We started this morning with a stroll around Melrose. We followed the sign to the swing bridge which was underwhelming. We wandered along the Chicken run/Weaving camels/Farmers freewheeling fun track mountain bike tracks until we reached an open view of Mount Remarkable. At last we managed to take a photo of the mountain with the sun shining on it rather than from behind it.
We walked back into the town centre along the streets so that we could take a look at some of Melroses historic buildings. Just before we reached the first notable building we spotted an enormous red gum in the middle of the road! The old Jackas Brewery has had an extensive makeover and will soon reopen as a taphouse offering boutique and a venue for weddings and events. We passed a very cute cottage that has been fully renovated by its new owners who have had to put a big Private Property sign up to stop tourists traipsing into their backyard to take photos! Back in the town centre we photographed the North Star Hotel again along with the Institute building and the old post
office. We were all very impressed with Melrose, it really is a lovely little township at the foot of Mount Remarkable.
From Melrose we backtracked to Wirrabara because Kristen at Under the Mount had told us that the view from the Bluff Lookout is worth the effort. When we drove up on Saturday we couldnt seem to find the motivation to drive 16 kilometres out to the viewpoint to then turn around to drive 16 kilometres back to Wirrabara! With the sun shining and the sky clear and blue we took some great photos from the Bluff Lookout looking down over Port Pirie and out over Spencer Gulf to the Eyre Peninsula so, yes, it was worth the effort.
On the drive back into Wirrabara we caught a glimpse of a red capped robin which was very exciting since they are, apparently, quite rare! With the sun shining onto the face of the silos, rather than backlighting them as it was on Satruday, we stopped for another quick photo of Wirrabaras Silo Art.
We drove back down to the coast on the Germein Gorge Road to Port Germein where we were very lucky to find some toasted
sangas for lunch. Theres not much in the town so we were lucky that a group of locals had decided to run the fundraising caf over the long weekend. They told us that it had been worth their while as they had enjoyed a fairly steady stream of customers over the three days. Keen to support their endeavours we ate our toasties and then went back for
As per usual the tide was way, way, way out at Port Germein. We walked out the jetty which is 1,532 metres long. We had to walk almost to the end before there was any water underneath us! In 1882 the jetty at Port Germein measured 1,680 metres and it was reputed to be the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately some of the jetty has been lost over time due to wild seas and high tides.
It may have been slightly foolhardy to walk out the jetty today as there was a localized thunderstorm happening over the southern Flinders Ranges pretty much right where we had been not long before taking photos looking down over Spencer Gulf. We kept one eye on the storm in
case it started heading our way!! It was very weird watching the downpour over the with thunder and lightning from our hot and dry vantage point on the jetty.
Just about melted after our walk out the jetty, we set the SatNav for our hotel in Port Augusta. We had booked a hotel in Port Augusta with a pool and we were really looking forward to checking it out as soon as we could get checked in. Hmmn, unfortunately, the pool is closed at the moment due to COVID!! Very disappointing.
