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The area north of the Sturt Highway , bounded by Port Augusta and the south Flinders Ranges , is a fertile agricultural region known as the mid-north . Kapunda , only 16km northwest of Nuriootpa, became the country's first mining town when copper was discovered in 1842. It can also be reached as a short detour from the Barrier Highway en route to Broken Hill in New South Wales, a route that continues through the larger mining town of Burra , and then to Peterborough , the self-proclaimed "frontier to the Outback". The centre of the mid-north's wine area, Clare , is 45km southwest of Burra, on the Main North Road, the alternative route to Port Augusta. The Heysen Trail runs through Kapunda, Burra and then, via Crystal Brook , into the foothills of the Flinders. Heading north to Port Augusta on Highway 1 for the Northern Territory or Western Australia, you'll pass through the ugly lead-smelting city of Port Pirie , and thence on to the south Flinders Ranges. Getting around the area by bus is problematic: while most of the major towns have transport links to Adelaide, there are virtually no buses between towns, however close they might be. Greyhound Pioneer, on its Adelaide-Broken Hill route, goes via Burra. The Mid North Passenger Service (daily except Mon & Sat; tel 08/8826 2346) from Adelaide takes in Burra, Peterborough and the main Clare Valley settlements, while the Barossa-Adelaide Passenger Service (tel 08/8564 3022) has a weekday service from Gawler - which can be reached by train - to Kapunda. All interstate buses to Darwin or Perth take Highway 1 through Port Pirie; if you get off 27km before this, it's only a couple of kilometres walk to Crystal Brook and the Heysen Trail.
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