Tag: South Australia

R: Road Trains

inspiringmax

For anyone who has ever seen a road train they are essentially very huge trucks. They carry freight on the highways especially in Australia’s outback. Previously these goods may have been carried on trains but over the years the railroads have been closed.

There are many different combinations of road trains. They can have up to 7 trailers attached and can be up to 54 metres in length. This makes overtaking them very dangerous. Our experience was that road train drivers would help guide smaller faster cars to overtake if it was safe to over take by pulling over. We however would do the opposite. Our slide on is heavy and slow so we would pull over to help the road trains overtake us. Due to their sizes they are not allowed on all roads and it was not unusual for car parks to hold the trailers if the road trains needed to go into an area where the road rules didn’t allow the complete structure.

On our travels the longest road train we saw was 50 metres. I was so surprised I took a photo. During our trip to South Australia and the Nullabor we saw so many road trains that it was easy to see why people say that without trucks Australia stops.

Q: Quandongs

inspiringmax

These plants are found in the semi arid deserts in South Australia. Also called wild peaches, they are native to Australia.

When we were in South Australia we were very happy to find some bushes that were also bearing fruit. I had always wanted to try quandongs. Unfortunately, I still haven’t tried a fresh one as I left the ones I saw on the tree for others to enjoy seeing. I did have a quandong pie and quandong jam on scones. I didn’t find any roasted quandong nuts to try. It turns out the quandong is an very versatile fruit with edible fruits and nuts(seeds). We also found some quandong jam and quandong chutney to bring home with us.

P: Penong – Windmill Museum

inspiringmax

Penong is a small town on the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. For years it was known for its windmills due to the number of farms around that used windmills to pump their water. However, over the years technology changed the farming landscape. The windmills were no longer required. As the windmills dropped off so did the tourists who previously would stop, look st them and spend money in the town.

In order to attract the tourists back, the locals created a free outdoor windmill museum. It’s very interesting. The windmills come in all shapes and sizes. During the creation stage the locals were lucky enough to find a broken down 35ft Comet windmill. It was one of the biggest in Australia and they were able to restore it to working order. Big Bruce now stands pride of place in the windmill museum. I was surprised that windmills came in so many shapes and sizes and were able to do so many different jobs.

O: Old National Cash Register

inspiringmax

We found this beautiful old cash register while exploring Streaky Bay. It was made in 1907 and was used until Australia changed to decimal currency in 1966. I had never seen anything like it.

It had nine cash drawers and a storage cupboard at the front. Each drawer has a different bell tone when it opens. It has keys which list how many customers have been served, the money received, paid out or charged.

I love that it continues to be on display for future generations to admire.

N: Nullarbor Plain

inspiringmax

The Nullarbor Plain connects Eastern and Western Australia. Starting at Ceduna, South Australia and finishes at Norseman, Western Australia it is an almost treeless straight drive. In fact, I believe Nullarbor means treeless plain.

It has many free camps spots and everyone is discouraged from driving at night. This is due to the danger of animals crossing the road. The road that crosses the Nullarbor Plain is called the Eyre Highway and is the longest straight stretch of road in the world. (146 kilometres.)

When I was a teenager I drove with my family on the old highway just after it was fully sealed. I remember being fascinated by the straight road. Back in the late 1970’s people didn’t travel like they do today, so we were often the only ones using the road. To entertain ourselves we drove on the wrong side of the road for as long as we could. These days it is so busy. If you are lucky, you can quickly run into the middle of the road to take a photo – that’s it. The photos below are of the original Nullabarbor Roadhouse’s buildings the ones I visited as a child. Of course on the same site are modernised buildings.

The Nullarbor Links Golf Course is the longest in the world. It is an 18 hole par 72 course that covers 1365 kilometres (850 miles) from South Australia to Western Australia. It is on my husband and my bucket when we drive the whole way across. Last time we stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

L: Lion 360 Degrees

inspiringmax

At Montaro Zoo we gave ourselves a special treat. We joined the Lion 360 degrees tour. This bus tour took us into the lioness enclosure to watch them being feed. We stood under a metal dome. We had 100% access to all the lioness who came up for a feed. Some of our fellow travellers were lucky enough to experience hand feeding them, although to be honest I still haven’t decided if I’m not sure what my answer would have been had I been asked.

