South Australia

Top is the town of Crystal Brook. It’s a delightful little town with some grand houses. We rode into the town this morning and had a coffee at a mobile cart. The buildings in the Main Street are substantial so it must have been a wealthy settlement in the past. The Main Street is very wide with buildings/footpath/parking/roadway/gardens and park/street/parking/ footpath and more buildings. 

Next we drove into the city of Port Pirie. It was established as a fishing port and then export hub for grain and Silver, lead and Zinc from the BHP mines at Broken Hill. There is a lead smelter ( see middle blip) which has been the main industry since 1889. They say not to drink the water as it contains too much lead. It’s not a bad place but no where as appealing as Crystal Brook.

The lower image shows the flat coastal plain and beginning of the Flinders Ranges which continue north for many hundreds of kilometres. 

Our little van park is on the dry Crystal Brook. There are Hans Heysen type gum trees lining the water course and there is a golf course across the paddock ( looks a bit dry and rough). We  keep changing our itinerary and have rebooked for another night here. There is heavy rain and wind predicted over the  next few days so our planned trip to a national park and walking trails has been postponed. It’s no fun driving in the wind and rain if you can avoid it.