Why on earth would a pasty, that bakery delight peculiar to South Australia and some parts of the West (there are some things in which the Eastern States are decidedly lacking) feature in the title of a travel blog? Because, dear readers there is a great proportion of the SA population who will swear to you that the Kuspsch Bakery in the main street of Crystal Brook produces the finest example of this portable feast in the country.
I would number myself amongst them! In fact, for many passing through this way, a failure to pull in and indulge is tantamount to epicurean heresy!
But as I also noted in the title, this is but one feature of this moderately sized town for travellers to enjoy.
As the upshot of a number of factors, including sheer age, an early childhood spent in Port Lincoln on Eyre Peninsular, a Police country posting to the South-East of SA and many periods of the last six years of my working life spent visiting a broad range of SA rural centres, there is little which takes me by surprise in rural SA, but Crystal Brook dished one up.
This came in the form of the nearby Bowman Park, a place of local historical interest and significance as well as being the site of a bush RV camping site. Our friend Karin strongly suggested we visit whilst here. We remain very pleased we took her advice (thanks KH!).
After a short four kilometre drive north of the town we parked the Cruiser at the edge of this large grassed area on a fine and clear autumn morning.
I did take the time to scurry across the sward to gain this perspective photo which gives quite a good idea of the layout of many of the buildings here in this delightful setting.
This is a park of several parts, including walking trails (one of which includes a section of the Heysen Trail), a native garden, old buildings, a hall for hire and, of course, the camp ground.
We began our jaunt by climbing the steps which took us up a rise to the site of the (second) old homestead, and as this shot makes obvious, for once Liz was O/C camera!
This old building, with its outlook down over the slope, was still in reasonable repair, but we were a little surprised that, given what else has been done here, more effort has not gone into restoring the homestead more fully and converting it to tourist accommodation.
But then I'll warrant I'm not the first to have thought of that, so there must be a good reason this has not happened. Other sections of the park demonstrate that there is no lack of 'commercial will' here.
This property has a history of ambition, failure, some success, and constant hardship. And it is one of geographical significance in that it lies close to the 'Goyder Line', an imaginary line of real importance to any understanding of the way in which the weather influences farming practice in this State.
Even the name of the original sheep run (and now the town) has a twist in its tail. This area was first explored by Edward John Eyre in his first push north out of Adelaide in 1839. Now, whilst Eyre was a consummately skilled and doggedly determined explorer, he could not spell for nuts. He found the spring fed stream which still flows through the town and recorded its name as 'Chrystal Brook' on his charts.
A few years later, this spelling was corrected. I'll let the excellent Bowman Park website take up the story of this and more:
"The spelling was corrected to Crystal Brook when William Younghusband and Peter Ferguson established a pastoral property by that name 'Crystal Brook Run', which extended across to Port Pirie and occupied 560 square miles (1450 square kilometres).
In the case of Crystal Brook run, they had some frightful droughts. The years 1859, 1866-9, and 1874 scarred the country as it had, perhaps, never been scarred before. A trail of dead sheep and cattle stretched across the wilds. One year 15,000 animals perished, and another 10,000. Younghusband and Ferguson sold this holding to the Bowman Brothers in 1852. The three Bowman brothers, John, William and Thomas, were old hands at the game of sheep raising however found some stiff problems awaiting them when they decided to put sheep and cattle on the newly acquired property.
The first problem was labour. Australia was in the grip of the gold fever following the discovery of the Victorian diggings. Men were not to be had. The whole province had been drained of its males by the magic lure of gold.
When shearing time came round the Bowmans took off their coats, rolled up their sleeves, seized a pair of shears in one hand and a tar pot in another, and set off to do their own shearing. They put through 25,000 sheep. And they did the job better than it would have been done with hired help, for twice a day they drove the sheep through the water to wash the wool before they took it off. After living in the wilds, away from civilisation, fighting scab, wild dogs and kangaroos, the Bowmans got 5d. per 1b. for their wool.
The Bowman Brothers operated the run for the next 24 years.Today this old station does not exist, except in ruins. In 1873 it was resumed by the Government, and cut up into agricultural blocks. Prosperous farms dot the countryside, and are the backbone of the prosperity which is Crystal Brook today."
What a tale, and as I mentioned earlier, the droughts of the late 1800's, which wreaked havoc on the efforts and aspirations of many early farming settlers in the northern areas of South Australia had been predicted with extraordinary accuracy by a most remarkable man, one George Goyder.
Time for a quick aside and a story, one of remarkable observation skills coupled with an accurate interpretation of what he saw, and of some years in which ignorance and greed overcame a scientifically based warning. I have lifted this excerpt from 'Wikipedia' which I acknowledge as the source:
"With barely 30 years' knowledge of this new country, farmers needed
reliable information about the climate and growing conditions. In 1865 George Goyder, the then Surveyor-General of the colony, was asked to map the boundary between those areas that received good rainfall and those experiencing drought.
