Tag Archives: South Australia

Nhill, Victoria – a place to stop for petrol or a destination?

The talking draft horse – Nhill, Victoria

Nhill is about 350 kms from Adelaide, just over the border into Victoria. It is a place we’d driven through many times, heading to Melbourne or other parts. If we’d stopped it had only been for a comfort stop and petrol.

Not this time. My favourite person and I had driven across to NE Victoria so I could collect data for my research.

This would be an out and back trip. The 800km plus trip each way meant we were looking for the quickest route so it would be straight through and when I say straight I mean it. The GPS barely comes to life on these types of trip. Often its silent for a couple of hours before piping in with taking the second exit of a roundabout in 270 kms – that means slow down but keep going straight.

As we drove we mused over driving holidays of days gone by as children with our parents, in our early years of marriage, just the two of us and then with children. Oh the country towns and dodgy motels! These trips had made us appreciate just how big Australia is, something lost when you are 30000 feet up flying between capital cities. Country Australia and the capital cities are different worlds these days, more is the pity.

The drive through the Adelaide Hills and then on through the south east of South Australia saw the countryside quickly change from the greenish brown tinge of late summer to the straw brown of the flat quintessential South Australian countryside.

On the way over we’d stopped at Bendigo, a historic gold rush town. Stopping in Bendigo meant we’d only have a half day drive to meet my interviewees the next day. Bendigo is synonymous with the 1850s gold rush and has buildings that are reminiscent of a bygone and wealthy past. Today its home to about 100,000 people and is typical of a large country centre with all the mod cons. It’s also home to a lovely local hotel, the Bridge, which we were lucky enough to strike on T-bone Tuesday! A large steak, fresh vegetables, salad and a glass of wine for under $20. A perfect way to break our journey on the way over.

The next morning it was a 3 hour drive onto the winery I was visiting. My interviewees were a delight providing me with much rich data, for my research. Our time there enabled us to take a tour of the winery and conduct my interviews enjoy a lovely ddinner with on e of the family member and then set off on the return journey.

On the way home, we decided that we’d break the journey in half and settled on Nhill, Victoria. Continue reading →

The Diary of a Slow Traveller – A roadtrip to Renmark

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The Riverland in South Australia brings back wonderful childhood memories for me. As my father was brought up on the River (The River Murray), it was a regular location for short family holidays in my childhood. So when the opportunity came to combine some data collection for my PhD research with a visit to Renmark, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Renmark is about 250kms or 3 hours from Adelaide. It’s a straight forward drive but on a road that has been notorious for crashes, no doubt because it’s a long and straight piece of road.

We left mid Sunday morning so we could visit a winery or two in the afternoon before having a dinner at the Renmark Hotel.

As we drove up My Favourite Person and I reminisced about the numerous road trips we’d done as kids. My Favorite Person has a very different view of road trips – I love them and she doesn’t!

Her reasons are sound, regular trips to Brisbane where her father made a beeline, stopping for nothing. For me it was quite different, I loved our trips.

A trip through Australia even if you don’t go into the outback is something quite special. The terrain changes quickly and the distances are large. On this trip we opted for the Sturt Highway rather than up the South Eastern Freeway and through Murray Bridge, the bumpy but quiet Karoonda Road through to Loxton and then the Sturt Highway to Renmark. The Sturt Highway is joined from Port Wakefield Road and is pretty much a straight trip, skirting the Barossa Valley and then hitting The River at Blanchtown and then over the Kingston Bridge, either taking the Sturt Highway bypass onto Renmark or going on the old road through Cobby (Cobdogla) and Berri where my father lived as a child, the son of a soldier settler and onto Renmark.

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The Diary of a Slow Traveller – The Southern Fleurieu, South Australia

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Sunset at Second Valley

Recently South Australia has been getting some attantion as a hidden gem. AS a local I can only say to those who are thinking of visiting SA – come on down.

We have just had a couple of days on the glorious Fleurieu Peninsula, where we are lucky enough to have a beach house. I love it because our beach house is in a quiet little town, Second Valley where we can hide away and with the start of winter relax by the fire.

I also love the opportunity to ride up over the range and toward SA’s major tourist town of Victor Harbour about 60 kms away, across to Cape Jervis where the Ferry terminal is for the short trip across to Kangaroo Island or to ride a loop that takes in the range, Torrens Valley and then the stunning coastline at Lady Bay.

I thought for this post I’d let some pictures I took tell the story…