When travelling on a touring holiday, it’s a good idea to take note of those brown signposts that point to tourist attractions, and it’s exactly what we did when driving through the Clare Valley area of South Australia recently. Having already passed a sign to the historic town of Mintaro before we realised what we’d…
Month: August 2018
SoS: August 18
It has been quite an miserable day here in the Central Tablelands of NSW. There was a -3 degree frost to start with. I have to admit that it was very pleasant early this morning sitting in the sun at the Growers’ market sipping excellent coffee, eating a bacon and egg roll and chatting with…
Fit for the Climate
In the very south of South Australia, at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula, we spent a couple of days in Port Lincoln. The climate there is a so-called Mediterranean climate, so rain falls in the winter and the summers are very hot and dry. We were astounded at how green everything was after the…
Arid Botanics
As you might guess, the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta, South Australia, is devoted entirely to plants that grow in the driest parts of this continent. To the casual observer, the arid areas might seem dull and lifeless, but there’s plenty to see: discovery requires careful observation. The Botanical garden was established…
Something Stirred. SoS August 4
Winter is not over yet. Although the days are becoming noticeably longer, it’s still very chilly overnight, and I know from experience that it’s quite possible for us to be faced with frost well into September before we can say for sure that the cold weather has finished for this year. A large percentage of…
Silverton
Only 26 km from Broken Hill is the historic almost-ghost town of Silverton. Its origins also lie in the silver mining industry and in fact, silver was discovered there first. In 1885, 3000 people lived there. Now there are 50, mostly artists and people who cater to the tourist trade. When the mines became established…