Burra & the Heritage Charter

"To Australians, the Burra Charter is probably the most significant document of the last thirty years on the basic principles and procedures for the conservation of heritage places. It provides a guiding philosophy for the care of our heritage and has been widely adopted as the standard guidelines for heritage conservation practice not only in this country, but also in other parts of the world." - Heritage Perth

We’ve decided to spend the day in Burra to learn a little more about the charter so imagine our surprise that most people in Burra were not aware of its existence and there was absolutely no information to be found amongst all the heritage and history of this picturesque town in South Australia.  However, we spent a lovely afternoon, chatting to the locals, walking in to an open art studio and learning a little more about this part of the world.  It was lovely to sit at a local café, enjoying our hot chocolate and watch the interactions of the locals, who all seemed to know each other.  As new people walked in, they just joined in with a table of people who were already there, rather than sit alone and have their coffee.  As we travel through small towns, we can sense the wonderful feeling of community. People open up to us and we enjoy conversations that we rarely have with strangers in the big smoke.   

Today, we also enjoyed watching how the red dust of Broken Hill gave way to the rolling green hills of South Australia. While the outback has it’s beauty, after being in the desert for awhile, it is lovely to see green hills and abundant fresh water again!