After 2 weeks at the Port Augusta sports club camp ground it's time to move on.
After a fortnight of indecision we have finally firmly decided to go up to Darwin ( for now ) and then across to Queensland
Sorry to be leaving the French Hot Bread shop as their produce was superb as was the pricing. As usual it is Asian owned (as are most of them) I guess it is the French influence in Viet Nam.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Port Pirie
Had the computer looked at whilst in Broken Hill and the "fixer"omitted to put the antivirus software back on so I ran into a fistfull of viruses, didn't I? Hence the reason for no posts for so long.
Headed up through Port Wakefield after Easter and then over to Wallaroo where we camped at the old wheat truck marshelling area just on the edge of town. Then to Moonta, staying at the Port Hughes boat ramp.
From there down to Minlaton and onto Warooka, taking sidetrips to check out Innes national park and Corny point (well named)
Then back up through Ardrossen to Port Pirie.
Found the peninsula generally fairly uninteresting bar some of the history and the huge expances of cereal crops. Pirie on the other hand is a thriving, go-ahead city.
Watched a ship dock at the smelter wharf today. It had to negotiate the long channel off The Spencer Gulf and turn around with the aid of 2 tugs
e parked at a local council gravel dump which is well situated, level, dry and quiet. However anyone looking for a parking spot should try asking the locals where "the bridge to nowhere" is and pick your spot anywhere over the other side of that.
Last night we tried "Barnacle Bill's" seafood restaurant which is something of a local icon. Seafood was great without being pricy and so was the salad bar.
Stayed an extra day to do a tour of the smelter. Unfortunately it was from the windows of a small bus and photos weren't allowed,but we got the general idea. the process is so complex and on a huge scale. It's the biggest smelter in the world. The smokestack is over 200 metres tall.
In the old days Port Pirie was a really dirty place but the smelter owners have cleaned up their act and now it's very clean.
Headed up through Port Wakefield after Easter and then over to Wallaroo where we camped at the old wheat truck marshelling area just on the edge of town. Then to Moonta, staying at the Port Hughes boat ramp.
From there down to Minlaton and onto Warooka, taking sidetrips to check out Innes national park and Corny point (well named)
Then back up through Ardrossen to Port Pirie.
Found the peninsula generally fairly uninteresting bar some of the history and the huge expances of cereal crops. Pirie on the other hand is a thriving, go-ahead city.
Watched a ship dock at the smelter wharf today. It had to negotiate the long channel off The Spencer Gulf and turn around with the aid of 2 tugs
 |
| Creeping up the Channel |
 |
| Full Astern! |
 |
| Pushing... |
 |
| Turning... |
 |
| Turning... |
 |
| Lining up |
 |
| Pushing.... |
 |
| Pushing..... |
 |
| Docking |
e parked at a local council gravel dump which is well situated, level, dry and quiet. However anyone looking for a parking spot should try asking the locals where "the bridge to nowhere" is and pick your spot anywhere over the other side of that.
Last night we tried "Barnacle Bill's" seafood restaurant which is something of a local icon. Seafood was great without being pricy and so was the salad bar.
Stayed an extra day to do a tour of the smelter. Unfortunately it was from the windows of a small bus and photos weren't allowed,but we got the general idea. the process is so complex and on a huge scale. It's the biggest smelter in the world. The smokestack is over 200 metres tall.
In the old days Port Pirie was a really dirty place but the smelter owners have cleaned up their act and now it's very clean.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Port Augusta
Moved up to the head of Spencer gulf at Port Augusta on on Friday and headed straight for the sporting club at the edge of town where Barry and Jill whom we had first met at Port Macquarie had been camped for a week on their way to Darwin
It's a good setup where the club controls the ground for self-contained vehicles at nominal rental.
There are a lot of vehicles coming and going every day.
Port Augusta is a junction of north,south,east and west. The traffic to Darwin and Perth must all pass through.
Everyone had dinner in the club Friday night. Huge meals really cheap.
Great weather for the first few days but it closed in on Saturday evening and began to rain with the wind gusting heavily.
The take-up rate in this campground is huge. Every night it is packed to capacity and once it got to the stage where 4 motorhomes were in the carpark and another 3 on the broad verge outside the fence.
Had a great time with Barry and Jill so were sad when they moved on after a week heading north..
A couple named Ian and Susan camped next to us. We shared a barbq and card games with them which was totally enjoyable. This ground has a great spirit with a level of friendliness not always experienced in other places.
It's a good setup where the club controls the ground for self-contained vehicles at nominal rental.
There are a lot of vehicles coming and going every day.
Port Augusta is a junction of north,south,east and west. The traffic to Darwin and Perth must all pass through.
Everyone had dinner in the club Friday night. Huge meals really cheap.
Great weather for the first few days but it closed in on Saturday evening and began to rain with the wind gusting heavily.
The take-up rate in this campground is huge. Every night it is packed to capacity and once it got to the stage where 4 motorhomes were in the carpark and another 3 on the broad verge outside the fence.
Had a great time with Barry and Jill so were sad when they moved on after a week heading north..
Barry and Jill
Much of our time here was spent working on the bus with little jobs.
Had met a couple at the Port Macquarie Rally who were selling led lamps and when they turned up here we bought some and fitted them.They were really needed in the engine bay.A couple named Ian and Susan camped next to us. We shared a barbq and card games with them which was totally enjoyable. This ground has a great spirit with a level of friendliness not always experienced in other places.
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