16th Feb - To Whyalla via Iron Knob!

Now, it was one of Darl's plans for the diversion to Iron Knob en route to Wyalla and I was wondering what would be there.  When I mentioned we were going to Iron Knob to a couple of ladies back in Kimba, they laughed - not much there and they were right.    It is something to be seen though, we spent a couple hours there - had a look at the tourist info/museum and had a drink and lunch at the pub.  There is only a couple of hundred residents live here now.

Everything in the town is old.  The houses are old, the cars are old, (70/80's panel vans etc.) the people are old.   The school was put to better use and is now the pub.  The servo has shut, just a Post Office with a few necessities and a camping ground in town.    Check the card, "Mobile service is not available in the outback".   Actually Iron Knob was the birthplace of the Australian steel industry, believe it or not.   After nearly 100 years, mining at Iron Knob ceased in 1998.  One Steel took over from BHP and iron is currently mined from Iron Duke, 50km south of Whyalla.

The old dears at the Info centre, told us the pub was good for a meal.   We enjoyed a drink and a $5 serve of chips, the biggest bag of chips.  Schnitzels are big here.   I think they like to keep things simple.  They had no UDL's, no CC and no dry.  I settled for a Jimmy and coke.   They have a vegie patch out the back, shallots are going great but the aphids(?) got the caulis and broccoli this year. 

Whyalla!  Is renowned as a steel and ship building hub.  The Maritime museum houses the HMAS Whyalla, the first modern warship built in SA in 1941, now standing high and dry some 2kms from the sea.   We had a bit of a look around and don't really see too much exciting.  The town centre has died, a lot of shops are closed down or closing down soon.  I guess the main shopping "centres" were to blame for the town centre demise, though there is a few different and interesting little shops still along the main street.

Today is a very windy day, we thought we would be over the wind by now, but no.  Our poor little camper is getting a battering, the park is on the beach front.   The beach is popular for kite surfers, ideal conditions for them.   There is seaweed on the beach, kinda wrecks it.   We see a lot of that over WA and here in SA, something I don't ever recall seeing on the east coast.  The seaweed comes in with the high tide and stays until the tide takes it out again, if it's a few days it starts to rot and stink (back at Dongara-Denison was rank).   One Steel operations, big, red and not so attractive on the skyline.