Day 221 Peterborough, SA

 Today we passed through some of the most stunning scenery we have seen on this journey.  We drove out of Port Augusta and headed towards Adelaide on the the A1 highway before making a left hand turn to the east and on to Horrocks Pass Road.  We are now about to cross the magnificent Flinders Range.  It is hard to describe this mountain range with its many valleys creating shadows with all the shades of blue.  I have seen some photos taken at sunrise and sunset over the ranges and am kicking myself that we didn't drive the thirty odd kilometres to get a sunset photo.  The good news is that we will be returning to the Flinders Ranges next year.  My friend Karen gave me a "heads up" on a terrific camping area that looks out onto these ranges so I have already marked it as a favourite for next year.

We reach an altitude of 490 metres at the top of Horrocks Pass and we have pretty much stayed around this height today.  On our drive into Peterborough we had another climb to 570 metres and we both commented that we think that this might be the highest we have been on our travels.  The scenery is beautiful with open downs and undulating hills.  There are crops as well as cattle and sheep.  It is so green and we are certainly seeing this country at its absolute best.  I have to say that about our whole trip really.  We have not seen one acre of dry or brown or droughted country in our whole travels.  So what has been a bit of a bug bear for us at times (rain and cold) has meant that we have seen  this wonderful country at it's finest.

Peterborough is a small town with a population of around 1700.  The Main Street is lined with some beautiful old heritage listed buildings that I hope to get some photos of later this evening.  We are only here for one night so we have had to pick out the best things to see in this short time.  Top of the list is Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre - a museum with a difference.  The Steamtown Rail Centre was one of the main sites for railway maintenance and repairs. Peterborough was a major rail transport hub for South Australia and in its heyday saw more than 100 trains pass through each day and employed more than a 1000 people.  

Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre is a magnificent static display of all eras of train from steam through to diesel and every type of rail carriage imaginable.  We took the 90 minute tour through the massive sheds that house all the engines and carriages and we will return tonight for the Sound & Light Show.  It is a very impressive museum.

Tomorrow we head to Broken Hill for three nights.  After Broken Hill we are really going to have to check all roads for flooding.  We will just have to wing it......