Friday the 27th November we left Moonta heading for Griffith. Linda's Aunty Laurie passed away and so we were going to the funeral before heading home for four weeks for Christmas. So this will be the last post till sometime in January when we resume our second big trip.
As there had been the terrible fires in South Australia near Adelaide we chose not to take the Sturt Highway to get to Renmark. Instead we went to Balaklava to Morgan to join the Goyder Highway. We arrived at Morgan and had lunch. Morgan was the major inland port of South Australia as it is at the northern bend of the Murray River. Another nice town and it will be nice to follow the Murray for a while.
Lake Bonney looked nice for an overnight stop in our camps book and on Wikicamps and it did not dissapoint. All this and good tele and phone reception as well. Not bad for free.
What a great sunset it was that night. It is about time I posted some more sunset photos.
We pushed off next morning and had lunch at Euston which is near Robinvale. More nice views of the Murray. I think a trip along the full length of the Murray is a must down the track.
We were going to stay short of Hay on the Murrumbidgee but we could not find the spot referred to in the camps book. I am sure we could have got closer enough to the spot but Linda was not keen and we stayed in the Caravan Park in South Hay for only $26. It was just a short walk down the river.
So that ends the second big trip temporarily whilst we take an interlude home with the family. We look forward to finishing it off in the New Year. See you then. Happy travels.
On Tuesday the 24th November we left Port Augusta to head down the Yorke Peninsular. Not far down the road was Port Germein. This little place had the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere at one time. It was a lovely little town. Such great old architecture that has been saved and restored in South Australia.
This boat retriever looks like a great piece of DIY. The water here in the Spencer Gulf stays so shallow for long distances, which is why the long wharf of course and why this guy would have built his boat retriever.
We gave Port Pirie a miss. Did not want a dose of lead in our veins. We went on to Port Broughton. Talk about lovely little towns, this place takes the cake. It is just the sought of place you would want to take a couple of days to relax and make use of the water and pub, the great butchery and baker. We did make use of the latter two anyway without actually staying overnight.
We went on and stayed at Moonta. There is a triangle of towns, being Monta, Kadina and Wallaroo which were prominent from the 1830s for copper mining. Cornish and Welsh miners came out in their droves and there are numerous remnants of the Cornish especially. We went on a little rail tour of the mining area around Moonta. We also took a drive around the other towns.
We were right on the water at the Moonta Bay CP. It was a great spot and for the evening of the day we arrived it was great as the weather was beautiful. We also had a couple of drinks with nice neighbours at happy hour. But after that the weather was blowing a gale, first from the north and hot, and then from the south and cold. The wind was peristently stronger than anything I have ever experienced.
From here we were planning on going south and touring the rest of the Yorke Peninsular. We are putting that on hold for the moment as Linda got news of the passing of her Aunty Laurie. Therefore we are heading to Griffith for the funeral which is on next Tuesday. I will do posts on our trip to Griffith but after that we will be slipping home for four weeks over Christmas. We will then resume the trip in the New Year for a final two months of this second big trip.
