100 Best Views In Australia #2 Burra Homestead, SA

Just outside Burra, 160km northof Adelaide

How to see it for yourself?

Famous to Midnight Oil fans for featuring on the cover of Diesel and Dust – also shot by Ken Duncan – this old homestead at the foot of the Mt Lofty Ranges was abandoned long ago by smallholders unable to sustain a livelihood on this rain-starved land. Ironically, this iconic scene of golden rural Australia is looking a lot greener now after all the recent rain – if you visit in September-October, you might even find it surrounded by canola in bloom, though the crops are rotated. Hence you might not see this this exact scene. Drive north on the Barrier Highway for 6km from the centre of the historic town of Burra – once a major copper mining centre and also a location used in the filming of Breaker Morant. You’ll see the homestead on your right about 100m off the road. But bear in mind it’s on private property, so unless you ask permission for a closer look, you can only view it from the road. The building faces west so visit in the late afternoon to see it in its best light.

Why I love it
“I first immortalised this old farmhouse in my early days as a landscape photographer. The original shot became one of my most famous images when it was used on Diesel and Dust. How it tickled me when I returned to the area more than ten years later and the local tourist office gave me directions to ‘the Midnight Oil house’!” – Ken Duncan