Once Around on a Bicycle
I stood on the 'gravel shoulder' for a few minutes trying to figure out what 'soft edges' were.
There's a great slogan - "The town with a secret". The secret, according to the Wirrulla town grocer is the jetty (see below). His only comment was "It's amazing what people will do after they've had a few beers."
This looked like a sign right out of the rural South. It was actually in Wirrulla on the Eyre Peninsula.
This is the Wirrulla town secret, their jetty. Painted on the side of the boat : "Wirrulla Fishing Charters - Leaves Daily with the Tides." Wirrulla is 35 Km inland. Not since the days of Noah has there been such a high tide.
This is just another shot of the lonely Eyre Highway. This one is taken near Kimba.
According to the people of Kimba, this is the halfway point across Australia. My knees feel like I've gone further than half way.
Not to be outdone by the citizens of Eucla (big whale) and BorderVillage (big kangaroo), this is Kimba's Big Galah. It's sure to bring in the tourists more than any land-locked jetty.
Iron Knob is where Australia's iron industry was born. It has since died. I spent a night in the 'Presidential Suite' of the roadhouse motel.
Early travellers across Australia would follow the telegraph line. If they ran into trouble they would climb up a pole and cut the line. That would bring help in the form of a repair crew. I wonder if I could climb one of these telephone poles.
This seems like a pretty stiff sentence for driving while tired. "Drowsy Drivers Fined" or "Drowsy Drivers Jailed" seems more reasonable.
This is too simple a sign for the end of a great road across the Nullarbor and Eyre Peninsula. I was hoping to see a triumphal arch, or at least another animal sculpture (a 30 foot tall wombat?).
This is a view of Port Augusta taken from the top of the old water tower. It's the largest town since Albany.
Another camel sculpture.
This is the Port Augusta jetty at sunset. Unlike the Wirrulla jetty, this one gets wet.
This is the first McDonalds since Albany, 1500 miles and one month back. The long period of deprivation in the Outback is finally over. Hooray!
This house north of Adelaide looked like the 'Little House on the Prairie'.
These are the first few pictures that I took of Adelaide city centre. I still like Perth better, but Adelaide is a clean modern town.
These bizarre sculptures sit at a key intersection leading into Adelaide. I think they represent aboriginal music sticks which are decorated in pairs and hit together to create rhythms. Or, maybe they're bombs. I don't know. I was never very good at interpreting modern art.
This 1929 tram in Moseley Square in Glenelg runs directly into Victoria Square in the center of Adelaide. It takes 25 minutes and stops traffic at quite a few streets crossing the line. Lots of fun.
Another seaside town, another jetty. This is the Glenelg jetty, looking back at Moseley Square. The tram into Adelaide runs right up to the jetty.
Beside this old gum tree in Glenelg the colony of South Australia was proclaimed as a province in December, 1836. The tree still survives. You just can't tell which end is up now.
The Angas River runs through the middle of Strath Albyn. The river and park in the middle of town attract some exotic birds. I didn't know what most of them were, but they were fun to watch. The town had lots of antique shops and an 'old-timey' feel.
I crossed the Murray River on this little ferry. It pulls itself across the river on two submerged cables. The trip lasted 30 seconds and was free.
Here's a novel idea. Put a large statue of an animal on the main road leading into your town to attract tourists. Larry the 30' high Lobster in Kingston has been for sale for many years. I suspect he will remain so until someone creates a 30' high pot.
This is the oval where they play cricket in Mount Gambier. Cricket is a lot like baseball, except the tests (games) last for days and they stop play for tea. It's popular in all countries where fish and chips are considered fast food.
This is Blue Lake in Mount Gambier. It's an extict volcano crater. Through the Australian summer it's a deep blue. It's as blue as an ocean, but only 85 meters deep at its deepest point.
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