20^th February, Friday We didn’t leave McLaren Vale until just before 9am and we eventually arrived in Melrose at about 2.30 .  It was a long haul today and we had to back track and come back via Adelaide and through the traffic so it was slow going. Once we hit the outskirts of town the going was faster.  The country side is mainly farmland, what looks to be wheat or some sorts of grains and all harvested so the fields are all that golden colour which is really pretty. The landscape is mainly flat with distant mountains, so not much to see along the way although we always enjoy the scenery no matter what it is.  Claud the GPS did it to us again and sent us through some farmland road and then onto the main road which is not that good, uneven surfaces so slow going, the good thing though was that there was not much traffic, mainly farm vehicles and only one truck, thankfully as the road was very narrow and I close my eyes when the trucks come past. We will explore Melrose tomorrow.  The town is tiny and sits at the base of Mount Remarkable, it’s a pretty setting as you drive into town and there is the most amazing bird life and they are all so busy and noisy, it’s wonderful. There is not much here, a couple of pubs which look promising for a pub meal and a few drinks, I think I saw a little nic-nac shop when we drove in, I will check it out tomorrow. I think that there is a little general store and that’s about it. The population here at census in 2011 was 406.  Melrose is the oldest town in the Flinders Rangers and dates back to around 1846 so plenty of history to be found and I will look for the cemetery, actually I think we passed it on the way in but Ralph didn’t want to point it out (haha).  From here it’s a good base to visit a lot of the coastal towns.  It’s hot today and total fire ban for this weekend, we have been told that the temps are a lot cooler in the evening so we look forward to that.  There is not a good TV reception here so Ralph is busy setting up his satellite dish as it’s weekend and the boy needs to watch his sport.  When we booked into the caravan park we were the only campers here, there are some people in one of the cabins.  A camper trailer has just arrived so there is now the grand total of 2 lots of happy campers, it’s a lovely place and we might extend our stay. Oh! and by the way, the story about Adelaide water is all true, it gives you Adelaide belly so we are all on bottled water until further notice. 21^st February, Saturday It’s another hot one today, it’s 41 degrees. We took ourselves off to do some of the Ports today seeing as it was going to be hot we thought that we would be better off at the coast, WRONG, just as hot there. The road we took was through a pass (Horrocks Pass) very windy with sharp bends and steep inclines and declines and really beautiful scenery. We were going to come back this way with the caravan when we left Melrose but we think that we will take another road, as it is very narrow and would be a bit hairy with the van, we have been on worse but that was because we had no choice of routes but this time we do have a choice. First Port of call was Port Augusta, now we have been told not to bother going there as it’s a crappy place but Ralph and I like to make up our own minds about places we want to see and will form our own opinions about them. Port Augusta is about 80kms from Melrose and the scenery is pretty much flat farm land with the South Flinders ranges not that far from the road. All the little towns along the way are ghost towns, we went through about 4 towns and only saw one little old man in one sitting on his porch reading, he looked up at us with his mouth open as I guess that they don’t get too many caravans coming through this way and we were obviously the entertainment for the week. Port Augusta is situated on the Spencer Gulf and can be seen from quite a distance before getting there.  Across the Gulf you can see what appears to be an Island but it is part of the mainland. The area we could see was an army training base so there was restricted access but we didn’t try going over anyway. Port Augusta has a natural harbour and the town is mainly Industrial and I must admit that it is not a very inspirational port or town so our sources were correct. No photos because honestly there wasn’t anything to inspire me at all.  We had a good look around the town in case we had missed some fantastic landmark or something but left soon after in disappointment. Next Port was Port Pirie, again it’s an Industrial port town with a few refineries around the place.  The town centre itself was quite pretty if you like old buildings as much as I do but apart from that the Esplanade leaves alot to be desired.  Had a good look around and we found a nice fish shop where we bought some local prawns to have for dinner tonight. From there we drove to Port Germein which boasts the longest jetty in Australia. Again, this is an Industrial port town.  We found a pub there to have some lunch as we left this morning without having breakfast so we were starving. The pub only had some local patrons and all pretty friendly to Ralph.  When Ralph went to order a beer and the barman asked him what size they all stared at Ralph waiting with baited breath to see what size he would order.  Ralph said “give me a decent one”, so they were all happy as a decent one is the bigger one.  When I went in to order lunch they stared at me and I could hear them thinking “What’s that Sheila doing in here” and then the one closest to me gives a loud burp in my ear, EISH, next time I will send Ralph in to order the food. We came home through the Germein Gorge and what a beautiful drive, once again steep inclines, declines with sharp bends and a narrow road.  This road would look so beautiful in winter when it is raining as there are deep gulleys running along the edge of the road, you wouldn’t want to misjudge anything and leave the road because you have no chance.  You can see where the water runs down the mountain to the bottom and I wonder if this road would be open in the winter, there are a few little farms along the way so I guess the road probably would be open.  We stumbled onto a winery, honestly this place is in the middle of nowhere and you can’t believe that there would be a winery there.  We stopped in as we do and surprise, surprise it was open.  The lady was really friendly and was telling us stories about the area.  I don’t think that they get much trade at this time of the year.  Her wines were good and quite a few of them had won some silver and bronze medals so we walked out of there with 3 bottles.  I did say that we weren’t going to buy anymore, I know, I’m a weak woman, too many wineries and not enough time. When we go back to the caravan park we booked for an extra 2 nights and the lady that runs this place is so sweet.  She used to be a professional skater in South Africa and skated at the same skating arena that I practically lived at when I lived there. She gave us a whole heap of her beautiful home grown tomatoes.  I asked her where I could buy some bread as this is a tiny town and the general store has very limited produce. She told me not to buy his bread as he freezes it and she has been told by other campers that when it was thawed out it was green, she said that she would bake me a loaf and when I offered her payment she refused. She said that she would bring it around tonight and we invited her to stay for a wine or two.  How awesome is that? Such lovely people you meet along the way.