Watching them play and eat was amazing. They seemed to enjoy our company and sometimes seemed to play up just for our cameras.

After the feeding we were taken on tour of the lioness and lion cub enclosure. It is a very large space. In the wild lions don’t eat everyday so not all of them come up for a feed daily. They were in various groups and I loved seeing the cubs playing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

K: Kimba

inspiringmax

Kimba is a small country town that is the half way point from Sydney to Perth. For our overseas visitors that is exactly the middle of Australia. It is also only a few hours from Adelaide, another Australian capital city. The towns folk in Kimba are very entrepreneurial. To help bring people to the town they have created Australia’s best free RV camp. As voted by those using it. They have also built a medical centre complete with housing to encourage a doctor to the town. They even advertised on Sunrise. A popular national morning TV show in Australia.

When we were travelling through we didn’t get to spend much time in the town but the camp was amazing. We look forward to staying a few days next time we are travelling to the west coast of Australia. The Big Galah and other sculptures at the Kimba roadhouse were fun.

J: Edward John Eyres Sculpures

inspiringmax

Today I have gone slightly off script as I have looked for a straight J word for over month and came up with nothing. Therefore I have used the blogging trick of having a J in his name.

Edward John Eyres and his aboriginal companion Wylie was the first European to explore the interior of South Australia. They explored the area around the Flinders Rangers s well as The Great Australian Bight and Nullarbor Plain.

This sculpture to celebrate them is very striking and overlooks the lands that they once explored. They can be found at Whites Knob Lookout outside of Kimba.

The Eyre Peninsula and Lake Eyre in South Australia are also named in his honour.

This area is very arid, lacks water and has extremes in temperatures so it would have been hard work to explore.

H: HMAS Whyalla

inspiringmax

One of the first tours we took on our trip to South Australia was of the HMAS Whyalla. The Whyalla was the first ship built at Wyalla’s shipyards in 1941. It was one of 66 ships built in Whyalla and one of 4 Bathurst corvettes built for the second World War. Whyalla, South Australia has a steel works which made ship building easy. After the war the HMAS Whyalla was sold to Victorian Public Works and became the Rip and spent 38 years working as a lights maintenance ship. In 1984, she was sold to Whyalla City Council to become the centre piece of the Visitors Information Centre and Maritme Museum.

Photo credit: Google Images

Nobody would have thought that 46 years after her birth on the Whyalla slipway, the HMAS Whyalla would go back up the same slipway as she began her journey to her new home. Moving the Whyalla however didn’t go according to plan and became an engineering feat initself. It took major planning, problem solving and machinery to finally complete the task. The teams were given many sleepless nights and in the end according to the following documentary it took 220 tonnes of trailers, 328 wheels assisted by 2 prime movers to take her the 2 kilometres from the slipway to her final resting place 2 metres above the ground.

https://youtu.be/L4CAlQU_PV0

The HMAS Whyalla has now been restored back to her former glory as a WW2 corvette. Our tour guide was amazing and she was filled with interesting facts about the ship. I was fascinated to see what life on board would have been like for the young sailors. It was definitely a unique experience and worth staying the weekend in Whyalla to see. The Maritime Museum is on site as well and was also very interesting covering all of the areas varied maritime history.

I loved that they have used the ships chain and anchors in the garden area.

G: Great Australian Bight

inspiringmax

The Great Australian Bight is the southern most area of land in mainland Australia. It runs from west of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia to Western Australia. The area is made up of limestone cliffs, 60-120 metres high just off the Nullarbor Plain. The cliffs are about 820 kilometres in length and are said to be the longest cliffs in the world.

The following photos of the Great Australian Bight were taken at Head of Bight. This is the most northerly point of the Great Australian Bight. There is an amazing whale watching centre there for both Southern Right Whales as well as Humpback Whales. The Southern Right Whales come into this bay to have their babies and then stay around to months as the babies grow and develop. Unfortunately for us, we missed the last mum and calf by a day. Whilst this was very disappointing I am sure you will agree that the views of the Great Australian Bight were definitely worth the trip.