The Purple Penguin

So someone booked a motel that didn’t have any wifi (may have been me). So no update last night.

Before we left Broken Hill we headed to the local shopping area. We were using Google and it led us up (and by up I mean a very steep road!) a dead end. We could see the shops, but couldn’t get there. So we turned Google off, I managed to back down the very steep hill, and we found a way into the shopping area and Joe spotted the covered parking! We walked along the strip mall checking the shops and headed into Coles to get bits and pieces for the drive as we haven’t been stopping for lunch so thought some crackers in the car would be good. We also picked up some oranges.

The drive from Broken Hill to Auburn was long. At one point though Google informed me it would take a minute longer than calculated due to traffic. I looked and could just see a truck way ahead of me and behind me, I could just make out another car. So much traffic. And we crossed into South Australia, where there was a big sign saying not to bring in fruit or vegetables. So we stopped and ate some oranges, but didn’t manage all of them. The Quarantine Station is about 200 kilometres into South Australia and we had to hand over the rest of our oranges there. At least the trail mix was ok.

The drive was also interesting due to the scenery. It started dry brush and then got hilly and lots of trees. Once into South Australia, we got into huge fields of grain, though most of that had been cut and was being grazed by sheep or cattle. As we got closer to Auburn we got into wine country and it was very green with vineyards.

We checked into our motel, walked down to the local hotel for dinner, and then on the way back to our motel found a bridge (over a dry creek bed) where there a lot of birds coming in to roost. So Joe went and grabbed the binoculars and camera and we watched the wildlife and the very spectacular sunset. As we headed back to the room we saw a huge rainbow across the sky – huge double rainbow though the second rainbow was hard to see. It was against a cloudy sky, dark but shot through with pink and red from the sunset.

Today’s drive wasn’t as long, but we did a lot of detours! We drove to Port Wakefield hoping to see some of the marshes. The main road bypasses the town and was very busy – there are several businesses and a huge petrol station and there were loads of trucks towing boats, but all headed elsewhere because the town was pretty much closed. We did get to the marsh, sort of, and saw a heron, but you can’t really get down there or walk anywhere so we drove on.

We then took a detour along some unsealed roads (dirt or gravel). Saw lots of birds, but the lakes/ponds down there were dried up leaving a salt pan with scrub. However, highlight of the drive, we saw a stump-tailed skink! Really pretty, just making its way over the road. We watched until it disappeared under a bush (probably fed up with Joe taking photos!)

We also went to Port Parham where we walked a bit along the beach, but the tide was way out and we weren’t sure when it was coming in (it’s one of those huge tidal beaches where the tide will come in very quickly) so we didn’t go out too far. Also the locals were coming in so we thought that was a good sign the tide may be about to turn! We also went down to St Kilda and had a look around, before driving on to the motel in Port Noarlunga, just outside Adelaide. We’ve had an excellent Thai meal at Ampika’s Kitchen. I had a curry made with Moreton Bay Bugs which was very good!

Tomorrow will be a car free day I hope!