After traversing an estimated 3200 km on horseback (not including the Eyre Peninsula) in November 1865, he submitted his report and map to the state
government on 6 December. The map included a line of demarcation, the
areas north of which being those Goyder judged "liable to drought", with
the areas to the south deemed arable.
He discouraged farmers from planting crops north of his line, declaring this land suitable only for light grazing. Goyder's report was based on the information already in his office,
supplemented by the observations made during the 1865 journey to observe
the effects of drought. He was guided in drawing the line by the
changes in vegetation, especially various kinds of saltbush.
Ample rains fell in 1865, prompting farmers to ignore Goyder's
report and settle in the north, starting farms and planting crops. The
idea that rain follows the plough, developed during the contemporaneous westward expansion of cropping in the United States, encouraged this trend. A few years later, many had to abandon their
properties. The land was indeed unsuitable for crops, and Goyder was
proved correct. Many farmhouse ruins can still be seen in the vicinity of Goyder's line."
This is a map showing this famous line, one which has proven to be remarkably accurate as the demarcation point between viable cropping land and that satiable only for grazing. And yet, amazingly, Goyder and his most useful line with all its far reaching practical implications, are almost unknown beyond South Australia.
At Bowman Park the ruins of the original homestead we next came to on our jaunt around the property infrastructure were not the result of farming folly, but the abandonment of the property by the Bowman brothers in 1878.
At the base of the slope the stables, hay loft and buggy shed, all of which were built here in the early 1850's, remain in much better nick.
The beautifully restored building adjacent to the car park is now the Park venue centre which is available for function hire at a quite modest fee.
And of course, what's a park like this without at least one spectacular and completely incongruous local?
Unfortunately this colourful peacock, a bird of complete composure and one ehivh displayed a total lack of fear of visitors, was not sufficiently impressed by our company to display his tail to its best advantage. 'You two look nothing like a peahen.....I'm not stupid'. His tail remained fixedly furled!
The surprisingly large and well laid out 'nature garden' comes complete with interpretive signs and a large variety of native plants and shrubs,
whilst the nearby camping area provided plenty of areas where visiting travellers could opt for either shade or full sun depending on their needs.
We brought our reasonably quick visit to an end with a short gallop around another of the walking trails, part of which was indeed the Heysen Trail, albeit a minute fraction of the 1,200 kilometres it covers in all as it winds its way from the Flinders Ranges to the bottom of the Fleurieu Peninsula.
What a hidden gem this park proved to be, and as I said earlier, I cannot believe that I'd never heard of it before. This will be one for the books once we go 'off road'.
The drive back to town brought us an overview of the huge grain silos which dominate the town which nestles in the shallow creek valley amidst a mass of large trees.
Crystal Brook exists as it has since it was settled, as a service centre for the surrounding cropping and grazing country, where wheat and sheep predominate in what are universally known as 'mixed farms'. As we have seen, this area lies just south of Goyder's line, and a failed season here is relatively rare. This town of about 1,500 permanent souls exudes a quite, rural charm, and although many of the streets appear somewhat arid, magnificent homes and gardens can be found throughout as we shall see shortly.
At this point I have to confess that here in Crystal Brook I did not embark on my usual 'town walk', eyes peeled and camera at the ready. I was beginning to go down with a rotten bug which was soon to take a real piece out of both our lives, but more of that later. So whilst I lazily languished on my developing bed of pain, Liz did the honours, and a fine job she did at that. I may well have to look to my laurels in the future.
Bowman Street, the relatively short street in the commercial heart of town, is nothing if not picturesque, with its large trees, centre gardens and an assortment of fine old buildings on either side.
At the intersection of Bowman Street and Eyre Road, where the CBD proper begins, this delightful small rotunda, set in the grounds of the surrounding memorial gardens, adds to the sense of rural charm, peace and tranquillity.
The solid bulk of the old Institute building stands guard at the north-eastern end of the commercial strip,
whilst on the opposite side of the road the Royal Hotel, one of a two pubs in Bowman Street, has pride of place.
The unmistakable design of this old building marks it as an erstwhile bank, which indeed it was. Banking here is now a thing of the past. These days this fine building is home to 'Vault 35', a cafe and coffee house of some repute. Liz and Karin did enjoy an afternoon tea here, and Liz can attest to the quality of the crepes in particular.
Just off the main drag, in Brandis Street, one cannot fail to notice this large stone building complete with the 'Rosella' brand advertising (which I must confess I remember well from my younger years). Now a museum of merit, this is the oldest two storey stone building in the town. It originally housed a bakery with underground ovens, a feature which can still be seen here.
The facade of the row of shops along the southern side of Bowman Street gives a clue to the age of these buildings and here those wandering by can do so under the shelter of a line of verandahs and in this it is 'hats off' to the local authorities.
So many similar streetscapes have been destroyed by over zealous officials who, in fits of totally unwarranted concerns about public safety, have ordered the removal of the supportive posts which line the kerb with the obvious result...no more verandahs. Idiocy!
At the far end you may be able to just pick out a stretch of ornamental vines along the base of the roof line.
These, and the distinctive purple sign above, mark the location of the Kupsch bakery about which I have previously waxed lyrical.
