We discover an ancient rock

Last weekend we drove through the delightful Inman Valley only 15 minutes from home: a winding tree-shaded road, rolling green fields, grazing cattle and sheep, a yabbie farm... and a 270-million-year-old rock.

The valley itself was created as giant sheets of ice flowed north from Victor Harbor during the late Carboniferous/Permian period, back when Australia was still part of the super continent Gondwana (yes, I got that from the interpretive sign).  As the ice eventually melted, huge boulders were left behind, including this one that's regarded as one of the largest glacial pavements in the world; it clearly shows all the striations and gouges that the glacier ice made. The rock was discovered and recognised for what it is in 1859.

I then tried to be creative with my photography, and focussed on the reflections.

After viewing the rock from different viewing spots, we rested in the grounds of the Rock View Cafe and demolished a Devonshire tea.  Rock viewing can be very strenuous!

On the way back we passed an old property.

On the Talisker Trail

A couple of weeks ago we drove to the south-west tip of the peninsula. I love the coastal scenery - always lots of grass trees.

Our destination was the Talisker Trail, a bush walk in rugged countryside around the site of an abandoned silver and lead mine. The ore was discovered by the McLeod brothers in 1862 who named the site after their property on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Leases were soon taken out by others, including many Cornish miners, and mining began in earnest. The surface ore soon ran out, so deep shafts, smelters and buildings to house machinery were built. A nearby town called Silverton developed for the 300 inhabitants and soon they had a bank, hotel, doctor, chapel, stores and a school; despite the inhospitable countryside it was even on the Cobb and Co run.

Today nothing remains of the town. On the walk,  we discovered the ruins of smelters and storage facilities, fenced-off shafts that penetrated deep underground and rusted machinery. Excellent interpretive signs told us all about the mining process and the various ruins.

I couldn't help but think what courage, tenacity, perseverance and optimism these people must have had, though I guess the lure of money sustained them for a time.

This is my first blog.
We moved to the Fleurieu Peninsula from Victoria in September 2015 and are loving it. Have been here two months and are busy settling in and exploring. Retirement is wonderful!!!!!!! A 10-minute drive away is Port Elliot with a lovely coastal walk.