Burra

Friday 18 May

We finally arrived at Burra by lunchtime to meet up with the Camper Trailer Group at Princess Royal Station. The property began life as a copper mining enterprise in 1845 and is now a conglomeration of several properties, totalling 21 700 acres. It now specialises in producing beef and has several feedlots. There is a magnificent old homestead on the property, surrounded by mature trees, so is extremely difficult to photograph.

Sunset at Princess Royal Station

Early morning at Princess Royal

Saturday 19 May

Today we toured Burra, exploring its mining heritage. Copper mining saved the South Australian  government from bankruptcy. Although copper is no longer mined there, the past wealth is evident in the buildings. Due to a timber shortage all the buildings are made of stone, fences are dry stone wall construction. There are some impressive buildings, many still standing but others are in ruins. One of the most impressive landmarks is the monster mine site, now open cut, but it was originally tunnelling underground, to significant depths. The remaining pit is one of the southern hemisphere’s deep sea diving training sites.

Old mine chimney in Burra

Old mine now used for diving training

Disused Court House

Paxtons Row miners cottages in Burra

Old miners' dugouts in the creek bed for those who couldn't afford housing

On Sunday we took a trip to Redbanks, a nature reserve about 15km from Burra. It takes its name from the magnificent red banks of the Creek which runs through the reserve. In the eroded banks were found fossilised skeletons of megafauna. The Landscapes of Change 5 km bushwalk was fairly easy except for a steep pinch, but the view from the top revealed hidden waterholes along the creek. There are massive eroded gullies, up to 10 metres deep.

Water hole in Burra Creek at Redbanks

Mulga parrots, Redbanks

Deeply eroded gullies, Redbanks

The red banks that give the area its name

A very healthy prickly pear bush, laden with fruit, in a garden in Burra

The weekend at Burra was very enjoyable meeting other members of the Camper Trailers Group from South Australia and Victoria – good food, warm campfires and great company.

Sydney to Burra

Tuesday 15 May

We set off, not quite as early as planned, with the goal of reaching somewhere near Griffith. We stopped at Lithgow Macdonalds for a late morning tea, and met David’s cousin Daph there – totally by chance.  Next stop Bathurst to attend to squealing brake shoes on the camper – not happy. We abandoned our original plan to reach Griffith  and stayed very virtuously at Holy Campground in the Weddin Mountains National Park near Grenfell. This area was the haunt of the bushranger Ben Hall, but thankfully his ghost was quiet as we were the only people camped there.

Lunch at Cowra

Bembrick Oval, Grenfell

Holy Campground, Weddin Mountains National Park 

Wednesday 16 May

Our next stop was 50km west of Hay at the village of Maude. We had planned to free camp, but the campground next to Maude Hotel had more appeal to the driver, and for $10 and excellent showers it was worth it. Maude is on the Murrumbidgee River and we collected lots of driftwood from the recent floods which made an excellent campfire.

Downtown Maude

The Murrumbidgee River at Maude

Roadworks on the Hay Plain

Thursday 17 May

Today we crossed briefly into Victoria at Mildura, then into South Australia near Renmark. We stayed overnight at a locality named Overland Corner, camped by the Murray River at Herons Point.  We arrived in the dark not realising we were so close to the river – less than 50 metres.

There is a historic hotel at Overland Corner built in the 1850s. It was from here that John McDouall Stuart procured his horses for his expedition which was the first to cross the continent from south to north in 1860. There is a campground behind this hotel, but it was closed because of the floodwaters in the Murray.

The Murray River at Mildura

Lake Bonney near Renmark

Overland Corner Hotel

Our camp in the background quite close to the Murray

Breakfast in cool winter weather

Hi everyone,

The Wilkos are off on their next trip - this time in Australia. We are starting the trip with a Camper Trailer Group meet in Burra in South Australia on May 18-20 and plan to be away for 3 months. Our planned route is below, but anything can happen.

Our first stop after Burra is the Flinders Ranges. The last time we were there was in 1977 when we took a group of schoolkids from Narrabri, and our own children were 5 and 3.

I expect this time we will have a bit more flexibility in  what we see and do.

Anyway, if you want to follow our travels, fill in the email link above.