Blinman, South Australia, Australia
We were so disappointed to awake to low lying cloud and wet weather again. We begged to be able to hike some of the bigger hikes, but alas, Mum and Dad said no and that they had a Plan B instead. Today, we would drive north to Blinman.
Along the way, it was difficult to fully appreciate the beauty of Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges due to the low cloud cover. The further north we drove, however, the weather began to clear slightly.
On our way to Blinman, we were intrigued by the The Great Wall of China signpost. This line of rocks topped with ironstone is said to resemble the Great Wall of China. We will let you decide!
Blinman is the highest surveyed town in South Australia and is another town that was established after the discovery of copper. It is also another town whose life was short lived.
Blinman was named after Robert Blinman, a one legged shepherd who was nick-named Peg Leg. He discovered copper in 1859 and a mine was established between 1862 and 1907. The mine always struggled to economically move the copper to a port as transportation over the Flinders Ranges was a tough slog. At its peak, 1500 people resided in Blinman with its population today being only 18.
Today, there were more than 18 4WDs in the main street with tourists visiting the Blinman pub and bakery and doing the mine tour.
We too enjoyed the local bakery's speciality: Miner's pasty (beef, potato, carrot, onion and pumpkin with a section of apple pie at one end). We completed our meal with a piece of Quandong Pie.
After lunch, we walked (well, us kids mainly ran) the 1.5 km to a local Aboriginal arts and crafts store where almost everything was made on-site.
We managed to get the last available spots on the final mine tour of the day. Lucky we are not scared of the dark as it was pitch black down there when all our lights were turned off! We all enjoyed the tour and we have to admit that despite the only climbing we were able to do was to the top of the mine, it was another fabulous day!
2025-05-22