22^nd February, Sunday We did get the most amazing loaf of bread last night and I should have taken a picture but half of it is gone already :-). It’s hot again today and we decided to do the Bridle Track (Old Survey Track) this morning while it was still a bit cool. The track is 4×4 only and starts 10kms West of Melrose and some parts of it are quite challenging and the views of the Southern Flinders ranges and Spencer Gulf are outstanding, just when you think that you have reached the peak you go around the corner and it’s higher. We saw an Eagle sitting on its prey eating but it took when we passed.  He didn’t go too far as I think that he was scared of losing his food.  Unfortunately my long angle lens is one of the best so I couldn’t get a good photo of him.  It was a magnificent drive and we came back through the gorge again.  We stopped at the local store (the one that sells the mouldy bread) as I needed some sugar and there were about 10 things on the shelf all the other shelves were empty.  Thankfully he had some sugar and it took him about 5 minutes to read the price.  The sugar was $3.56 so he says to me “Ah, that’s $3.56 but I’ll give it to you for $3.55”, this bloke wasn’t joking, strange bugger and even the lady in the caravan park says so.

23^rd February, Monday Nice cool day today.  We took a walk up the hill to the war memorial.  It’s dedicated obviously to all the fallen in the great war but most particularly to 5 young local men.  That would be quite a few men for this tiny town. Of course, off to the cemetry and as usual so sad to see so many childrens graves.  We were told that quite a few graves were relocated from the town centre to the cemetery, I can’t find any record of this but there are new little plaques with names and dates on the graves and it seems that they have been reburied in date order. We did a rekkie of the town, such a tiny place and 2 great pubs. There’s a little café come B&B so we stopped off there for a pie and a milkshake.  Back to camp and chilaxed for the rest of the day. Marina, the caravan park owner came over with her skating albums.  We trawled through them and it really took me back in time because there is no doubt that I would have seen her in many of the ice shows that she skated in back in the 70’s at the rink where we both used to skate, her as a professional and me just as a social with my friends.

24^th February, Tuesday Today we had a chillax day, didn’t go far and spent the day just packing away slowly and doing some housework and car work as we leave here tomorrow.  Ralph visited the museum this afternoon, I opted out and sat and read my book instead.  Marina brought us another loaf of freshly baked hot bread, don’t know what we have done to deserve this attention, she is really a nice lady. We went across the road to the pub for dinner, the pub is a dead basic country pub with the usual friendly hospitality and the food leaves the city for dead. I ordered a trio of seafood and I don’t think that they know what trio means in the country because I think I had about 5 different seafoods on my plate, all fresh (you can taste it) as we are not that far from the ocean. Across the road was a heritage listed home and they had 2 cats, one came to the pub and Hugo fell in love all over again, I took a pic of the other one sitting in front of their door and when the family took off on their bikes the cats took off after them like dogs, it was so cute to watch. We have so enjoyed our time in this tiny town.  Tomorrow we are start doing the Eyre Peninsula and our first stop is in a coastal town called Cowell.

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