Travels with Virgil

To get the subject out of the way first.  Frances has borrowed a talking book of the Aeneid from the library and gave it a whirl today as we drove along.  I am not a fan: I don't really like talking bools in general as this was very hard to follow with a lot of forced rhymes.  Perhaps it is because the translator (John Dryden) is from the 17th Century or perhaps it is my lack of knowledge.  We got through 4 'books' in about an hour and a half: only 8 more to go!

We woke just before 5am and packed efficiently so were on the road by 5:30.  Still very dark.  Once we got too the Sturt Highway I started to relax about 'roo-risk although there were heaps of bunnies beside, and occasionally running across, the road.  We didn't see a single truck for the first 40 km.  The sun came up as we neared Renmark probably about 6:45.

The State border was crossed and the car inspected for fruit with no grief.  The lack of grief is because Frances handles that: there are checkpoints on three roads but not on the many other roads that enter SA so I think it is just a farce providing employment for people in economically challenged towns!We rumbled on, looking for an orange stall but found none.

After Renmark the road signage was interesting with a couple of necessary turns off the main drag surprising me.   To my great surprise we had quite a lot of drizzle on the stretch from Renmark to Burra: as most of this route is close to, if not beyond Goyders Line rain is not what is expected.  (The line marks the limit of arable land and is named after an early Surveyor - the road is also named after him.)  As we drew closer to the Hills quite a few kangaroos were standing in in the road, but we avoided them all.

As we got into the Hills a comfort stop as taken at Gulnare.  This was at the oval which had reasonable facilities but very little grass.  Not sure I'd fancy playing footy on that.

We popped out on Highway one and proceeded North.  The hills (lower Flinders Ranges) were quite impressive as was a very long train.  There were a few bits of roadworks (with limits of 40kph  but no work being done on a Sunday).

 After Port Germein views of the Gulf, and the Hills.

In the next image, note pipeline, which is I suspect carrying water from Morgan to Whyalla, and particularly the light in the sky which is at this stage about 20km away..

It isn't a UFO but part of the Sundrop vegetable farm.  This uses 23,000 mirrors to capture solar energy to heat or cool glass houses and to desalinate water from the Gulf.  One product is tomatoes for sale to/by Coles.  This is a much closer view.

In Port Augusta we crossed the tip of Spencer Gulf ...

... and shortly afterwards the Port Augusta Golf Course, graced with a family of emus.

This image of our fuel consumption display is interesting in showing the trip from Wentworth to Burra (flat line), crossing the ranges, spiky, and then another flat for the stretch from Crystal Brook to Port Augusta.  (It continued to flatline to Port Lincoln.)

Frances took over driving just North of Cowell so I am to blame for the next few images. In Southern Australia the dominant architectural feature of most small towns is the grain silos.  These are at Cowell.

Here is the oval at Arno Bay.  Contrast it with the one at Gulnare above.  I doubt if they will be visible but there was a huge flock of Galahs feeding on the oval - they may appear in the bottom right of the image.

The farms out here are pretty big: so are the tractors.

The roads aren't that big, but they are straight. As indeed they have been pretty much since Wagga: at one point East of Renmark I recorded 8.2km dead straight - very attractive in the dark with spotlights illuminating the guideposts for about 1.5 kilometres - then a slight bend followed by 10.6 km straight.  And so forth.

When I talk about the silos dominating the town, here are the ones at Tumby Bay, just before the 10km marker.

So we dodged Port Lincoln itself  and trundled up the West side of the Peninsula  few kilometres to our accommodation at Dutton Bay.  These Sooty Oystercatchers were about 20m from the house.

Here is a view across Dutton Bay.

This is the Northern tip of the little island just as evening comes in.  I estimated about 125 Little Pied Cormorants and 10 Black-faced Cormorants (and in the better light of morning found some Pied Cormorants also.

After 2 days of about 900km, even with Frances giving me a rest I was knackered and in bed by 8:15 (SA time - 30 minutes behind NSW).

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