If asked to describe Australia in one word, then that word would have to be “freedom”. The U.K. may have stood testament to the belief and defence of free speech in recent history and has at times paid a terrible price, both in physical and fiscal terms to uphold those beliefs. The freedom I allude to with regard to Australia, is the freedom of spirit. There is something totally intoxicating in the huge panorama that awaits the visitor to her shores. Australia’s pure size in relation to its population (15.8 people per sq mile) is truly staggering. When you come from an island such as Great Britain where every sq ft, under a normally cloudy sky seems to be accounted for, Australia is a shock to the system. The vast tracts of red earth or empty coastline are breathtaking in their enormity, they are liberating beyond description when observed under a cloudless sky. This eulogizing may seem somewhat effusive viewed beyond Antipodean shores, but experience a deserted track as it cuts across mile upon mile of untouched outback and the eulogy becomes more akin to the truth – Australia is unique!
In case you are wondering just what brought on this outburst for all things Oz, it was because I had exited the main road somewhere past Dublin and left a trail of red dust in my wake, as I followed a track to a serene beach overlooking the Gulf of St.Vincent. It was a truly magical moment, alone on a beach that stretched forever into the distance - the world could go swivel, just me, and nature at its most glorious. The moment passed and soon I was my cynical old self again as I re- joined the Princes Highway, heading for Port Wakefield and the Yorke Peninsula.
Wallaroo, just the sound, that lovely mellow “oo” dipthong was enough to draw me away from Port Wakefield and instead cross the head of the peninsular. Wallaroo and its sister townships of Kadina and Moonta are known collectively as the “Copper Triangle” or “Little Cornwall”, because so many of the miners drawn to this area to extract the huge copper reserves, were from this south west county of England. Wallaroo has long since ceased to be the centre of copper extraction and is now, it appears, a major grain port. The only relic of its past industry, a large chimney, once part of the old smelting works and even this is now dwarfed by the huge grain silos which dominate the outskirts of Wallaroo. The town centre was easy on the eye, with pretty heritage buildings and enough activity to give the impression that people still inhabited the area.