Back in Victoria

Our last day in Adelaide gave us a rest from driving. We did a little essential shopping where we caught up with a group of soldiers raising money for Legacy. The corporal in charge was an old timer in the Corps of Transport and we had a long chat about various units that I knew and how they, and their locations, have evolved over time.

Our hotel room was on the fifth floor and we had a good view of the sunset. I’m not sure of the significance of looking at a sunset over a cemetery but perhaps they both signify different ways of ending the day.

The Royal Adelaide Show was being held at the nearby Showgrounds and each day concluded with fireworks. I managed to grab a couple of photos of them although the smoke tended to hide some of them from view.

We left Adelaide just before 10.00 am and headed along the highway towards Murray Bridge. It wasn’t cold but the air was quite humid, resulting in heavy fog as we climbed up through the Adelaide Hills.

The fog dissapated once we reached some elevation and we had a clear day for most of our journey – just a little drizzle late in the day.

After crossing the Murray River, we passed through some ‘Mallee’ type country, driving through tiny towns with names like Cooomandook, Yuma and Ki Ki until we reached Coonalpyn. There is a painted silo there but it is fading and some of the original detail is now missing. Perhaps the shops and businesses were closed  because it was Sunday, but the town had a decidedly shut down and sad appearance.

We reached the town of Keith in time for lunch. Again, it was too windy to try a picnic lunch. Back at Coonalpyn all our mugs and thermos for a coffee stop were simply blown off the table. The service station / roadhouse was doing such a roaring trade that it didnt have any parking spaces left in its grounds. The staf were working flat out dishing up packs of chips, chicken and related junk food. 

Keith is a small rural centre which owes its existence to the discovery, in the 1940s, of the fact that certain vital trace elements could convert this very marginal, almost desert, wasteland into a rich agricultural area. Since then it has been at the centre of an area rich in grain crops and cattle grazing.

The local park has a monument consisting of a Landrover on a pole with two small huts. It’s officially called “The Desert Conquest Memorial” and commemorates the AMP Insurance Comany’s 1940 Development Scheme that turned the area around the town into the highly productive agricultural area that it is today. The memorial comprises the Landrover and two of the original Wiles Huts where the workers on the scheme lived.

For many miles, we drove past enormous wheat and canoila fields.

The town of Bordertown is not really at the South Australian / Victorian border. It’s nearly there, but is still 20 km inside SA. It’s the town in which former Prime MInister RJ Hawke was born. His father was a Congregational minister in the town and the house is clearly marked as Bob Hawke’s birth place.

The grain growing area continued through Victoria, all the way to Horsham where we stopped for the night.

At Kaniva, there is a rather beautiful painting on the grain silo. It’s another example of good silo art. The design features the Australian Hobby Bird. Smaller than other falcons, it is one of six Australian members of the falcon family. To the left of the bird is the scented sun orchid with the salmon sun orchid on the right. These plants flower between September and November and they generally only open on warm, humid days.

One of the larger towns along the highway was Nhill. I remember spending a few days there with my father who had gone to judge the local budgerigar show. His hobby was breeding and exhibiting those birds. The town has a wide median strip that is wide enough for a park with BBQs, picnic tables and seats. It has a grand post officer building where the highway turns a corner that probably costs Australia Post a mint to maintain. It’s a hangover from the days when the post office was critical, and grand, part of society.

Just before reaching Horsham, w came across a salt lake with the very creative name of ‘Pink Lake’. It certainly was pink, living right up to its name. Apparently pink is a lucky colour for Chinese people. Sure enough there was a large Asian family huddled under some trees (for protection against the wind) eating a meal as they looked out across the lake!

Tody was Jill’s birthday and I had planned a nice dinner to celebrate. My prior research had shown that the best restaurant in Horsham was the Baa  3400. It was actually part of the International Hotel and the food was excellent. (I have no idea how this rural city can ever have an international hotel, but I guess there is a story somewhere that explains that). The menu was designed around shared plates and the staff even included a candle on our desert.