It was weird getting back to familiar territory after so long travelling the unknown. Having spent 2 weeks at Port Augusta in June, it was kind of nice and homey to get back there, and I absolutely love the view of the Flinders Ranges. There's something just captivating about the mountains and the view across the Spencer Gulf to them is beautiful.
On leaving Port Augusta we travelled south to Crystal Brook and then turned east. From there we drove through hundred and hundreds (probably thousands and thousands) of acres of wheat. We have seen so much wheat between the end of the Nullarbor, throughout the Eyre Peninsula and then across this stretch of Australia. It is almost incomprehensible how much land is give to wheat farming, and we didn't even see all of it by far.
On our way to Renmark we stopped at a little town called Burra and I am so glad we did stop there. It is an old town, founded because of a copper mine, and has so many historic stone houses and buildings. There are a couple of interesting gift shops which were good to browse through. It reminded me, quite a bit, of Morpeth near home. We really enjoyed our stop there. And one of the interesting things is the footpaths were covered in gravel, which is obviously spoil from the copper mine, as we kept finding small bits of malachite and azurite in the gravel. These are blue and green stones, which was really very cool. There is quite a bit of history to the town and you can learn more about the mine as well, but we had a long drive ahead of us so we only stopped for a bit of a break. It is the sort of place I would definitely visit again should we ever be driving that way again.
Love the arch entry through the hedge fence
1918
I have fond memories of Renmark as my aunt and uncle lived there and had a dog boarding kennel, called Kramner Kennels, and my aunt bred beagles. I remember visiting them on a couple of occasions, and playing with the beagles. I also remember visiting the Monash Playground, which was incredibly cool when I was a kid. It was full of rides and activities that were all self-powered. There were giant rocking animals, slides, a spinning ride you stood up in and a mini rollercoaster, to name a few.
Monash Playground Now
Monash Playground in the 1980s
Awesome spinning thing
(source: adelaiderememeberwhen.com.au)
Giant rocking animal
(source: youtube)
The rollercoaster
(source: playscapes)
The Murray River is in flood at the moment, and there are large parts of land surrounding the town that are covered in flood water. We had a very hot (high 30s) day driving to Renmark and then only day in town to explore, of course it was raining! Still, we had a look around town, at the foreshore, at the Paddle Steamer PS Industry and of course, we had to go and check out the Monash Playground, even though I knew it was very different to what it was like when I was a child. We also visited the AlmondCo premises. They have a shop where you can taste different flavoured almonds, buy all sorts of almond products and it also has a viewing window where you can watch the packing process. That was pretty cool. I really enjoy learning about how all these things happen and watching the automation of the processing.
PS Industry
Rory trying to turn the steering wheel
The crew galley complete with wood fired stove
Plush's Bend (river has cut road)
Renmark Foreshore
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