19 April
Today we decided to drive out to a few places and have a look around, stopping at LAURA for morning tea. Crystal Brook was so named when the explorer John Eyre was passing through this area in May 1829 and noticed the clear sparkling water. Unfortunately we didn’t see any water in Crystal Brook.
There is one main street with a beautiful tree’d centre. The most striking thing we saw in the main street was the giant Lace Monitor sculpture. They live around the Crystal brook region in trees or under big logs.
A street view of Crystal Brook:
Crystal Brook was also our lunch spot. There are lots of playgrounds and picnic areas in towns around South Australia and we have visited quite a few by now.
The Sydney to Perth and the Adelaide to Darwin railways share the same approximately 530 kilometres (329 mi) of track between Crystal Brook and Tarcoola, the scene of a recent de-railment. The museum is a typical local museum and because it was once a bakery it has a rare underground oven. You can see the chimneys to the rear of the building.
Next it was back to Laura, where CJ Dennis, of The Sentimental Bloke fame, went to school.
The North Laura Hotel had stained glass windows which were interesting to look at.
Then a visit to the cemetery was in order where both John and I found relatives. For me it was my great grandfather, James Samuel Henderson and my great grandmother, Ada Henderson. On our last trip 2 years ago, I found his father’s grave, Peter Henderson. My grandfather, Howard Hyla Henderson, worked on his father’s farm until he joined the 9th Light Horse Regiment at the beginning of WWI. After the war, Hyla, as he was known, moved to Western Australia.
On our way back to Orroroo, we saw a sign for Gladstone, 9 kms away, so we took a detour to Gladstone where the biggest attraction is the old Gladstone Gaol. the goal was constructed between 1879 and 1881 & is a good example of the design of British gaols in the late 18th century.
It is the second largest rural gaol in Australia with 125 cells after extension in 1959. During WWII it was briefly used as an internment camp for Italians & Germans. It ceased to be used as a gaol in 1975. There was a cell block for women where they had a birthing suite where 6 recorded births occurred.
A Block – the women's block
C block – with the experimental cells at the far end. These experimental cells had no windows and a concrete slab as a bed with air coming in through a grate underneath the concrete bed.
The guard tower.
On our way home we stopped in to have a look at a tiny town with very few people living there. The hotel has closed and there is one of the tiniest Post Offices I have ever seen.
Tonight our cockies came home about 5.50pm and flew straight over our heads. You can see some silhouettes in the sunset photo.
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