When you take the roads less travelled, make sure to spend some time in the towns less frequented to discover some country treasures.

Cummins on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is one such town with loads of personality and plenty of easy parking for caravans and RV’s to stop a while to discover its artistic streak.

With a population of less than a thousand, Cummins, around 70 kilometres north of Port Lincoln, is known for its sheep farming and cereal grain growing, it also boasts an International Tourism Award amongst its accolades.

The award was for Best Economic Contributor, in the International Toilet Tourism Award in 2018. Bet you didn’t know that one existed!
The mosaic adorned public loos and surrounds, pay tribute to the town’s railway history with 3D panels and statues telling stories of the towns train heritage. The last train passed through the town in 2019, with grain handling now undertaken by road transport.

The public toilets are now one of the drawcards for visitors to the town and they can be found in Railway Triangle Park, which also has a playground, shelters and barbecues. The mosaic artworks, titled ‘All Aboard’, were designed by local art teacher Rosii Pedler and created by artist Karen Carr who mentored a local mosaic group to bring the vision to fruition.

Outside the building, Dulcie stands next to Chook who sits near suitcases, while waiting for the train to arrive. Amongst their luggage there’s a milk can and an egg case which represent some of the local produce ready for loading on the train to Port Lincoln.

A large mosaic panel on the outside of the building depicts the tea rooms of the original train station with baked goods and cuppas all ready to go and Porter John, gives a friendly wave of greeting at the entrance to the loos.

Inside the ladies rooms, the wonders keep coming with an array of mirrors all given the mosaic treatment for you to check your appearance, complete with a fancy bonnet. (Sorry fellas, this will mean you’ll be waiting even longer than usual).

There’s also some cheeky toilet humour with labels on the cubicle doors which use nearby locality names for a bit of fun. You can pay a visit to ‘Poo-chera’ or ‘Pee-lina Creek’ and behind the doors, there are even fancy hooks to hang your handbag.

On the exterior of the building are more fantastic mosaic windows and scenes and one very cheeky pup having a pee on the side of the building that also has a painted wall

There’s more to see and ways to spend a penny while you’re in Cummins too, with specialty shops, places to grab a bite to eat and a gift shop and collective which showcases locally made products and foods.

And if you have time, there’s a mosaic trail you can take to find more of these treasures around town.

Enjoy discovering Cummins.

Glenys