Today marks the start of my return trip back home.
I had been following along the coast to get to Ceduna.
Today I turned inland.
Poochera was the first stop.
A lot of the towns on this road looked half abandoned. Whether it was because today was Saturday, or because the temperature was going to reach 40 degrees, there was not a lot of foot traffic around.
Poochera did have a couple of interesting things to look at.
The first was their big ant.
The dinosaur ants were first discovered in the region in 1977. This "statue" was built in 2019. This article from the ABC describes a dying town pinning their hopes on this to save their town. Given the lack of people around, I am not sure it has worked.
I also saw this mural around their museum. Mind you, you've got to look for it. It's not obvious from the road that it's here.
A lot of these towns along this stretch of road were like Poochera, clinging on to survival.
The next stop was not like that. Wudinna seemed to be a natural stopping point for travellers doing the inland route.
Their bakery was doing a roaring trade (pie review below).
 |
| Photo not representative of the busyness of this shop |
I liked their wood sculpture called "Gus".
Kimba, was lunch stop. This is the largest town on this road between Port Augusta and Ceduna, and has a special claim to fame.
That's right, it is half way point between the east and west coasts.
It also had some special art. The first was Silo Art that I would rate as some of the best I have seen so far.
 |
This is also one of the older ones, having been completed in 2017.
The other art is the large animal I saw.
Sorry, my attempt at a little joke. I think this is the Bundy Bear, and was in the dining room of the Kimba Pub.
Here is the real animal:
I had mentioned before that I love "big things", and it seems as though people like building big things in Australia. I am not sure if this is a thing in other countries.
As you would expect, somebody has compiled a guide to all the big things in Australia. You can find it here.
Did I print these lists off, bind them and then check them off when I see one, complete with a photo as evidence?
Possibly.
Here are a couple more of the Big Gallah.
The driving today has been on the difficult side. I lost count of the number of road trains that I passed; easily 200+.
The rising heat and accompanying wind swirls also made driving a bit of a challenge.
After I arrived in Whyalla (here for the next couple of nights) the wind really picked up. After the temperature peaked at 40 degrees the wind direction changed suddenly and turned a hot afternoon into a mild afternoon. A mild, but very windy afternoon.
I'll have a decent look around tomorrow.
PIE REVIEW
I am back in the land of reasonably priced pies, as the Wudinna Bakery was charging $5.50 for all pies.
Trying not to double up on fillings I chose a straight mince and cheese.
This pie is going to feature high on my rankings, I think. The pie was a decent size, the meat was well seasoned and had good balance between the meat and the cheese.
Podcast of the Day: A Rational Fear - Direct from COP29: The juicy gossip and a beached whale.
- I have only recently started to listen to this podcast. Dan Illic is the main presenter and he had a discussion with a couple of attendees at COP29 in Azerbaijan, Linh Do and Richie Merzian. Not knowing too much about this event, I was brought up to date in an informative and entertaining way.
Total km travelled: 3,804
No comments:
Post a Comment