Why Terowie and where is it?
On our way to the Mundi Mundi Music Festival I left a few days early to check out some outback towns. In 2020 we stayed the night at Terowie in their free motorhome and caravan parking area, below is a photo of our Hi-ace camper, a predecessor of our current camper-van,”Scamp”. We were only in transit and didn’t have time to explore the town which has been described as a ghost town. One moment in history put Terowie on the world stage, more of that later.
Terowie is a 225 kilometer drive north of Adelaide on the Barrier Highway.
Thank you Terowie for your great parking area.
The people of Terowie have allocated a large plot of land next to the old train station for caravans and motorhomes to stay. This service is total free, they have fire pits, a toilet is located a short walk on the main road, the site is flat and there are many places in shade. Thank you Terowie for providing this great service.
I came through and I shall return.
These words were spoken by General Douglas MacArthur but not many people know that he said these words at the Terowie Railway Station. General MacArthur left the Philippines and traveled to Darwin where he caught the train to Adelaide and then onto Melbourne. On the 20th of march 1942 while on this train journey he made a stop at Terowie. People had gathered in Terowie awaiting his arrival, many jounalists has traveled up from Adelaide. During his stop over he made the statement “I came through and I shall return”. This statement has mostly been shortend to “I shall return”. Two years after he made good on his promise. At the old railway station where he stood there is a plaque to commenorate this historic event.
Exploring the town
I arrived in Terowie late in the afternoon and parked in the free parking area. A caravan was already onsite with a fire going, another caravan arrived and there we three of us sharing the site for the night. The next day I explored the town driving through and taking dashcam footage, walking the streets taking photos and then sending up the “Angry Wasp” to look at the town from above. The place was extremely quiet, I only saw two people and they had only come to the town to use the toilets. The public toilets were very clean and stocked with toilet paper. Again thank you Terowie for providing this great service. The main road was like museum of old 1800’s buildings. The only place that was still in use was a small general store which was also the post office. The remaining building were empty apart from some that had been turned into museums or had displays in the front windows. Below are the photos of the buildings in the main street.
Many buildings on the main street have been heritage listed and are mostly intact. Driving through the backstreets you see a different story, buildings that are derelict and yards that have plenty of rubbish.
Many yards had plenty of old cars. Below are photos of one particular yard that was filled with old dead cars, some recent and others really old.
Video of Terowie
I have made a video of my time in Terowie. This is a compilation of photos, dashcam, phone video and aerial views with the drone. This is the first time I have used all this media and included subtitles. Still getting the hang of video editing so it may be a bit rough around the edges.
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Terowie Metal Sculptures
At the end of my time in Terowie I went to have a look at the Terowie Metal Sculptures, if you drive north on the main street for about a kilometer and a half you will come across a paddock filled with metal scultures. Not the best ones that I have seen but it is obvious that some effort has been put into the display. Check them out for yourselves.
My trip to Terowie complete I headed up the Barrier Highway visiting a few other towns, then on to Mundi Mundi Music Festival. My next blog will be about our time there, but it may take awhile as I took hundreds of photos and loads of videos, still sorting them out. To answer the question “is Terowie a ghost town” ?, well I did see a couple of people who were passing through, but no locals, Wikipedia tells me the population is 131, maybe they are just shy. A mostly deserted town but no ghosts. Cheers for now.
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