We arrived here today after leaving Ceduna on Tuesday morning. After leaving Ceduna we headed along the Eyre Highway and for once it was not windy. You do get a bit sick of the wind that we seemed to have on most days driving along the coast.
After travelling about 170 k's we reached the tiny town of Minippa. We took a quick left and ventured down a dirt road for about 16 klms before reaching what is called Pildappa Rock. This is a huge granite dome, similar in looks to Ayers Rock but about a hundred times smaller. There are big pits down the side of the rock where the water escapes as well as dozens of rock pools on top of the rock. Yes, that right, Deb and myself got up on top of the rock. Doesn't look too big really until you are on top.
What makes this rock so interesting is that the sides have formed, over thousands of years, into wave like faces. There is a similar rock in Western Australia, funnily enough called 'wave rock' but from the photos I have seen, this one is not far behind it. Of course there is a geographical reason why this wave formation has occurred, and I have a photo of the information board if you would like.
This area is set up as a free camp for travellers, with a bbq, undercover tables and chairs and a long drop toilet. Pretty good, apart from the gross toilet, for free. No power or water is available though so it would be pretty cold without a heater.
Another 35 odd k's down the road we came to the town of Wudina. In the main street is a huge granite sculpture, in stylised form, with different sides depicting man, woman, wheat, sheep and children. The artist was Marijan Bekic, from Croatia and she has done a fantastic job. It probably stands 10 to 12 foot tall and is dedicated to the Farmer.
Our overnight stop was in a farming community of Kimba. Our first stop here was at the silos to check out the Silo Art. The magnificent artwork was completed in 2017 and it now holds its place amongst some other great artworks in the Silo Trail. This has really taken off in Australia, with dozens of silos across most states now showing these great works of art. This painting, across 7 silos is just awesome. The artist was from Melbourne, Cam Scale, and it took him 26 days and he used 200 litres of paint. We have seen one in progress and most of the work is done from the platform of a cherry picker. Great to watch.
Also holding pride of place in Kimba is THE BIG GALAH. It is 8 metres tall and was erected in 1993. It has been erected outside a local bakery and whilst we were there, another 3 lots of caravanners turned up to take photos. A definite drawcard for followers of THE BIG phenomenon.
Our next stop in our tour of discovery was at the local showgrounds and free camp. They have a huge mural across one of the sheds depicting country life. It was painted by artists John Turpie and Siv Grava, assisted by local students, teachers and the art group. It was unveiled in 2001 and is in great condition.
No blog is complete without a history lesson so we ventured up to the Statues of explorer Edward Eyre and an indigenous guide. In 1838 he led an expedition of this area, starting out in Streaky Bay.
The main problem that the party encountered was the lack of water and tough terrain. This expedition failed and they returned to Adelaide with their tails between their legs. In 1841 he arranged for another expedition in an attempt to explore beyond the Great Australian Bite along the coast but fell into the same trouble. Half of the party died, along with horses, through lack of water. Not to be denied, he got further supplies from a whaling vessel, luckily in harbour at the time, and continued his expedition to as far as what is now Albany. Pretty gutsy really.
After a restful sleep, where the temperature outside was about 2C, we headed off. Of course we had to stop in Port Augusta for our customary coffee. Couldn't help snapping a pretty cool statue of a past mayor sitting in the park having a coffee. A woman after my own heart. From Port Augusta it was full steam ahead to Hawker.
That's all for now. We will be staying here for 3 days so more for you later.
Barry and Deb.
No comments:
Post a Comment