Day 208 - Port Pirie to Minlaton

Today we travelled 230km through wheat and barley farms. The crops grow right down to the sea in places.  We were on the western side of the Yorke Peninsula and passed through several towns with beach frontages.  Included were Port Broughton, Wallaroo, Port Hughes and Port Victoria,  The towns weren't large, except for Walleroo which, at a guess, would be bigger than Port Pirie.  Needless to say the towns revolve around grain and the silos, particularly in Wallarooo, were very large.  Guess there might be a bit of fishing going on too. There was a fair bit of housing development too, very much like in WA.  Its really not that far from Adelaide so it might be the upwardly mobile young people building a second house at the beach.

311014 Port Broughton 56km from Port Pirie

311014 The harbour at Port Broughton

311014 TV reception is poor on the Yorke Peninsula

311014 The silos are big at Wallaroo

311014 Jetty at Moonta Bay

311014 Moonta Bay

311014 Moonta Bay on the other side of the jetty

311014 Town Hall at Moonta

311014 Port Hughes

311014 Point Victoria

311014 Wheat and/or barley as far as the eye can see - all day

We were surprised, when we stopped for lunch at Wallaroo, that the end of the Anderson Plug, which connects the battery systems of the car and the van together, was nowhere to be seen.  It beggars the operation of the refrigerator from the battery.  Seems there was small gravel from our recent adventures on dirt roads in the the plug. As a result the other end did not seat properly.  Probably lost it a few km out of Port Pirie.  The auto electrician at Wallaroo saved the day and for a small cost we were repaired.

Wallaroo is the western terminal for the ferry which goes across to Eyre Peninsula to a spot we visited while there, namely Lucky Bay.  The ferry is not working due to lack of demand.

We have heard of a bushfire making a nuisance of itself near Port Wakefield which is at the top of the Gulf of St Vincent.  It is a couple of hundred kms from us, so worry not. It started in stubble and with the temperature in the mid thirties, a wind change due and low humidity, it is apparently scooting along and creating some concern.

Minlaton is in the middle of the bottom half of Yorke Peninsula so we will stay here for a day or so and use it as a base for visiting southern coastal points of interest.