Not a great deal to keep us in Ceduna, and with showers forecast we decided to continue our push East. Got away at 7:20am just in time to see a nice sunrise.
We stopped in Wudinna for a treat from the bakery and a cuppa in the van. Saw a nice little stone church and a large impressive granite statue called "The Farmer", built by the local community. An understandable tribute in the middle of a huge wheat/sheep region; well done to the people of Wudinna.
It was then up to Port Augusta for lunch and fuel. We'd stayed there on the way over to the West so another reason we had decided to not stop here and continue on to Port Pirie. PA was very busy with all sorts of travellers stocking up on supplies. It's a very important place for people traveling North, (Coober Pedy, Alice etc) South, (Port Lincoln or Adelaide) East, (Flinders Ranges or Broken Hill) and West (Nullarbor & WA). Add to that a whole mob of Army personnel, on Exercise Hamel at a big training area just up the road, picking up some treats (Maccas; a reprieve from Army rations) and you've got one busy place. PA is also the site for a new Solar Thermal Farm that is currently being constructed which could spinoff 600 jobs apparently.
We continued the 90km to Port Pirie, arriving at the Beach Van Park at 3:15pm. It is a nice park with drive-through sites so we don't need to unhitch.
The last few days have been longer drives than we would normally choose to do but in the end we just wanted the Nullarbor and lead-up to be over with. We feel we can relax again now.
Showered and went for a walk along the foreshore. The Lead Smelter and the Grain Silos stand out in the Port along with a healthy dose of fishing boats. The Smelter has attracted its share of controversy lately with lead poisoning of the local kids being a hot issue. We won't hang around long enough to kill off our few remaining brain cells.
Our walk continued to the Sportys Tavern where we enjoyed a nice meal and a bottle of NZ Sav Blanc. We were home in time to see the very early results of the Fed Election.
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