Continued to follow the southern bank of the Murray River from NSW into Victoria then into South Australia via Renmark with a detour via Waikerie. We made a ferry crossing of the Murray at Waikerie then followed the north bank until the river does a big turn south on it's way to the ocean.
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| Crossing the Murray at Waikerie |
We arrived in Burra mid afternoon and set up in a lovely caravan park by the side of Burra Creek. Copper was discovered here in 1845 and within 5 years one of the world's largest copper mines was in operation. The mine [known as the 'Monster Mine'] was a very rich source of copper which initially was obtained by tunneling into the hill. Once the rich seams could no longer be accessed this way the mine company switched to open cast until 1877 when the mine was closed. The mine was re-opened between 1971 and 1981 but then closed for good and has now been allowed to flood.
The town continued to prosper as it moved from a mining centre to a service centre for the pastoral activities of the area.
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| Kooringa Hotel - 1884 |
The original town was built by the mine company; they owned everything and controlled the lives of the miners, many of whom were enticed from Cornwall, Wales and other mining communities in Britain. A large proportion of the old buildings remain in a kind of time warp. The entire town is now on the National Heritage register and at least 30 of the buildings are administered by the National Trust. The buildings were made from the local stone and vary from basic miners cottages to grand houses to elaborate public buildings. The town was well supplied with hotels and churches!
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| St Josephs Catholic Church, Burra - 1874 |
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| St Mary's Anglican Church - 1879 |
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