Road Trip to SA Outback

 It is very cold this morning, around 7 C, and the clouds are gathering. Looking at Sydney's weather whilst we have been away does not fill us with enthusiasm to return home as we now appear to heading towards rain. We manage to drive on dry roads until we reach West Wyalong and from then on is was constant light showers, and cold temperatures hovering between 7 and 11 C.  The countryside is very green and there are pools of water everywhere suggesting the soil has run out of capacity to absorb and more moisture. Plenty of healthy sheep are feeding on the lush grass (in the rain) and seem unperturbed. For us though, it is miserable. Morning tea is a Grenfell, where we managed to get a decent cup of coffee at Mick's Bakery (no relation). Onward then to Cowra for lunch. For some reason Cowra is very busy with virtually no main street parking available, and as it is still raining, and cold and miserable, we resorted to KFC because we could park close to the venue. We also thought...

It is a pretty straight forward drive to  Narrandera, a bit under 500 km of flat straight roads, through lots of broad acre farming, and grazing. We stopped in Hay for lunch and were surprised how little activity there was there. The town was looking pretty unloved and probably finding things tough under Albanomics. The cafe we had lunch in will not get rich on the clientele going through when we were there. Now that we are back in NSW we struggle to understand why diesel, or other fuel, costs more than in Vic , or SA (which had the lowest prices). Narrandera looks prosperous compared to Hay, the town is relatively busy, buildings are well kept and there are people on the streets. However, there are closed pubs and empty shops as well This lovely old pub is currently closed This one, The Murrumbidgee Hotel is doing well The main street Shire Council Building This ceramic fountain near the council chambers is one of only 2 made in this design by Royal Doulton, the other one is in In...

 .We will be be very happy to drive North today, as it is getting pretty cold down here. Our drive to Mildura  is a bit over 500 km, but through some nice countryside in the Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek, before we are back out into broad acre farming country  Much of this ground we have covered before, and finding a place to stop for our morning cuppa is proving difficult, either because the main road bypasses main towns, or because the smaller towns along the route are dead. Eventually, we settle on Karooma, a farming town, which has a very impressive painted wheat silo, so clearly attracts passers by. We stop a Cathies Cafe foe a good coffee, before we walk acroass the road to get photographic evidence of the silo art to prove we have been  here. The artwork is so extensive that you need to photograph  both ends of the silos, and the centre to get the full picture The other highlight of Karooma, is we finally saw Sturt's Desert Pea growing in the garden ...

 The final round of our golfing part of our tour takes place today, at the very challenging McCracken Golf Course. It doesn't get light until around 7.30 am, and it is freezing for the next hour or so, so our tee off time is 10 am. Fortunately, we made a last minute decision to get a motorised cart, as it is long hard slog around this very tough golf course. There is water everywhere and more bunkers than we have seen at any other course on this trip. The course has been let go a bit, but greens are very fast, and with a slope of 140 off the mens tee and 135 off the ladies tee, it is tough. Scores see sawed throughout the round with the winner being decided on the 18th hole, with Carole putting in a much better putting effort, winning by 2 points for the day. Our overall result was that we have both had two individual wins, and on a gross combined score for the 4 rounds, Carole won by 1 point. You can really tell it is winter here and unfortunately we bought sun hats rather than be...

The weather change overnight has been remarkable, it is blood cold with last nights minimum at 5 C and it has warmed up a bit the morning but has a long way to go  before it is comfortable. Anyway, we are driving to Victor Harbour today, so can only hope it warms up a bit. We drive through more wheat country with the only consolation the the road conditions are better on the main roads. Looking for a place to have our morning cuppa, we first called into a town called Dublin, with a promising effigy that looked a bit Irish on the way into town. Sadly, it was a neglected road stop that had been bypassed by a new freeway and had little other than a fuel stop going for it. Our map shows that Two Wells is a much bigger place, so we set our hopes on stopping there. We did find a bakery that served reasonable coffee, so stopped there in the freezing cold, both for a comfort stop and a cuppa. There was no seating inside, so we waited in the warmth to get our coffee and sat in the car to dr...

 It is Sunday, and therefore a day of rest, so long drives are off the agenda and it is time for a game of golf at the local golf course, which from our travelling observations on the peninsula seems to be the only one with grass greens, and green grass on the fairways. The Golf Course is part of a bigger Sports Club, but it does have a small office and a sign The lady in the office is extremely helpful and guides us on our way to join the few others that are enjoying the course today. We are warned that there is a championship match being played well ahead of us, but it is unlikely we will catch up as they hit off at 8.30am, and it is now 10 am. It is a challenging place to have a golf course on the peninsula, as water is valuable. so the green fairways occur some distance off the tees, assuming that a decent golfer can hit their tee shot far enough to hit the grass.  View from one of the tees, showing they do not waste water on the carry distance to the fairway From the Men'...