Heartbreak Hotel

After a leisurely pack up on Saturday morning we left Edeowie Station, aired up our tyres and headed down the highway about 125 km to Quorn, stopping on the way for lunch at Hawker.

Quorn is quaint little town full of sandstone buildings so much a feature of South Australia and a regular stopping point for people leaving Adelaide and heading to the Flinders Ranges.  It is well known for its location for various films (think - Gallipoli, The Water Diviner, The Rover, and Tracks); Heritage Listed buildings and the Pichi Richi Railway.

After setting up we walked up to Flinders Gin Distillery for a tasting…very pleasant.

Sunday, and as luck would have it … it is the annual show day … so guess where we went? 

A few stalls; horse jumping in the arena; restored cars on display (all 2 of them); the local band (with an average age of about 85 years) playing Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall – with the lead singer and backing singers somewhat out of sync and tune – there were about 10 in the band all playing instruments… we sat down nearby to watch the horses in the arena … mercifully the band took its break!

After that we headed back up the road (about 70kms) to an historic pub at Cradock for lunch … we were the only people there …

Looking at the local history one couldn't help but think there wasn't a lot happening even in its heyday … where the highlight of the week was a dust storm and the main conversation around the local happenings was the gossip about each of the inhabitants of the town. 

In its heyday (around the 1880s) it boasted two hotels – next to each other.

Due to some issues, a Police Station was established where they set up a portable iron police holding cell – they quickly realised that it was not cutting the mustard and had to build a more permanent stone arrangement. There were also two blacksmiths, a saddler and a school. 

The locals believed that “the rain would follow the plough” … indeed it did for the first couple of years as they experienced a “wheat rush”.  It went sour after four successive crop failures, effectively ending population growth and the town. The Hotel was known as the “Heartbreak Hotel”.

But the weather is nice … 23 degrees, clear blue sky and no wind! Great weather for drying almost two weeks’ worth of clothing etc.