Finally back on the road!  It was with much excitement that Rob & I finally hit the road west of Narromine.  Where to next??  Well coincidently Louise & Bruce (yes these two just keep cropping up in our travels) were doing a house sit at Yongala near Peterborough in SA. 

Welcome to Yongala!

With a yard big enough for our van we pulled in and enjoyed catching up on the past 6 months of travel.  Of course we were close enough to Clare and the wine region we had to do a couple of trips that way.  Rob as the only non-wine drinker kindly offered to be our driver and we headed off to Seppeltsfield for the day. 

Morning walk in Yongala - beautiful old building

Hanging out at Seppeltsfield

Next was a quick overnight stay at Clare – where Rob and I toured Bungaree Station.  Well worth the visit and it is amazing to see how well they have kept the property.

Bungaree Station - stables

Check out the flooring !!

Bungaree Station homestead Circ 1900

Managers Residence

Shearing shed

Community Cementary

They even had their own church

“It was 1841 and the SA colony was only 5 years old when George Hawker, and his brothers Charles & James, purchased 2,000 sheep and went to discover land.  Surveys and maps were few, roads and bridges were non-existent and movement was limited to horseback, bullock dray or one’s own feet.  On Christmas Day in 1841 they sank a well not far from the Hutt River and recorded they found good drinkable groundwater at about 8 feet.  They selected this site for their head station, calling the property “Bungurrie”, meaning ‘my country’.  As well as purchasing the section of land where most of the buildings stand today, they took out an occupational license for much of the surrounding countryside – a total area of 267 square mile.  (Imagine doing the boundary ride!!)   It was the most Northern settlement in South Australia and the isolation required a high level of self sufficiency.  Slab huts, stock yards and a woolshed were built, and crops, vegetables and fruit trees planted.  As the number of sheep increased, so did the number for staff, and by the mid 1880’s the property was running up to 100,000 sheep and employed over 50 staff.  Today, over 170 years after the property was established, Bungaree remains outwardly unchanged and remains the home of the 4^th and 5^th generation of the Hawker family.   (I did note however that they are not direct descendants of George but presumably the brothers)”

The next day before heading back we went to Mintaro, a small village near Clare.  So many beautiful old homes and amazing to see people still living in them.  We tossed up between doing the Maze and Martindale Hall.  The hall won, so the Maze is still on our to-do list. 

Martindale Hall

“Martindale Hall was built in 1879/80 for Edmund Bowman Jnr at a cost of 30,000 pounds.  Built of local sandstone in the Georgian style with Italianate influence, the hall has 32 rooms including the cellar of 7 rooms.”  There was family tragedy and then drought which caused Edmund to sell up in 1891.  William Mortlock, a SA grazier and politician purchased the estate for 33,000 pounds as a wedding present for his wife.  Note how much money poor old Edmund lost on this deal!    William and Rosye went on to have 6 children, with only 2 boys surviving into adulthood.  One of these then drowned, which left the survivor ‘Jack’ to inherit when his parents died.   “Jack was a very studious man who travelled all over the world, bring back many artefacts which can still be seen in the hall today.  He eventually married in 1948 and died 15 months later at afe of 55.  With no children, he bequeathed the property to the University of Adelaide, appointing his wife as trustee.  She handed  Martindale Station over to the University in 1965 and died in 1979.  In 1986 the University handed the Hall with 45 acres over to the SA Australian government who still run it today” 

It is beautifully maintained and wonderful to see the 1891 furniture etc still as it had been.  A world away from what we have today.

Martindale Hall - guests bedroom

Bathroom

Stairway from Main entrance

One of the old buildings in Mintaro

Where to next?  Rob & I have taken work on “Merna Morna” station in the Flinders Ranges but the start date has changed a couple of times and we were not too sure when we were actually starting.  With Easter fast approaching (yes just 2 days away) we decided we had better book in somewhere – well easier said than done at Easter.  We finally got a site at Port Neill on the Eyre Peninsular.  Oh what a lovely spot.  We stopped in at each little port or town on the way down from Whyalla but none were as nice as Port Neill so it was a lucky, good choice.   So here we were – Easter and spending it on the Seafood Trail in SA.  First stop – buy some Oysters – YUMM.  Next was fishing but it seemed everyone was going for squid so rather than buck the trend that’s what we did.  It was fun and we had quite a few meals over the next few days. 

Wharf at Port Neill

Ahh back by the water again!

Wish we'd caught one of these.

Caught lots of these though!

With still a few days to go before we were due in the Flinders we decided to mosey on down to Port Lincoln – Oh the Seafood!!   Now Port Lincoln is definitely on our list to return to as there was so much to see and do.  But a must for everyone is Memory Cove Wilderness Zone.  It is part of Port Lincoln National Park but has restricted access to 15 vehicles per day.  Of these 5 can camp with a special permit.  It’s a rough/hard driving track in but the views are so worth it.   We’d love to spend more tine in the National Park itself but that will have to be another visit. 

Sunrise at Port Neill

On the way into Memory Cove

Memory Cove Wilderness Zone

Great views

Enjoying the day out :)

We also took a drive out to Koppio Smithy Museum.  Now leave yourself a good few hours for this as there is so much to see.  There is about 16 different areas – all devoted to different things.  My personal favourite was the ‘Bob Dobbins Barbed wire and fencing equipment room’.  Who knew there was so many types of barbed wire!   Another section was the Heritage Hall which houses 3 generations of the Jericho family collection.  Amazing stuff on display and I was blown away with the collection of late 1800’s cards such as birthday, wedding, sympathy etc;  They were just so beautiful and really put some of our modern cards to shame.

One of the barb wire displays

And some more! - who thought there was so many types

A small hint here – in the summer months (and still in April) make sure you book any accommodation in advance as it’s still pretty hectic down here!  So after 3 nights at Port Lincoln we had to move on, with Coffin Bay being our next adventure.  Let’s go fishing