Burra - Hawker

Awoke to a very brisk and overcast morning, with the occasional shower of rain. Had thought we would spend more time at Burra exploring the Historic Township, but as weather conditions were not very pleasant, after a quick tour around the town and a trip up to the open cut mine lookout, we left Burra to head north. Today we saw many wind farms in the distance dotting the hill line, with their slow moving blades. The scenery was constantly changing from open flat plateaus to saltbush and hills.

W e made a slight detour into the old railway town of Teowie, the population is only 150 and many of the buildings are boarded up and deserted, which is a typical depressing sign of many outback towns. Teowie was once a busy railway town where the rail carriages had to be unloaded and reloaded as the railway lines changed from narrow to a wider gauge. Our next stop was Peterborough where we had a guided tour of the Steam Town Heritage Rail Centre with the only remaining triple gauge turntable in the world. Steam trains and carriages are all housed and displayed in the 23 bay Roundhouse building.

Leaving Peterborough we headed further north before stopping for a quick lunch break at Orroroo. Arriving at Hawker we quickly settled in to the caravan park and then it was time for walk around the township. The weather has improved slightly, not so chilly and damp

Open cut copper mine Burra

Miners Dugouts

Burra Town Hall

Roundhouse Peterborough