We had a relaxing morning at our campsite. Breakfast was cooked on the campfire, and Nathan updated his diary and blog. The kids rode around, played in the dirt and had a hit on the pole tennis. We drove into town after lunch, did a load of washing, grabbed a few things at the supermarket, got some ice and then went to Steamtown where we bought the tour and the lights show.
The tour was great. They had a roundhouse with different engines and carriages that we could look through. The guide told us lots of interesting history about the trains and the general workings of a train town. There were steam engines, Diesel engines, passenger carriages from various times, a maternal and child health carriage, carriages with beds (one had the kids’ bed virtually in the ceiling of the train which the kids thought would have been a great place to sleep) and a very fancy, spacious carriage complete with piano! After the tour we wandered around an area which you could explore without a guide. Nathan was pretty impressed with a train carriage that had a zigzag hallway with tiny compartments for one person.
After Steamtown we took the kids to a playground and had a counter meal at one of the pubs before heading back to Steamtown for the lights show. It was essentially a movie about the history of trains in the district, and how they related to other South Australian and Australian railways. The whole rail gauge issue, in hindsight, seemed like such a waste of time and effort, having to move people, stock and goods between trains where the rail gauge changed. Nathan found it really interesting, Toby didn’t want to but he fell asleep. I thought it was really well done.
While we were having the tour of Steamtown Andrew fell down some steps and hurt himself. We are hoping that there is no serious damage, but his arm/elbow is pretty sore at the moment. Our good camera, though, is now out of action, as it hit the steps quite hard when Andrew fell.
Breakfast
A grasshopper-like bug
Loo with a view, toilet at our campsite
Snacktime
Roundhouse and turntable
Zigzag hallway in a carriage
Interesting bug in the light on our tent
