Blinman, Glass Gorge, Parachilna Gorge and loop back Willow Springs
A more relaxed day is the plan for today. We decided not to do the Skytrek as it takes all day, so the plan is to drive to Blinman, across to Parachilna through the Glass and Parachilna Gorges and then turn south till the turnoff for Moralana Scenic Route, then back to Willow Springs.
There are a few things to see along the way, so we turned off to see the Great Wall of China
and we may look at a few ruins tomorrow as we will be on the same road to Blinman then.
We were in Blinman by 10.20am, had a quick look around town and clearly the points of interest are the North Blinman Hotel (known as the pub in the scrub) and the Miners Café, which is a bakery/coffee shop and despite the BP sign, does not sell fuel (nor does anyone else in Blinman).
The must do tourist attraction in Blinman is to do the guided tour of the old copper mine which runs hourly. We were lucky enough to get two of the last 3 tickets for the 11 am tour, leaving us just enough time to get a take away cup of coffee from the Miner’s Café and drive the 1.5 km to the mine site to meet our guide.
It appears the last ticket didn’t sell, so 11 of us lined up eager for our tour, which will be conducted by a Kiwi from Central Otago who has been in town for a few weeks and is now officially trained. He was terrfific !
It seems the mine has a deep history when a shepherd, Mr Blinman, noticed a bit of green colouring in a rock he was kicking around whilst tending his sheep. He sensed it might be something valuable and made the long trip (several weeks in the mid 1800’s) to Adelaide to have it assayed. When advised it was copper, he requested a miners lease for the area, the fee for which was 10 Pounds. It was q
quite a fortune in those days, and well beyond his means. He rustled up a couple investors, they bought the lease and sat on it for a few years, after which they sold it to a mining company for 7,000 pounds. Not a bad ROI.
The mine tour was very good and after receiving a grant from the SA Government to do the initial setup and make the mine safe, the whole tourism scene is run by the local community, and it is well worth visiting. The guides are great and have a good sense of human whilst doing a great job communicating the human side of running the mine as well as the technical points.
Of course, Cornish Miners played a key role in developing this mine. How they ever got them to come to Blinman remains a mystery.
Entry to the mine is through the Adit, which is Cornish for Tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel we get to see the main shaft.
From the main shaft, a series of side tunnels were dug by the Cornish miners.
There are still seams of Malachite (copper ore), in the walls of the tunnels.
They also discovered some iron deposits and in the end the mine was supplying both iron and copper.
Eventually the shaft hit water at the bottom of the mines at 165 m deep. This water is still used to supply the town ship with non drinking water. Drinking water is still rain water.
The discovery of water revolutionised the mine , as they could now generate steam. With steam of course, came steam engines to drive machinery.
For fuel the used cypress pine timber which was plentiful in the area, but now virtually non existent. The wood also provided heat energy to run a smelter, so instead of shipping huge volumes of rock containing about 5% copper to Adelaide for smelting, they could now refine on site. A large slag heap remains as does some of the old machinery.
A one hour tour actually ran 15 minutes overtime and was very enjoyable. If you ever come this way it is a must do.
However, it was thirsty work, and the second most popular tourist activity in Blinman is lunch at the Pub in the Scrub, the North Blinman Hotel, famous for it’s large pies. (and local beer)
With our hunger well sated, we hit the dirt track to the Glass Gorge, which connects to the Parachilna Gorge quite close to Parachilna.
Parachilna Gorge seems particularly popular with free campers
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We drove in and out of Parachilna ( we will stay there tomorrow) , then headed south down the outback highway looking at the Flinders Rangers from a different perspective.
After 40 or so km, we reached the turnoff to the Moralana Scenic Route, which takes us back across to the main road to Wilpena Pound and Willows Springs.
It was another dirt road but very scenic.
Finally we are back on sealed road and decide to call in and have a look at Rawnsley Park Station, and get some fuel. What a mistake !!!!
The entry road is a shocker, but we got in, refueled and shredded a tyre on the way out doing around 40km per hour.
With a bit of help from passers by, one of whom had a trolley jack, we changed the tyre and we then had to hurriedly drive to Hawker to get a new spare before the tyre shop their closed at 5 pm. All achieved, got back to Willow Springs without hitting any Kangaroos or Emus, though many were on offer, and enjoyed a stiff scotch when safely home.
Tomorrow we go to Parachilna for 2 days.
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