32 Yorke Peninsula 30 april

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Finally, finally tore ourselves away from the sirens of Mollydooker. We could never work there – we’d drink our wages and more! Forgot to mention that they have got 99 points (twice) from Robert Parker (USA wine guru) for their top wine and we can finally get some wines from Fine Wine Co. ALL their wines that are exported to the States have got 90 or above. Really big wines, not your (thin) Bordeaux style. Everyone here is frightingly perfectionist and achieving great results. When we last visited, we learned a lot about viticulture and winemaking and learned even more this time, but we still know nothing!! We left with a dozen under the bed! We can’t thank Leigh and Janet enough.

Before we left, drove up to Adelaide and played Royal Adelaide. Don won, so is back to 2 up. Initials are RAGC, so we felt at home. Founded in 1892, so 2 years older than Middlemore. Unusual feature is an active railway line through the middle of the course.

Finally left McLaren Vale on the 24^th and drove around the Gulf of St Vincent to Edithburgh, where we got a great site overlooking the Gulf. About 100km as the pelican flies, but 280km by road. As always, straight and vacant is the best description for the roads. Edithburgh is a great spot to explore the Innes National Park at the tip of the peninsula, also other villages such as Pt Turton and Yorketown. Pattie noticed that all the mobility scooters were maroon, and from then on they were everywhere! Not only that, we saw some maroon 4wds driven by old people (older than us anyway). Trend here?

After 3 days we moved up peninsula to Port Hughes, near Moonta. Again we scored a lovely campsite overlooking the sea. We went to the markets in Moonta, not the best, but to be expected as they only hold it once a month. We are at the base of what is called the “Copper Triangle” as there is a history of mining copper in the area. Guess what, when they found copper, they imported Cornish miners to dig it out.

The whole peninsula is pretty flat and they grow cereal crops, wheat and barley mostly, when they get enough rain to plant. As the rain comes only in the winter, and not much of it (200 – 300mm a year) the whole area looks pretty flat, grey and bleak at the moment. But there are some farmers working up their paddocks and there’s lots of activity. Because rain only falls in significant amounts in July, August and September, all the crops are sown in autumn and harvested in spring.

When the peninsula was settled, most allotments were about 600 acres. The land was covered in Malle scrub, a gum version of titree. This was cleared by crushing and burning, which left lots of stumps, so a farmer developed the stump jump plough.

As there was no millable timber at all on the peninsula, buildings were built of stone. As economics changed, and farmed merged, there are lots of decrepit old building around, very picturesque. Every town we went through or to has a display of old farm machinery and farmer inventions, and a lot of tourist attractions have a pile of machinery outside. When we look at the farms, there are boilers and other bits and pieces lying around everywhere. The mechanization has been huge. Now when we come across a farmer towing a piece of machinery along the road, we have to get right off the seal to get past.

Today, we have gone right up to Port Augusta at the head of the Spencer Gulf and down to Whyalla on the Eyre Peninsula. We would have been here earlier, but for the need to travel back to NZ to surprise someone special for her 40^th birthday.

Scroll down past the ads, etc for more photos.

PandD

30 April 2012

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Photos

Pattie & Janet
Girl talk

At the farm
Not in any order - George, Leigh, Janet Pattie & Don

A busy day
Mollie - as in Mollydooker

Old & New
Near Innes Nat Park

Lime Kiln
About 100 years old

Wheat silos
Wool Bay, maybe barley or canola or....

Tough life
Camp at Port Hughes