We did not leave Crystal Brook without a significant addition to the stock in the freezer in the form of a number of pasties (which didn't last long I am embarrassed to admit....my rule about infrequent pastry consumption went out the window under the influence of the temptation presented by these excellent pastry parcels!).
About midway along Bowman Street this very lifelike and somewhat larger than life sized statue of a Lace Monitor, raring up on its hind legs in a most aggressive pose, certainly comes as something of a surprise in the main street.
An encounter with these quite formidable looking goannas can be somewhat intimidating (I've had personal experience whilst houseboating on the River Murray) so I have to say I was pleased to have avoided any encounter during our visit to Bowman Park or during our stay in the caravan park.
Another unexpected feature of this main commercial street came in the form of this exchange point. Now a book exchange is not so unusual, but a seed exchange certainly was something neither of us had ever come across before.
Nearby on the central median strip a small stone monument and plaque appears somewhat insignificant. Its rather dowdy appearance belies the achievements of the local son it honours.
Arthur Sullivan, who was born here in Crystal Brook in 1896, took himself off to WW1 as a member of the AIF, but not until 1918. The Armistice was signed before Arthur saw any active service, and keen to experience a taste of conflict, rather than coming home, he popped off and joined the British Army. And whilst it could be said that Arthur may have been a glutton for punishment, he lacked nothing when it came to raw courage and concern for his mates.
Arthur won his VC in what has been very correctly described, from a British perspective, as a forgotten war. How many of you, dear readers, knew that, after the end of the hostilities of the First World War, the Brits sent troops off to Russia to fight for the 'establishment' in that very nasty and bloody civil war which had enveloped Russia. Arthur was amongst their numbers.
His citation reads thus:
"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the 10th August
1919, at the Sheika River, North Russia. The platoon to which he
belonged, after fighting a rearguard covering action, had to cross the
river by means of a narrow plank and during the passage an officer and
three men fell into a deep swamp.
Without hesitation, under intense
fire, Corporal Sullivan jumped into the river and rescued all four,
bringing them out singly. But for this gallant action his comrades would
undoubtedly have been drowned. It was a splendid example of heroism, as
all ranks were on the point of exhaustion, and the enemy less than 100
yards distant."
Dare we say that even when fighting alongside the Brits, Arthur exhibited a courage born of that most Aussie of characteristics.....'mateship'.
After all this, Arthur returned home, married and resumed his job as a bank manager before fate took a tragic and unexpected turn. Selected to return to England as a member of the Australian contingent to attend the coronation of King George Vl, Sullivan, the most modest of men, slipped and struck his head on a kerb whilst trying to evade autograph hunters, a fall which proved fatal. What a sad end to such a fine man.
So here, stemming from a small memorial which could be so easily missed, was yet another example of the extraordinary stories one finds in so many small Australian towns if eyes and ears are kept open.
This is the view looking back along Bowman Street from the southern end, where the huge shady pepper corn trees which are a feature of this street, and elsewhere around the town, can be seen dominating the central strip to great effect.
This end of the street is home to the second of the two pubs which can be found in the town CBD, the Crystal Brook Hotel, which dominates the junction with Bowman Street and Railway Terrace. Circumstances precluded our breasting the bar in either, which is in itself another very good reason to revisit this delightful town.
Beyond the main street lies a town feature which is eerily similar to that we had recently discovered in another country town beginning with 'C'. Just as we had found in Coonalpyn, the railway line here in Crystal Brook can be traversed on foot by means of a subway,
and here too the local folk have transformed what is invariably a bland, cold and graffiti ridden space to an elongated art gallery, as this clever wire mesh statue and nearby sign indicate.
But unlike Coonalpyn, where local school children were asked to depict scenes of local life, here
in Crystal Brook the decision was taken to honour women who had made a significant contribution to the development and life of the town.
And that's exactly what has happened.
Here are two examples of what has resulted from this fascinating initiative, where the story of each featured woman
is told on an adjoining wall poster.
What a wonderful way this is to have given credit to these often quite indomitable souls
without whom the town would not have developed as it has.
I did comment much earlier in this offering (which, like so many others, has 'grown legs' to become of a quite unplanned length..... there are just so many stories to tell!) that for us a striking feature of Crystal Brook comes in the form of the many lovely homes which grace the local streets.
So let me conclude our visit her with a few of them, beginning with what is clearly the oldest of the selection, a modest stone cottage which displays the distinctive and quite typical design of the late 1800's.
The roof and bull nose verandah along the front of this stone villa are obviously not the originals. They exemplify the efforts to which many who live here have gone to restore and maintain their homes.
Grand, elegant looking houses such as this
and this, speak volumes about the farming wealth of this district, and as I have mentioned before, these are but a few examples of what can be found throughout the town streets of Crystal Brook.
Two days were not enough to do complete justice to what is on offer here and we shall return at some time in the future. But this was certainly a very good start to our new adventures, which were on the cusp of coming to a sudden, unexpected and most unwelcome halt.
