Mon. 22nd Oct., 2012 - Port Augusta to Burra

Last night's strong wind had dropped, thank goodness & it was a beautiful morning as we set off for Burra.  However, I think we both felt a little sad that our exciting trip was nearing its end.  It has been a fantastic adventure, with a lot of interest & variety.  Not quite over yet, though - we still have the Clare & Barossa Valleys to look forward to, then some reunions with family & friends.  The nomadic way of life is now a lot easier to understand & could become quite addictive.  'The great unknown' & 'pastures new' are always intriguing.

The road out of Port Augusta had more traffic on it than we'd seen for ages & we realised that we were fast approaching the 'busier' parts of the continent.  This produced mixed feelings - the sparsely populated areas had a leisurely, stress-free mode of life & yet culture & sophistication also held appeal. 

Our route was an attractive one, with the ocean to our right, grain fields to our left & behind them the South Flinders Ranges.  Farmhouses were dotted about the landscape & the area appeared to be fertile & productive, with vast amounts of ripe grain.

We left the A1 & turned left towards Crystal Brook & the Clare Valley.  At this point, the countryside was mostly golden in colour, against a big, blue sky.  Crystal Brook was an attractive place & its caravan park looked most appealing.  We drove out of it in the direction of Burra, which was 90kms away.  Crops, barns & silos were in evidence everywhere &, as Bob trod in the verges to take photographs, wearing only thongs on his feet, I prayed that no snakes would be lurking there!

It became hilly & there were more trees along the road & around the boundaries of the fields.  This winding route contrasted with all the long, straight ones that we'd travelled on previously - we were now entering a very different type of terrain.  Beautiful red bottlebrushes were flowering at the roadside & green now became the predominant colour.  We'd climbed away from the coast to an altitude of 1,000 metres where the outlook was reminiscent of the Italian hills.  Large pipes ran parallel to the road, which we guessed were carryng water.

As we laboured ever upward to a new height of 1600 metres, we reached the highest point of our trip so far.  We were up amongst some wind turbines, the appearance of which I rather liked, but Bob didn't.  However, he was in jovial mood & said that we'd probably need oxygen if we climbed any higher!

Eventually, we arrived at Burra, which promised to be an interesting place, having a heritage area & a wealth of lovely old stone buildings. 

The caravan park was in a pleasant valley between the school & a church.  For the first time since Denham, we were able to look at a view through our back window, since no one was parked behind us.

We called at the Visitor Centre & discovered that our British National Trust cards would save us $20 each on Burra's Heritage Trail - what a bonus!  We planned to do the trail tomorrow.

Burra Town Hall was a very impressive building & housed an interesting photographic exhibition of the town through the ages.  Fortunately, many of the old buildings hadn't changed too drastically & the town had retained its character.

Next, we looked at an exhibition in the Art Gallery, which was showing work by local artists.

Finally, we did some shopping at the supermarket before heading back to the caravan park.