Day 34 Bowman Park to Mt Remarkable

Walked around the area as we hadn’t had much time the night before as there appeared to be quite a lot to see. interesting reading about the history of the place and what there was around to see

Another reason we did not realise these information boards were there was because this couple had parked their van right in front of the boards

First of all we walked through some of the gardens



Some beautiful flowers



Then we checked out some of the old buildings

This artwork was outside the entry to the old mens toilets

This artwork was outside the entry to the old ladies toilets

This piece of structure above the showers in the old building was part of an old railway bridge culvert

These were the old shower cubicles in the old building

A view through the window of the old building

There were some stairs that we went up and found this huge room up there

There were birds flying in an out and we found this nest on the light fitting



Not sure what the purpose of this tray structure was for but interesting writing on the inside of the metalwork

We followed a path around the back of the buildings passing these pine trees

With these interesting reproductive parts that we will need to check later as to what they are



Pretty flowers along the walk

Which went up a hill behind the buildings





And ended up at a steel tower

Which we climbed up and were rewarded with great views around the area















This was the wiki camps link to this look out

There certainly were good views but unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best for good viewing

However it was a pleasant walk up and down with plenty of wildflowers



Came across the old Homestead on our way back down





And some other outer heritage buildings that we could go into



Had fun messing about in here as there was a stage at the end of this room



And played around with the views from the windows













Through the back of the building the pathway led into some ruins where one of the peacocks was standing on the walls

Walking around the garden found this interesting trig point



Took more photos of the peacock



Whilst reading about the gardens and the ruins





Then the peacock started to display so needless to say we took a whole lot more photos









It was almost as if he was displaying specially for us







We then moved on to what was described as a playground

Very interesting very different playground and  we had lots of fun in it


Bill had a lot of fun playing shipwrecks







And I enjoyed sitting in this chair

Moving on through another area of the garden

And still enjoying the play area

Photo of Bill in this very appropriately named seat

And me on this interesting praying mantis

Bill on the little bridge

Interesting reading this plaque as it was only built as recently as 2020

This slide was too tempting for Bill



Love the appropriate peacock weathervane

This is my AllTrails image of the hike we did up to the lookout

At the playground we came across a couple that were weeding here

They are a couple on the move but are staying here for a few days so decided to be useful as some of the area was overgrown with weeds and they wanted to contribute to the upkeep of the grounds

They told us about a nice walk that they had been on and pointed out where it started so we headed off on this walk starting going over a little bridge over the creek

The creek is apparently Crystal Brook which the nearby town is named after



Took lots of photos on the walk

Including these old buildings that we thought may have been toilets



Very pretty walk with plenty of flowers













And lots of birds, didn’t manage to get many photos but certainly enjoyed the bird song

There were also plenty of flowering trees including this Peppertree





We continued on the track around the top of the ridge above the creek behind the camping area and came across some other old ruins

And massive trees





Crossed a wide old causeway

And eventually ended up at the hut for the Heysen Trail





After checking out the hut we continued on the pathway of the Heysen Trail





And eventually ending up at the entrance to the park



Where we came across more photo opportunities







Including the wall in front of this massive river red gumtree



Chris who was the lady who had been doing the weeding offered to take a photo of both of us on the wall



We continued on through the gardens as there was an area that we have not looked at yet









We were interested in the native bee area

And the school children project that Bill found behind some plants that had grown over it

Bill had me pose for this photo

This is the image of the AllTrails mapping of the second walk we did

Having completed the walks around the property we decided it was time to head off into the town of Crystal Brook for some lunch specially as it was nearly 1 o’clock

We took a different road out that we drove in on it was a gravel road but a good surface







We parked in Crystal Brook

And had a look at and took photos of some of the information boards







Walked through town up one side of the short street and back down the other taking photos of some of the sculptures















Stopped at the pub the only place open for lunch and a drink

We were the only ones there too the town was a bit dead specially for a Saturday

More Crystal Brook sites





Back out onto the Augusta Highway

Out of Crystal Brook and onto our destination for the night





Bypassed Port Pirie

Alongside the railway line

With views out to the bay

And several turn off‘s before reaching ours





Took a turn off the main highway towards Mount remarkable

A gravel road but a good gravel road





Past some ruins







Eventually arriving at the entrance to the National Park

Where there were several boards with information on









Seems that we have to go online to book a campsite but we had no idea about the campsites or where we would fit with our van we also did not have enough Internet to even be able to log in so we drove down and around the campground and picked out a site and then rang the family asking if they could book the site for us

Fortunately for us Dugald was able to do that for us

The site we had chosen was a pretty one mostly away from others at the campground and this was the view that welcomed us when we arrived at the site

The HEMA map tracking of where we travelled today

These photos show the camp spot and the surrounds of where we chose and where we set up







After setting up there was enough daylight to be able to go for a short walk to check out the area and the walks





















We ended up on a walk following beside the creek with a sign that said Creek Crossing

The signage for the walks wasn’t terribly clear and because we did not have signal we could not follow the useful apps that we had

However it was an enjoyable walk along beside the creek









We reached a point where there was a road and at the end of it a sign that said Creek Crossing



We presumed that this was the creek crossing that they were referring to 

at this point we decided to turn around and go back as we believe we had joined with the long walks that were advertised on the sign at the beginning









These information signs were all at the day use area that we had walked through to go on our walk











Bill spotted this South Australian Rosella just before we got back to the campground

There were also quite a few kangaroos hanging around the campground as well as lots of galahs





We decided to continue on walking along through the campsite beside the river to go on the Wirra Water loop walk



But when we realised it was a longer walk than we had originally thought we turned around and went back when we had reached the group camp area

I tracked our walk on AllTrails

Seeing as we had had a lunch at the pub we had a salad for dinner with the marinated prawns that we had bought at Dublin

Only a small Sunset view tonight from our van