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

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.