Join your friends from the Society in an informative and enjoyable weekend tour to the rain shadow country on the eastern margins of the Mt Lofty Ranges.
Although the Ranges are low and almost insignificant on a global scale, they have a profound impact on rainfall. The higher parts of the Ranges enjoy an average annual total of around 1000 mm per annum (40 inches on the old scale), but on the descending slopes to the east the average falls to less than half that of the high country.
This, in turn, has greatly influenced settlement patterns and how the land is farmed. High rainfall horticulture and viticulture quickly give way to dryland livestock and cereal production, and in dry times the rain shadow country is even marginal for this kind of activity. At the same time, the hard conditions have produced resilient people who have been celebrated in both verse and prose by two of South Australia’s best known literary figures, Colin Thiele and Geoffrey Dutton.
Colin Harris will lead the tour to localities such as Palmer, Sedan, Dutton and Eudunda and those who have travelled with him on previous regional tours will know that these tours are not just interesting and informative, but also fun – an opportunity to get to know each other better, and share some laughs in the process.
Details of the tour and an expression of interest flyer will be included in the Society’s June Newsletter – keep an eye out for them, but in the meantime if you have the mobility to undertake a little walking and manage the steps of a touring coach, pencil the dates into your diary!