Stopped at Georgetown with many run down historical buildings, excited I grab my camera and walked the town taking in the history when all of a sudden walking became strange and when I looked down my pants were around my ankle, I quickly looked around to see if any one say me as I bent down to hitch them up, now that was different. It’s hard to explain how when you drive into town like this, that was once so alive and see so many buildings with so much character yet the streets are empty, but when the town was first surveyed in 1869 it was planned as a mini Adelaide and it did flourish, but it declined as a result of political pressure when the railway line that was to pass through Georgetown was diverted.
One acre of land was purchased for the sum of £10-5-0 ($20) on 3rd April 1871, the first building was run as a wine shop then in 1875 the first main structure of the present hotel was built. The pub was closed when we arrived and these days only opens on certain days and after 3pm.
This store and residence was built in 1905 and was once the life blood of the townspeople and farmers since 1870. We called in hopping to get some lunch and the ladies sent us up the road to the next town.
Now picture this store in the 1900’s selling groceries, fertiliser, fuel, all types of clothing and fashions, household goods, insurance and at harvest time buying the wheat, and today a Post Office. There were tables and chairs outside but no food.
The one thing I noticed was most towns we visit have more than one church that now sit dormant or are sold off as homes, the engraving on the church reads, May 7th AD 1898.
The Bank of Adelaide opened in 1893
Georgetown Church was built in 1910, and in those days big events like harvest thanksgivings, Church and Sunday School Anniversaries were grand occasions with elaborate displays of local produce and flora.
We were tempted to stay the night as there’s a free camp with BBQ’s and $2 showers but we left left driving along the Horrock Hwy, B82 when I spotted a silo art, stop Des as he turns off to check it out.
The Wirrabara Silo Project, painted in October 2018 by artist SMUG, a total grant of $80,000 was received to paint the silos and create a viewing area with carpark, signage and lighting. The forestry theme was decided by the community, with the image determined by the artist. The man in the painting is not a specific person, but a representation of the hard working people of the forestry and agricultural community. The artist has a fascination with painting birds, so he chose a rare bird of the local area, a Petroica goodenovii (commonly known as a red capped robin). It took 20 days to complete with a mixture of house paint and spray paint.
The Police are out or maybe on a joy ride because there’s sure nothing out here.
We then drove into the town of Melrose, the only established town for more than twenty years and it developed as the “Emporium of the North” supplying remote pastoral runs, mining camps and early settlers with goods, communication and transport.
The first part of the town as we drove in.
Melrose is the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges, S.A and was once named "Mount Remarkable".
It’s getting late and we need to find a camp so I search good old Wiki to see what’s out there and found the Goyder Line Rest Area with a view of Mt Remarkable and with trees as big as a mountain.
Our camp overlooking Mt Remarkable
A fascinating Piece of Pioneer History The Cheese Tree was created in the 1860s by an industrious woman named Edy Bishop who moved to the area with her husband George. George was given milk by a station owner he worked for and Edy used it to process cheese to sell. When the cheese was ready to be pressed she placed the end of long rails in the mortise holes cut in the tree and hung weights on the other end of the rails. The cheese, in suitable containers was placed underneath and weights gently but persistently pressed the cheeses until they were mature enough for sale. The cheeses were then packed and sent to Clare to be sold.
I walked the ground and found the largest trees I’ve ever seen, The Red River Gum is unique to Australian bush, they can grow up to 35 metres high with a circumference of (usually) 1 to 3 metres. Big Red's circumference was measured to a massive 11.6 metres with the tree soaring skyward at 39 metres.
This creek hasn’t seen water for some time now, it’s so dry out here.
The End
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