Hi to all from beautiful downtown ORROROO. 

When I last spoke to you we still had a couple of days to go at Port Hughes and we still had one more exciting area to explore.  It was with much trepidation that we headed off to explore the eastern side of the Yorke Peninsula.  We had to go through the exciting town of Maitland on this journey, but, as you may recall, we had already seen all of the tourist attractions on our last visit.  Just to remind you though, no tourist attractions. 

At last we found the small coastal settlement of Port Vincent.  This was a very pleasant LITTLE town with only about 10 shops and a caravan park.  It was right on the ocean, with a lovely little bay protecting it from the really rough weather.  A lot of new houses were actually being built here, surrounding a new marina.  Checked out the Real Estate Agents and house prices were very high for what you got.  Nothing to really see except the pretty little bay and nice beach. 

From there it was off to Ardrosson.  We had high expectations of this place as it was in the biggest print in the tourist guides.  The biggest shopping precinct on the east side of the peninsula.  Yeh sure.  I will concede that it did have 2 bakeries, a supermarket, a part time bank in the newsagency and 2 hardware stores about 4 doors from each other.  Apart from that, they had a huge grain silo on the wharf that was actually loading grain onto a ship in the harbour.  Because of this, the wharf was closed to visitors.  Of course it would be. 

 

We had just about had enough excitement so we consulted the ever reliable tourist guidebook and there it was, just like a beacon, the town of Dowlingville.  How could we possibly pass up on this chance.  The GPS struggled to find the town but with my capable navigator we headed in the general direction.  I must have blinked at one stage as we had obviously missed the town, so it was a U turn and turned down a little gravel road and there it was, the Dowlingville church.  There was nothing else in the area, not even a house, so this church is obviously a place of great significance as it has its own place on the map.  After that it was back to the van for a well earned rest.

Dowlingville Uniting Church

We finished up in Port Hughes on the Sunday and before I left I had to get at least one more photo of the beautiful sunset and the lights on the pier.  I think it came out great.  Also could not resist getting a photo of a pelican as it flew off from a street light just down from our van.

It was now time to head off to our new residence at ORROROO.  What a great sounding name.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get here and it is only a very little caravan park with crushed gravel as its base.  Over the next couple of days it was amazing just how many caravans come in between 2 and 3pm and just stay the night and be gone by 9 next morning.  On Monday about 8 vans all came in between those times. 

The town has probably only about 10 shops and I think the population is about 500.  On the entry to the town there is a bit of modern art in the forms of 4 kangaroos and at the other end of the town there were 2 horses.  They are really great and so well done.  They are made out of corrugated iron and a close inspection shows how great they are.  The horses even have heads that nod in the wind.  Really well done.

Our 2nd day here we headed off towards the town of Peterborough.  On the way we stopped at a place called Magnetic Hill.  This is about 15 k's out of the town and it is one of those extraordinary places that you can park on the road with your car in neutral, and the car appears to roll UP the hill.  It is obviously just a bit of a visual mirage but we did it a couple of times, both in forward and rolling backwards and it is a very eerie feeling.  I know there is a similar place somewhere out past Macedon that does the same thing. 

Into Peterborough and there is a great sign at the entry to the town.  This town used to be the railway maintenance yards for the entire South Australian rail network.  We did a tour of the old disused yards and it was actually very interesting.  There used to be upwards of 100 trains every day using the lines, but now, that is down to about 8 trains a day.  The huge railway maintenance sheds are still there and they house some of the old steam trains and some of the old carriages.  No longer in use but a great part of history.  We had the lecture on the 3 different rail gauges that have operated over the years and were shown inside of some beautiful old railway carriages.  Very interesting talk but too long. 

Where do you want to go

Had a stroll around the town and checked out the town hall.  Inside is the centenary quilt.  This quilt is about double bed size and was made up by the local residents.  It is a great insight into the history of the town.  All of the local historical buildings and landmarks or on the quilt and there is a tutorial that guides you through the history as you look at the quilt.  After our history lesson it was time for a stroll around the town.  It is full of beautiful old buildings, with the Information centre being set up in the carriage of an old train.  Very novel but now time to head back home.

Come Tuesday morning and that dreaded rain has followed us again.  It poured over night but I have been assured by the park manager that the rain for the day has gone.  Sounds promising.

Time now to check out some of the local attractions, apart from the art.  Drove just out of town and checked out the BIG GUM TREE.  Gum Trees are nicknamed 'widow makers' as the branches fall off without warning.  This tree is actually quite huge.  It is believed to be over 500 years old and it is over 30 ft in circumference.  It is huge.  From there we headed off to the Lions club park where we set off for a stroll along a walking track towards the reservoir, in fine weather.

'Widow Makers'.  Get me out of here. 

 

After about 100 metres we came to our first exciting attraction; some aboriginal rock carvings.  We approached the fenced off enclosure with some excitement but alas, it was not all it claimed to be.  There were a few indentations in the rocks but nothing to write home about.  Sorry, no photo as my camera can only do so much.  We continued on with our exploration and I think the most exciting part was Deb trying to find the track after we had gone about 500 metres.  We had a river crossing and what would have been a waterfall crossing and somehow we managed to still find the reservoir.

Now where did that bloody track go???

The reservoir was very scenic but is not used by the town.  It normally has no water in it, but, due to lots of rain this year, it is nearly full.  The water is very brackish though and cant be used.  After leaving the reservoir we followed the track??? to another local attraction.  This was a couple of poems that had been carved into a rockface way back in the 1860's and they were actually really interesting.  It must have taken the author weeks and weeks to complete.

After leaving the poem site we were struck with a bit of a poser. The signpost for the now almost impossible to find track had been knocked out of the ground and we had no idea which way to go.  Being the intrepid travellers that we are we headed for high ground and yes, you guessed it, we went around in bloody circles for about half an hour.  And of course, just be add another level of excitement to the walk, it started bloody raining.  Yes, we got drenched.  At one stage we even did the 'I bought a jeep' shout, really, just hoping that there were other people lost as well as us.

And here comes the drenching rain. 

With our never say die attitude, we continued crashing through the undergrowth, by now dripping wet.  Ahah, what is that I see in the distance, yes, its the beloved jeep, and safety.  We crawled into the jeep and of course the first thing you have to do when you are rescued is to have a coffee, so it was into the café in town for a coffee.  At least it was warm in there and at least it felt like your wet clothes were drying out.

Back in the relative comfort of our van now and ready for a long drive tomorrow.  It is about 320 k's from here to Broken Hill so we will have to stop somewhere in the middle for a break. 

Will be in touch soon.

Barry and Deb.