Day 116 To Port Pirie

Today we drove to Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia. It is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South Australia, and is currently the second most important and second busiest port in SA. The town was originally called Samuel's Creek after the discovery of Muddy Creek by Samuel Germein. In 1846, Port Pirie Creek was named by Governor Robe after the John Pirie, which, while transporting sheep from Bowman's Run near Crystal Brook, became the first vessel to navigate the creek.

On the way we stopped at Pildappa Rock which is a spectacular 1.5-billion-year-old pink granite inselberg featuring massive, sweeping wave formations that rival Western Australia's famous Wave Rock. Located northeast of the town of Minnipa. It features some of the highest and longest granite wave formations on the Eyre Peninsula, sculpted by underground chemical weathering and subsequent soil erosion over millions of years. The top of the dome is dotted with deep natural rock pools (gnamma holes) that hold rainwater and served as historic water sources. There are low concrete and stone gutter systems built around the base by early settlers to channel rainwater runoff into agricultural storage. Pildappa Rock stretches for 100m, its flaring, weathered walls cresting like waves frozen in time. Gentle rock spurs rise three to four storeys high to a lichen-covered summit. We walked up the sloping granite face for gorgeous 360-degree panoramic views of surrounding broadacre wheat fields and the distant Gawler Ranges from the mid point of our circumference walk around the base of the rock about 1.4km.




















The Australian Farmer (also known as the Big Farmer) is a statue located in Wudinna. Regarded as one of Australia's Big Things, the granite sculpture stands at 8 metres (26 ft) in height, and weighs in the vicinity of 70 tonnes. It took 17 years to produce from initial proposal to the final unveiling in 2009, and two years for the artist, Marijan Bekic (with the assistance of his son, David), to carve. The stylised work of a farmer represents the early settlers of the region, with carvings symbolising grain and sheep found within the sculpture.





We stopped at Kimba for lunch. Proclaimed a town in 1915 and named after an Aboriginal word for "Bushfire". There is an 8-metre (26 ft) tall statue of a galah beside the highway, marking halfway between the east and west coasts of Australia. The silo art was painted in September 2017 by renowned Melbourne artist Cam Scale, this massive artwork spans the Viterra grain silos and took 26 days, 200 litres of paint, and a whole lot of heart to complete. It’s a striking tribute to the connection between generations, land, and community.