Melrose and Mount Remarkable
with Keith Conlon

"It is one of the prettiest locations I have seen", wrote the yet-to-be famous explorer Edward John Eyre as he named Mount Remarkable. Standing on a rise just out of the town of Melrose that is at the foot of the mount, we weren't going to argue with that judgement.

An easy three hour drive (260km) north of Adelaide, the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges is blessed with a dramatic high and steep ridge as a backdrop. The town began with a slab hut in 1848. It was the headquarters for the Far North Division of the SA Police, the largest precinct in Australia at the time. The handsome stone Police Station and Courthouse with stables and lock-up behind, are in good nick, with the National Trust keeping order and opening its museum within, every afternoon.

Carved out of a failed copper-mine special survey, the pretty and historic town was under way in the 1850's, becoming the "Emporium of the North" for stockmen and settlers. Some signs of that buzz remain to explore. It had three hotels for a while. The North Star, proudly displaying its claim as the oldest license in the Flinders Ranges, stands at the bend as the main highway comes through town. On the opposite corner, The Royal Exchange hasn't sold a drink in more than 120 years but North Star guests still stay there. The rustic walls of the Mt Remarkable Hotel went up in the 1850's to serve the north.

The picturesque village boasted three blacksmiths too. The only surviving smithie's shop is a jewel. Bluey Blundstone shod the police troopers' horses over the road for half a century, and it looks like he's just left. Beautifully restored, the corrugated iron and pine and pug building is now a coffee shop (the verandah tables give you a chance to contemplate the Mt Remarkable climb literally in front of you). There's also a charmingly rustic Bed and Breakfast in the barn out through the country garden.

This is bushranger country, with the Heysen Trail scaling the slopes to the peak. For those daunted by the five to six hour return trip, however, there's a very pretty nature trail that runs along the edge of the National Park that comes to the edge of Melrose. It passes the striking and poignant white obelisk - the War Memorial - with a postcard view of the town and the Willochra Plain beyond, and cuts across through gum studded gullies to Catherdral Rock. It soars out of this southern start of the Flinders Ranges, a huge momento of oceanic comings and goings and geological shake, rumble and roll. On the trail back, we found the old Mount Remarkable Mining Company workings from the 1840's.

The nature walk (the caravan park information centre will happily give you a map) comes back into the oldest end of Melrose. It is dominated by a magnificent regional relic. Jacka's Brewery sits several stories high in a paddock that once hummed with activity. Originally a flour mill that hit hard times in the 1890's Depression, it became a great regional brewery with forty employees before the 1930's Depression in turn forced its closure. Just down the dirt road is a humble pug and pine cottage, one of several left in this historic town from the 1850's. There are a number of fine Victorian era homes too, including John Henry Jacka's, next door. The local council's excellent historical walk booklet is the key to really enjoying your meander round this classic northern town. Melrose is dominated by Mount Remarkable, with its range rising dramatically from the wheat paddocks beneath. While the old sheep trails might have excused an effort to climb it, the new track is longer, but offers a very steady climb all the way. Our Postcards crew came across a Green Corps team picking and shovelling a final section into place. These employment trainees have become pretty fit climbing the mountain each day to go to work!!

Their new track leads to a giant cairn?? of rocks next to the old tin trig-point at the tree-covered and mounded top. I chucked my own chunk on the pile in the time-honoured tradition, and then took in the rich rewards of the climb. To the East, the Willochra Plain is an appealing patchwork of paddocks with puffs of dust pinpointing farmers out sowing crops. A short walk down the firetrack to the South revealed the Port Pirie Chimneys on Spencer Gulf. Forty kilometres away across the water, the white gas tanks at Point Lowry stood out clearly over a saddle in the next spine of ranges in Mount Remarkable National Park.

With another wander north to the campsite on the ridge, we shot more stunning Flinders Ranges panoramas through the gum trees and wattles. The ancient range puts on a timeless show, and the new track into the National Park will open it up to more visitors to Melrose. The oldest town in the Flinders Ranges, as its residents proudly boast, is also one of the most charming. It is also much closer than the vast northern stretches, and our Postcards trip confirmed for us its special place as the easy-to-reach taste on the Flinders.

Details:

Mt Remarkable National Park
Southern Flinders District Office
National Parks and Wildlife Service
Mambray Creek, via Pt Pirie 5540
Phone: (08) 8634-7068
Fax: (08) 8634-7085
Park Guide brochures available re walking trails, camping times and sites etc.

Melrose
Melrose Tourist Park and Information Centre
Joe's Road, Melrose 5843
Phone: (08) 8666-2060
Fax: (08) 8666-2203
*Nature Walk map
*Melrose - An Historical Walk brochure

Bluey Blundstone's
B & B and Coffee Shop
Ph/Fax: (08) 8666-2173
*Old Police Station National Trust Museum
Open daily 2.00pm - 5.00pm