Quorn, South Australia

We arrived at Quorn (gateway to the Flinders Ranges) on Friday around midday.  We set up the van, had a bite to eat and then Philip went outside to rotate one of the tyres on the van that was showing signs of wear.  He plugged in the 12 volt rattle gun to undo a couple of the tyre nuts and then we promptly lost all our 12 volt power to the van.  Disastrous.  Without the 12 volt we have no hot water, no flushing toilet, no fridge, no oven or hotplate and no lights.  The only blessing is that we are plugged into 240 volt power so we have A/c for warming and we do have water.  Philip went straight to the office at the van park and the manager was able to give him a name of an auto electrician.  Unfortunately though he could not come to us until Monday.  We knew that we would have to replace our Power Management System (PMS) as we could smell that it was burnt out.  Philip found a 240 volt light at the hardware shop in Quorn and I found a small torch/light so there was nothing for us to do but go to bed and wake up with a clear plan the next day (Saturday).  

After a restless night with both of us tossing and turning we formulated a plan as soon as we woke. We would get on the phone and ring every place in Adelaide that we knew would stock a Power Management System.  After ringing more than 20 places in Adelaide we were finally pointed in the direction of Jayco Caravans that have a spare parts shop in Adelaide.  Jayco use the same PMS that we have in our van and yes they had one (one only!) in stock.  By this time it was 10am and Jayco were to shut at 4pm. Adelaide is around 350k from Quorn so we figured we would be there by 2pm if we left straight away. We quickly gathered clothes and toiletries together (thinking we MIGHT stay) and jumped in the car.  We arrived at 2pm and quickly made our purchase.  

We decided to stay the night in Adelaide and head home the next day as we were both weary from our restless night.  We found a great hotel that was near the Adelaide Oval and it was also the cheapest I could find online!  What a great find.  The hotel was old but had had a mini renovation that made it look a million dollars....

It was around 3.30 by the time we arrived at the hotel and we hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast so once we had delivered our clothes to the room (no suitcases just plastic bags!!) we set sail outside to find a place to eat.  We were spoilt for choice and we only had to walk a half block before we entered a warm and comforting Italian Restaurant.  Yes, it was raining and cold.  The menu was extensive but we couldn't go past the "Taster" that had a selection of almost everything on the entree menu! Chicken Schnitzel, Chorizo, Calamari, Onion Rings, Prosciutto, Buratta, Olives, Prawns, Cheese Sticks and Arancini.  We also ordered a Pizza but we ended up asking for a box to take it back to our room as the taster was enormous!

Back in our room we had showers and jumped into bed to watch the Matildas play the French.  How good was that!  We love our little pocket rocket from Cairns - Mary Fowler, and who doesn't love our captain Sam Kerr......

The next morning we headed to the hotels restaurant for a continental breakfast that was included with the price of our room.  Must say it was pretty darn good and we were back in the car by 9am for the drive back to Quorn.  It rained almost all the way back to Quorn but I did snap a photos of the fields of Golden Canola!  You might also notice the wind turbines.  They are everywhere in South Australia.  I believe South Australia leads the way in renewable energy sources.  Good on them!

Back in Quorn and Monday morning, bright and early, our Auto Electrician arrived to change over our burnt out PMS with the brand new one, and I am happy to say that everything is now back to normal in our van. Wheeeewwwww!  It was a stressful couple of days.  

After lunch on Monday the sun came out and we did the tourist walk around Quorn.  It is such an interesting place that came into existence as an important railhead in 1875.  You may recall that we had tickets to ride the vintage train the Pitchi Ritchi on Saturday. Unfortunately with all our power problems we had to cancel our tickets that I was really sad to do but these things can't be helped.  

The tourist walk is around 4 kilometres and we enjoyed the walk very much.  A lot of the old sandstone houses have been beautifully restored as are some of the commercial buildings.  It is a pleasure to walk around this lovely little town.

I particularly loved the memorial park dedicated to our war heroes.  There are numerous statues that are all made out of wire.  So clever.....

Last night we made our way into town for the Quorn Silo Light Show.  Wow!  This is so clever.  The movies, projected onto the silos, cover various topics and the movies run for a couple of hours.  It is wonderful to watch and I am enthralled.  A modern day Drive-In!

We only stayed for an hour and a half as we are both feeling pretty weary.  Tomorrow they are predicting a sunshine day albeit cold with morning temperature 1 degree.  We intend doing the Dutchman's Stern hike so we need to get a good nights sleep before attempting this 11km hike!