September 24th 2022
Broken Hill NSW to Stirling SA
The clear blue skies for our last day in Broken Hill yesterday had me thinking about the shorts and T shirts again. This morning couldn’t be more different, with the overcast conditions came a blast of cold weather, making a nippy start to our early morning.
Now, so close to home we are both anxious to be on our way as quickly as possible. This impetus giving us our earliest start yet. The holiday is over, all that is left is one day of travel back into our home state of South Australia and familiar territory of the Adelaide Hills.
The South Australian border is just 50 kilometres east from Broken Hill a short distance in the scheme of the trip, we then travel south east for 258 Kilometres to Oodla Wirra, then South to Burra for 98 Kilometres.
South Australia currently has a Fruit Fly issue, biosecurity is clamping down on the transport of fruit from the other states. If this pesky little fly makes its way south and into commercial orchards or market gardens the situation could prove disastrous for growers and the states economy. Heavy fines apply for bringing even one tomato across the border. Fruit is always in our onboard cooler, this morning breakfast consisted of the last of our fruit, anything we can’t eat we had to ditch before leaving. We can expect to have biosecurity checks at the border or along the road before we start to enter populated parts of SA.
Outback South Australia is stunning this spring, native plants are putting on a colourful display, against a back drop of green that is rare out here. Emu’s with their chicks are in abundance grazing on the rich pastures. The closer to Adelaide we travel then the greener the landscape becomes.
Once we pass over Goyder’s line cropping becomes sustainable and the landscape changes to rolling hills of grain crops and particularly striking Canola, now in flower this crop creates carpets of yellow-gold that cut a swath through the landscape.
About thirty years after first settlement, the Surveyor-General of the time (1865) George Goyder, at the request of many prospective farmer settlers created an imaginary line that separated high and low rainfall areas of South Australia. Many pioneers had taken up cheap land in the north of the state only to find a few years of rainfall could be followed by many years of drought, this made cropping very unpredictable, many eventually failing. Mr Goyder climbed upon his horse and traversed the northern areas from east to west for 3200 kilometres, listening to the farmers along the way and gathering information about the types of plants that survived in the northern areas and southern areas. The aim to form a map that would create a demarcation between arable land to the south and high risk of drought susceptible land to north. In November of 1865 Goyder submitted his report, inclusive of a map to the colonial government. Above Goyder’s line, as it would hence be known, only light grazing should take place, below the line, then cropping would have a more reasonable chance of success. Many farmers still ignored this advice, rainfall between 1867 and 1875 turned out to be more than adequate for cropping. The idea existed in these times that rain follows the plough and indeed this did appear to be the case in the westward expansion in the USA. However the years that followed drove many to abandon their lands, proving Goyder correct. Many an old stone farm house can be seen from the road, in ruins before we pass over Goyder’s line. Over the years til today the line has proved remarkably accurate. Current climate change predictions have the line moving slowly south as temperatures rise and rainfall lessens.
Just before we reach the town of Burra, about 160 kilometres from Adelaide, there are a series of road works, we slow down as we travel across some gravelly roads that are being reworked. One part of the road is being patched having developed a number of potholes, most of them are, but one isn’t, our passenger side front wheel hits it full on sending a shudder through the vehicle. I sense a problem but the car is behaving normally, so we continue on until we reach Burra. We stop to inspect the tyre, just above the rim there is a 50mm (2″) split in the wall. These tyres are run flats designed not to puncture or deflate. The theory being that, with this design a spare wheel is no longer needed, saving money, space and weight. This is my first experience with a mishap of this nature so I am unsure how to proceed. Mr. Google tells me to drive slowly not over 80kph. We limp home, stopping on our way at a tyre service outlet, a quick check and they confirm we will make it home the last 40 kilometres.
We finally arrive home around 3.30pm, weary but safe. Now the hard work starts the unpacking and settling back into a routine, but not until tomorrow! Until next time.
Tony & Amanda Palmer