Day 11 Port Pirie etc

20/04/11

Our plan today was to head to Wilpena Pound however our friends from yesterday suggested we should visit Port Pirie so why not - it's great to be able to change plans without worrying about time.

1st stop Jamestown - a lovely spot where it's obvious they take pride in their town.  The ever present grain silos as well as a monument to R M Williams who grew up in the town (includes a not so flattering wooden bust of the man).

Next stop Gladstone - a popular name for a town - we know of 3 others QLD TAS and VIC.  Apart from having notoriety for the largest grain storage facility it is the home of a gaol built at the turn of the century.



But first a stop at the local park for breakfast and a play on the grass and a quick visit to the local scout hall.

Then its off to visit the gaol - a bleak looking place - built originally to deal with overflow from Adelaide and to service the area.  Designed to hold up to 200 prisoners however only ever averaged 40 and closed down in 1950s.  There are 4 blocks; A block for the women, B block for the men, C block for Solitary Confinement and D block for the aborigines (this block contained large community cells so they could have up to 10 people in 1 cell - a strategy to stop them committing suicide which was apparently successful) .  I asked the question what happened to aboriginal women - were they housed in A block or D block?  There was no answer for this one.

The prison was also the venue for a Brian Brown film called "Stir" - can't say I've heard of it but we'll look out for it in future.



The view from the tower ensures that prisoners are well guarded from above.  Sean was playing up so he had to spend time on the stocks before we could leave.



We made it to Port Pirie - stocked up on groceries at the shopping plaza which took some time to find. 

 Next town Port Germaine - it's claim to fame is the longest jetty in the universe or something like that - all I know it's a bloody long jetty.  Sean went out to the end but Jude and I decided not to go all the way.  By the time we'd walked out and come back the tide had come in approx 100m across the shallow foreshore.

 We were heading for a place called Germaine Gorge for the night but we overshot and ended up in a parking spot by the side of the road.  The windy road through the gorge managed to upset one of the cupboards in the van and we had quite a mess when we arrived.  Despite this it was a good campspot.

 The Campbells