Granite Country

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Wudinna is the heart of granite country. There are several rocky outcrops to climb including, nearby to Wattle Grove Rock, Mt. Wudinna. Rising 261m above ground it is the 2^nd largest monolith in Australia. Not as grand in scale as Uluru but impressive all the same. Its slopes are very steep – too steep for our old legs – so we settled on a climb up Polda Rock. The 360o view from the top was well worth the effort; as John declared it was definitely a W-WAL (well worth a look).







Not too far from Wattle Grove is the granite quarry. It was quite visible from the road but we thought a closer inspection was warranted until the sign on the gate quite firmly told us entry was to authorised vehicles only. Bother! Problem solved though by using the telescopic lens and we could easily make out the sharp cut lines in the huge rock and the chunks of pink granite sitting to one side. If we weren’t sure what lay beyond, the massive slab at the entrance gate to the quarry left us in no doubt.







In town there is a memorial named “Austalian Farmer” – it is an iconic sculpture crafted from 2 slabs of pink granite that stands 9m tall. We got to speak to a few locals who were working at the memorial – they are very proud of the monument and are currently in the throes of improving tourist information and amenities in the adjacent area. All of this is community driven, not council. They are making use of some drought relief funding and financial input from district ratepayers to make their little town more appealing to residents and travellers alike.

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