Port Pirie

Friday morning we went and had a look in the museum in the old railway station. The railway line used to run along the centre of the main street.

Friday afternoon we had a tour around the smelter works. It was really interesting. it is the largest smelter works in the world. They supply lead for car batteries plus zinc, silver, copper, antimony and sulphuric acid. They are very aware of environmental issues. All the kids are checked every 6 weeks for levels of lead in their blood.

This morning we woke up and could hear a person singing at the top of his voice. By the time we'd had showers and went to investigate, the singer was getting out of the water...the river near the caravan park. Apparently he goes swimming most mornings and sings as he goes so he doesn't feel the cold. We'll see if we can video him tomorrow morning. We could hear him way over the other side of the caravan park.

Saturday afternoon we went for a drive east of Port Pirie. We drove through Crystal Brook to Spalding. When Dave was at uni, he spent a couple of weeks at Broughton Park, Spalding, on work experience, crutching sheep, etc. We called there and he caught up with Ian and Jan who are currently on the property. Ian, the brother of Colin, who Dave went to uni with, had a diary going back to 1974. On 22nd May 1974 (exactly 36 years ago to the day), Dave helped to paint the hall in the house there. We continued on to Burra, where Dave enjoyed the antique shops, then on to the Clare Valley, another grape-growing area of SA.