of Australia. When we first arrived at our caravan park we could see the south bound Ghan passenger train waiting to pass through the marshalling yards and on to the station in town. The Ghan is the passenger train that runs twice a week between Melbourne and Darwin. We had last seen it when we were at Alice Springs
After setting up camp and having lunch we went for a drive around town and then to the visitors centre. The centre also houses the Wadlata Outback Centre which is a display of the history of South Australia. It is one of the best displays we have seen so far with lots of interactive, multisensory, and video displays.
We spent a good 2 hours there and only left because they were closing up for the day.
Back at camp we looked across the gulf to the railway yards and were lucky enough to see the north bound Ghan leaving on its long journey to Darwin.
Monday 31st October
Just when we thought everything was plodding along day after day with nothing much exciting happening, suddenly it all changes, and you get an extraordinary day like today. It all started out as usual with school work, and then at Cameron’s request we paid a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Base at Port Augusta Aerodrome. After viewing a video all about the service, we were taken out and shown over one of their 5 brand new planes.
For those of you who like to know all the technical stuff, I can tell you they are Pilatus PC 12’s, and by the time they are outfitted ready for use by the RFDS, they cost $6,000,000 each. The cockpit was very modern and streamlined and certainly didn’t look like the normal cockpit of an aeroplane.
From there we decided to go for a drive up to the small town of Quorn, about 30 km away in the bottom of the Flinders Ranges. Quorn is a lovely peaceful country town that time forgot.
We had lunch and after a call to the Visitors Centre, decided to drive south to the small town of Wilmington, then out to the gulf before heading back up to Port Augusta.
There were a couple of scenic lookouts on the way that the lady at the visitors centre said were worth a visit. As we drove through Wilmington, which is about the size of Midhurst, we saw a sign above a rather run down looking building advertising a Toy Museum. We decided to stop and have a look.
Added to the fact that it was a Toy Museum, three Land Rovers of various ages, and a Willy’s Jeep were parked out front. Something for both Cameron and me. Poor old Christel was just going to have to tag along.
Inside was an absolute treasure trove of old and not so old toys.
Everything from matchbox models, to huge radio controlled cars, and Meccano Models. All collected by one man. There was also a scale model, motor driven, ride in jeep, complete with trailer, which had been built by the collector.
As well as collecting toys, he was also a mad Land Rover Fan, and had dedicated one wall to a collection of every known make, shape, and model of Land Rover ever made. Outside, beside the three Land Rovers parked at the front of the shop, there were another 8 in various states of disrepair and rebuilding, scattered about the section.
The whole place was pretty run down and dusty, but what a wonderful collection.
From Wilmington we headed west back towards the Gulf intending to call at a Lookout called Hancock’s Lookout. It was about 7 km down a gravel side road through the Flinders Ranges. Now comes the good part. We have been in Australia for 10 months, and to all intents, have still not seen a snake in the wild. Cameron had caught a couple of quick glimpses of small ones, and we had all enjoyed having the pythons draped around our necks at Barrow Creek and the Alice Springs Wildlife Centre, but as a family we hadn’t seen one completely in its natural state. All this was about to change.
We came around a corner and there it was. A beauty, just crawling out of the grass at the side of the road. We screeched to a halt and scrambled out with cameras clicking at a hundred miles an hour. At long last. A real live wild snake, and what a beauty it was. At least 2 metres long.
Cameron quickly identified it as a King Brown, (That boy watches too many Steve Irwin DVDs), which is one of Australia’s deadliest snakes. He may well have been right, or it may have also been an Eastern Brown, which is considered to be the most deadly snake in Australia. From its appearance it could have been either one. Either way, we weren’t going to get too close.
After initially retreating back into the grass at the side of the road, it then proceeded to cross the road in front of the car, quickly followed by three very excited people all armed with cameras.
Without doubt it is now the most photographed wild snake in Australia. Cameron captured it on video with his camera, Christel was in charge of still shots, and I got some footage on our video camera. We followed it until it disappeared into the paddock on the other side of the road.
What a buzz. For the next half hour or so we were all on a high. After 10 months we got to see not only a snake, but a big bugger, and also one of Aussie’s deadliest. It doesn’t come much better than that.
We continued on to the lookout, and on the way back to the main road, saw a couple of Emus in a paddock off in the distance. Back on the main road we continued on down to the gulf and then followed the road north back to Port Augusta just in time for a beer.
Tomorrow we will head back up past Quorn again, and continue on into the Flinders Ranges National Park where we hope to spend a couple of day’s sightseeing.
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