April 26 (322 km)                       KIMBA CP ($A15.30) - Top Tourist

A choice of roads from Ceduna to Port Augusta: follow the coast round the Eyre Peninsula via Port Lincoln (as we did in 2002), or more directly stay on the Eyre Highway, as we had on our cycle ride. We took this shorter route today, following the A1, the railway and a water pipeline across the rolling wheatfields, gradually climbing from sea level to 900 ft. Every small town along the way was heralded by its tall white grain silo alongside the railway tracks - WIRRULLA, POOCHERA, MINNIPA, WUDINNA - we are in the driest State of the driest continent on earth, and it's a major wheat-growing area! Each settlement has a pub and a simple caravan park, perhaps a store and a mechanic's workshop, a Memorial Park for a picnic, lots of space. To the north, the faint outline of the hills of the Gawler Ranges, to the south, dirt roads linked to the coast: Streaky Bay, Anxious Bay, Avoid Bay, Coffin Bay … what stories lie behind these, many named by Mathew Flinders as he mapped the coast of South Australia.

Beyond KYANCUTTA, paused at the memorial to explorer John Darke, by the waterhole where he was speared by natives in 1843. He gave his name to Darke Peak, visible to the south.

KIMBA, the largest town until Port Augusta, claims to be 'Half Way Across Australia' and boasts a giant figure of a Galah (the noisy pink and grey parrots which flock in the grain-growing areas). The Top Tourist CP is linked with a Budget Group Motel (which also gives members a 10% rebate on the normal price of $A70 per double room) and with the town's only petrol station, which gives campers and guests a small discount on fuel. It all helps!

The weather is dry and sunny again, apparently unseasonably hot when it should be cooling down for autumn. This has been the hottest April for over 80 years (according to the ABC – Australian equivalent of our BBC – on the radio). Farmers are desperate for rain, especially on the Eyre Peninsula where bush fires have again broken out (3^rd time this year).

April 27/28 (172 km)                  PORT AUGUSTA, Shoreline CP ($A19.80) – Top Tourist

The wheatfields now gave way to a wooded rolling landscape, the quiet highway turning NE. The railway line had ended at Kimba and we remembered the emptiness of the next 100 km when we cycled to IRON KNOB. This near-ghost-town is heralded by its worked-out iron ore mine and spoil heaps, though the service station/simple motel where we had stayed is still in business.

The Visitor Centre (run, as usual, by friendly volunteers offering to put the kettle on) has a good display on the history of Iron Knob. The birthplace of Australia's steel industry, it has been abandoned since 1999, when mining reached the water table and the pit flooded. We watched the video and bought a postcard and a colouring-book with the story of Mick the Miner in doggerel verse (he finished by blowing himself up!) All proceeds to the unemployed or retired community, which we sadly left little richer.

The next 43 km to the junction with the busier road from Whyalla crossed saltbush scrub, grazed by a few hardy sheep belonging to the Pandurra Station, which covers 400 sq miles! The Station also farms cattle and tourists at its Nuttbush Retreat CP, 30 km after Iron Knob.

Lunch by the river in PORT AUGUSTA, an important crossroads and rail-head at the top of the Spencer Gulf (and the largest town we'd seen since Perth!) There are 2 good caravan parks (a Big 4 and a Top Tourist) and we treated ourselves to an en-suite cabin for 2 nights, giving more space, a television to watch, an oven and grill – luxury at a small price ($A54 inc 10% members' discount). Fully equipped cabins like this, complete with air-con and heating, are generally available throughout Australia and New Zealand, more economical than motel rooms. An extra charge is made if you require bed-linen and towels.

In the town we shopped (a choice of Coles or Woolworths for supermarket food and discounted diesel – at $A1.12 a litre, our cheapest fill so far). We also posted 'Mick the Miner' to our young friend, Sammy, for his birthday; had a film developed; made use of the free internet facility in the modern library to catch up with MMM reader enquiries and to keep in touch with friends. Two of the 6 machines were set up to take our 128 MB USB flash drive. Nothing wrong with civilisation once in a while, though we certainly haven't missed much by having no TV!

April 29/30 (79 + 32 km)            WILMINGTON, Beautiful Valley CP ($A18)

Another internet session in Port Augusta library (machines have to be pre-booked, an hour at a time), followed by a fast-food lunch. There is a choice of McDonalds, Hungry Jacks (= Burger King), Pizza Hut, or KFC – all recently opened here and unseen since Perth!

Then a short drive SE over the Horrocks Pass at 1,700 ft. Pausing at the top, we talked to another motorhomer (a full-timer on his way round from Queensland) parked there for the night. He had emigrated 33 years ago from Blackpool (Margaret's native town)! A short diversion to Hancocks Lookout (also at 1,700 ft along 7 km of gravel road) for tea with a view of the Spencer Gulf, then on to WILMINGTON, a small historic town with 2 caravan parks on the northern edge of the Mt Remarkable National Park in the Flinders Ranges. 'Beautiful Valley' is the original name for Wilmington and our CP, on the main road, is directly opposite the turning for Alligator Gorge.

The forecast 'southerly change' to the weather is slowly happening, with a cooler wind turning distinctly chilly after dark. Autumn is overdue, as is rain.

Next day, drove 11 km from caravan park up the steep, mostly unsealed road (caravans prohibited) to Alligator Gorge in the Mt Remarkable National Park. The entry fee of $A7 per vehicle gave a choice of 2 car parks and a leaflet guide to various walks: 15 mins to a lookout, a 2 hr circuit, or 4 hrs for the full 'Alligator Gorge Ring Route Hike'. We parked at Blue Gum Flat and walked the full length of the gorge, north through the Narrows, along the Terraces and up the catchment of Alligator Creek – all dry-as-a-bone – turning south to return downhill on a broader track past Eaglehawk Dam (dry) and Longhill (both tent camping places). The total route of 11 km took us 3 hours with 1,000 ft of climbing (highest point 2,400 ft).

Lunching back at Blue Gum Flat, we shared the picnic area with just one other family, and we had only passed 2 pairs out walking, all on the shorter circuit. And this on a beautiful Saturday, the last weekend of the school hols! Adelaide must take its leisure at the beach.

The log could be read in conjunction with our Notes on Motorhome Travel in Australia