Coming to the end of this blog and the last day of our awesome trip. Definitely on the homeward

stretch now.

We stopped at Mt Wycheproof just so that we could say we'd been to the world's smallest mountain.

Looking out over the wheat and grain fields of the area.

1. "Mount Wycheproof is a mountain located in the small town of Wycheproof, Victoria, Australia. Standing at 43 metres above the surrounding terrain, Mount Wycheproof has the distinction of being the smallest registered mountain in the world. Wikipedia" It is 148 metres high. 

We stopped at the bottom of the hill to check out the two sculptures in the park.

 "The lumpers were  tough men who carried the full wheat sacks and the stacks that were the feature at nearly every railway station and siding in the district."

Our next stop was at Bridgewater for lunch after which we went our separate ways. Mark and I stopped to have a quick look at the Loddon River

From here we travelled home through the city travelling over the Bolte Bridge and on to Gippsland.

And now my story is at an end.

 Definitely on the homeward stretch now.Up early again with Mildura in sight, we detoured through the Clare Valley.

Clare is a very picturesque town and gives its name to the Clare Valley.
" The Clare Valley wine region continues within the same line of hills as the famous Barossa Valley, and also produces some excellent wine". Wikipedia.

 We stopped at the Sevenhill winery for some wine tasting. This is  where most of the altar wine is produced for the Catholic Church. It is also the oldest winery in the area.

 Sevenhill's celebrated old stone winery and cellar door, stately St Aloysius' Church, the College building, spacious gardens and the surrounding vineyards provide visitors with a memorable experience of a welcoming and tranquil place.

Sevenhill was established in 1851 when the Jesuits who settled in the area planted vines to produce sacramental wine. From these modest beginnings, the Jesuits' focus on wine has remained, with Sevenhill adding to its sacramental wine production with an extensive range of table wines that are highly regarded throughout Australia and overseas.

Sevenhill's reputation reflects a commitment to the creation of distinctive wines that express the authentic styles and flavours of the Clare Valley. Integral to this philosophy are our modern winemaking skills and highly prized vineyards that provide high-quality, estate-grown fruit, some of which is sourced from vines among the oldest in the Clare Valley.

As the only remaining Jesuit-owned winery in Australia, residing Jesuits are actively involved in Sevenhill's ongoing development in partnership with lay staff who share the ethos of building the Jesuit Mission to support works of charity and compassion throughout Australia. www.sevenhill.com.au

The local cat.

It seems Mary MacKillop also had a connection with the place.

We stepped inside the crypt. Still used, it is only for Jesuits who die whilst living here on the property at the time.

The Grotto was in lovely surroundings.

The Anglican Church at Saddleworth.

CURIO
Australia's most famous buckjumper

Written by Fred Hausler and printed in Rural Press

Australian race goers remember Phar Lap as the greatest of them all, and Garryowen is just as famous in the show ring, but when the men who battle the buckjumpers gather to discuss the best that ever was, a little strawberry roan mare's raw courage and talent places her well above all others in the hall of fame. Anyone who saw Keith steven's famous photo of the first time Curio was ever ridden wondered how Alan Woods ever managed to get back in the saddle.

The statue of Curio is to be found in Marrabel.

Still a number of deserted homesteads to be seen.

Abandoned building at Eudunda.
The well known author, Colin Thiele, was born here.

"Colin Thiele, one of Australia’s most prolific, distinguished, popular writers and renowned children’s author was born in Eudunda, South Australia. One of his best known books was “Storm Boy”, he had around 90 books published in his life time from fiction, drama, poetry, history , prose, environmental and educational. His first books was “The sun of the Stubble” in 1961 was commended by the Miles Franklin Judges. In his books he often described life in rural Australia and several of his books have been made into TV Series and also into movies. " http://www.equitainment.com.au/

 Various views of the streets of Eudunda. 

A quick look around the place and we were off to Mildura for our last night.

On our way out of Coober Pedy that Tuesday, we stopped to look at the damage caused by the strong winds from last week. This was the same storm that hit us when we were at Uluru. We had stayed at this caravan park on a previous visit.

The windmill at Glendambo.

 Lake Hart is on Woomera Rocket Range. It is part of the Lake Eyre basin and a
popular place to stop on the Sturt Highway.
We had to cross the Ghan railway track so that we could walk out onto the lake.

The Sturt Highway is also known as the Explorer Highway and in true explorer style,we soon turned off the highway and headed past Woomera and on towards Andamooka

. Power lines stretched away into the distance
 leading us on to our destination.

We passed the ruins of an old homestead and had to give way to several emu families crossing the road, finally arriving at Andamooka..

The opal mining township of Andamooka is one of the world's major sources of precious opal.

Today, with a population of around 850 Andamooka hosts a rich assembly of nationalities that live and work together in an environment that outsiders may consider harsh and resembling a ‘moonscape'. To local residents however, this is the ideal place to live, uncluttered and free of bureaucracy and hassles of city life.

Opal is still being found at Andamooka, though less than it was. There are still a variety of things for visitors to do. You can tour the opal fields, absorb the history, noodle among the dumps, tour an underground house or visit one of the many opal showrooms and buy directly from the miner or the cutter, thereby eliminating the middle man.  (andamooka.sa.au)

The remains of the early miners still exist today with the Historical Cottages in the main street, which are open for tourists all year round with free entry. The semi-dugouts are unique to Andamooka and unlike underground homes found in other parts of Australia due to a high clay content in the soil, making it unsafe for large areas to be excavated.

They are also good examples of early permanent accommodation for miners working the Andamooka fields. Architecturally the residences are significant because they epitomise early mining life in form, layout and construction techniques. The Historical Cottages are listed on the National Heritage Register. (andamooka.sa.au)

 

Inside Perry's kitchen.

This cottage belonged to Jack Absalom's father.

Andamooka is a long way from anywhere!

These are outside the information centre at Roxby Downs.

Roxby Downs was our next stop. As it was getting late,we toyed with the idea of staying the night but in the end the decision was made to continue on to Port Augusta. We had a very long drive ahead of us .

We stopped briefly at Spud's Roadhouse,Pimba,
for drinks and snacks with it's collections of
badges and number plates.

There was still alot to see...emus crossing, a long goods train and another salt lake.

 We finally arrived at Port Augusta around 8 pm. We were booked into cabins but after seeing them we quickly opted out. The management had people, friends we presumed, staying in them and as soon as we arrived they kicked them out and proceeded to put fresh sheets on the beds. We found a nice clean motel to stay in further down the road.