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Had a much more leisurely morning yesterday, spending some more time with Steph and her house mate over a pancake breakfast and coffee from our own machine.
But we were eager to start the adventure proper, so soon bade them good bye and hit the road. Not nearly as difficult getting out of Adelaide as it was getting out of Melbourne.
The first place we stopped was Port Wakefield, which the signs had been pointing to for miles out of Adelaide. We expected something quite impressive. There were a few petrol stations and several bakeries on the highway, but a sign pointed off to the left, to the 'town centre'. We followed eagerly, keen to see the delights of this town.
There was a long wide street and a fair way down we found a pub and a post office. We stopped at the post office to ask where the town centre was, and discovered this was it. This was the commercial hub. At the end of the road was a picnic area with a small creek running through it, and a caravan park. This was the recreational hub. Hope other towns have a bit more to them.
We drove on through Lochiel which had a very pretty pink lake. There were salt flats all around it, with the salt crystallizing into various weird and wonderful shapes.
We followed the highway on towards Port Augusta, and soon came across the peaks of the Flinders Ranges flanking us on the right. As we drove on past Port Pirie, we noticed the waters of the Spencer Gulf flanking us on the left. The gulf became narrower and narrower as we travelled, and we could clearly see the Eyre Peninsula across the water.
Port Augusta lies at the peak of the gulf and is the gateway to the York Peninsula to the west, and to the outback to the north. A good place to settle, stock up on supplies, and plan the next leg of the journey. Found a great free camping spot just outside of town on the oval. A nice cold beer at the sports club, and an early night.
GeorgeY's bit
The good news and the bad news
Good, the foldable electric bike is working fine, I forgot to turn on the key. The bad news, I also forgot to pack the charger so, pedal pushing instead. I did Adelaide from end to end in less than 15 minutes. Not bad for a senior citizen.
Port Wakefield is a funny place. It seems to be a ghost town but do not let the sleepy appearance deceive you.
It has recorded all its past glories on murals that rival any graffiti work in the back lanes of Fitzroy or Craigieburn. Great secrets revealed include the fact that Sir Jack Brabham won a race before he was into cars, and that the great Dawn Frazer swam in the puddle on occasions when it had collected some water.
Ghost town is very subjective but recorded history shows a past to rival most grand cities of the world.
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