let's take a walk around the town

On Tuesday morning, I gave up waiting for the bus pretty quickly and decided to walk a loop that would take me down the road past my old High School to the intersection where I'd turn left and continue down to the Solomontown area of Port Pirie.  I'd see the Primary School, continue along Three Chain Road, (which is also Spencer Highway), to the beach, then back along Main Street to Ellen Street to my room.

Here we go.......

 Wandearah Road.  I'd walked along Florence Street to the roundabout at the intersection with Mary Elie Street, crossed over and walked down Wandearah Road. This passes my old High School.....

and here's a glimpse of the back entrance. I remember riding my bike from the school, all the way down Wandearah Road and turning left into Grey Terrace without holding the handlebars. I was such a daredevil......
Opposite the High School oval is the Railway Station that was being built when I was a student. We'd sit on the grass in our lunch break and watch the workers sometimes.
It is no longer used as a Railway Station for passenger trains, but there is a mini railway that operates from there. 

On the railway side of the road here is what you'll see now if you walk like I did....

Aussie scrub......

and trees all the way.

These tangled tree roots could almost be yard sculpture.

I followed this walking track a little way but soon went back to the roadside.
After turning into Grey Terrace, I saw this....

the old rail yard with some track still there for the goods trains that go to the smelting works or the silos. Passenger trains no longer go into town, the bus from Adelaide is the only way if you don't drive.

I also saw lots of peppercorn trees....

some still had the tiny pale yellow flowers that would turn into these....

...peppercorns. They start out green and shiny, then turn pink and papery, eventually browning and shrivelling, before falling to the ground.

Further along Grey Terrace I spotted the overpass that is part of Three Chain Road. 
As far as I know, Three Chain Road was called that because of the two narrower roads that flanked either side of Spencer Highway separated from it by wide median strips of assorted types of trees, one of which had a playground in the middle. The strip, not the tree, ha ha. The playground is no longer there and the access turns from Spencer Highway to the side roads were closed off when the overpass was built sometime in the 80s or late 70s. 

The overpass seen from Grey Terrace.

I walked under it and stopped in the shade there for a moment,

and spotted a couple of pigeons doing the same. 

The overpass from the Solomontown side.

This is how you get up and over...

and here is a view from the top. Aerials everywhere and the Flinders Ranges in the background.

Down on the other side, Grey Terrace is now Railway Terrace and on the corner is.....

my old Primary School, attended from 1960 to 1964, five whole years of my life, grades three to seven.

The original stone building, grades six and seven, is still there, but there was a fence where those cars are and cars parked on the street back then. Where that garden now is. Most of the temporary demountable classrooms are still there too, plus a few extras.

These airconditioning units sure as heck weren't there when I was. 

There are even classrooms where the practise cricket pitches used to be. 


We've done about half the loop...I'll let you rest, it's been a long walk. 
 
To be continued.......