Australia So Much to See

After crossing Horrock's Pass, we found a lovely season, with crops lush a growing well, with lambs also well grown and fat. In the photo above, Hereford cattle are grazing beyond this crop.

Horrock's Pass as we cross the Flinders Range west to east.

Small turnouts are in some sections, but too small for a caravanner to pull into to allow traffic behind to overtake.

As the descent on the eastern side commenced, we looked over the small town of Wilmington and into a lush green valley.

Melrose Heritage Courthouse Museum Complex incorporates Police, Courthouse and Cells, and is based in the heritage courthouse.

Copper has been mined in the area, but as the yields were poor, mining tenures had a short history.

Melrose

Melrose, at the foot of the 955 metre Mount Remarkable, is said to be named after Melrose in Scotland, although an alternative theory is that it was named after pioneer George Melrose. It was the first settlement in the Mount Remarkable district, commencing in 1844 when Colin Campbell took out an occupation licence. By the end of 1844 all the land around the mountain had been taken up on leasehold by pastoralists.

To the north of the town, a rest area features a Goyder Line Memorial (at right). Lovely old trees (below) have very thick bases, and some older ones keep on surviving.

Melrose claims to be the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges, being proclaimed in 1853. The town is situated in a scenic location at the base of Mount Remarkable, alongside the seasonal Willochra Creek, where a suspension foot bridge crosses the creek in the centre of the town.

Photo at left showers the sculpture as detailed below in the centre island, with North Star Hotel to the left and the council building to the right. The road continues to the suspension bridge.

28/01/2024

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Lush green crops (at right), as in the banner at the top of the page. South of Melrose.

Seventeen kilometres south of Melrose, we passed the tiny town of Murray Town with a further thirteen kilometres further to go before we reached Wirrabara.

The most prominent building in town is the North Star Hotel, with sign above door “First Tapped in 1854” (at right). The original building was a simple log structure. The present building dates to 1881 and renovations have retained the external appearance.

Flinders Explorers (lower right)

This sculpture was commissioned to welcome visitors to our walking and cycling trails, which form part of the famous Heysen and Mawson trail networks.

With clever use of boomerangs in the bicycle design, and a dog alongside the walker, the sculpture also reminds us of our cultural history and farming tradition.

Melrose.............Truly Remarkable

This sculpture has been made possible through Federal, State, and Local Government funding.

Sculpture: Trevor Innes

Fabrication:Catford Engineering, Jamestown

Trevor Innes

Resources

Aussie towns – Melrose

South Australian History – Melrose

Melrose Mount Remarkable

Camping areas

Wilmington: See Hancock’s Lookout

Beautiful Valley Caravan Park (south side of town)

Stony Creek Bush Camp Caravan Park 2.5 kilometres east of Wilmington, in a bushland setting

Melrose: In addition to a council owned caravan park along Willochra Creek in the town centre, there is showground camping a kilometre to the north of the town.

Murray Town: Community managed low cost campground with showers and toilets water and powered sites at showground. No dump point