We travelled to Port Augusta in South Australia with our 9-year-old Kidsetter. A fascinating town, located 310 km north of Adelaide.
Port Augusta is known as the Crossroads because the Stuart Highway to the north heads to Alice Springs and Darwin. The Eyre Highway to the west heads to the Nullarbor and the Eyre Peninsula and the Princes Highway to the south heads to Adelaide.
We enjoyed a picnic at the park and strolled along the pier with our diva of a dog who forgets she has legs !
As this entire trip was ‘on the fly’ my first port of call is always the Tourist Information Centre. Port Augusta’s Wadlata Tourist Information Centre is the best I’ve come across. Lyn our knowledgeable Tourism Officer was incredibly helpful and especially accommodating to us travelling with a dog.
A wonderful surprise discovering this information centre also has an outstanding interactive exhibition named Wadlata Tunnel of Time.
A superb opportunity for Kidsetters to experience the world of the Aborigines who have lived in the area for the past 40,000 years and the European settlers. This interactive experience starts with the creation of the Flinders Ranges, includes fossils and a prehistoric lizard, recounts Aboriginal stories from the Dreamtime, tells stories of early settlers and the ongoing battle to get adequate water supplies, explores the desert fauna and flora, includes both School of the Air and Royal Flying Doctor experiences and looks at opal mining and the legendary outback postman, Tom Kruse.
Our Kidsetter was excited to be entering an exhibition through the mouth of Max, the giant Ripper Lizard. Creeping through his giant jaws we were transported back to the creation of the Flinders Ranges and Outback. Following the Indoor Discovery Trail activity sheet our Kidsetter was immersed in the Tunnel of Time.
Learning about fossils, the Mound Springs along the Oodnadatta Track and how Akurra, the Dreaming Serpent gouged out the Gorges to make the Flinders Ranges. Understanding what this land means to the Aboriginal people who first owned, explored and settled here.
We joined the early explorers, on their brave treks; some of whom went looking for an inland sea. Learning how camels, ships, bikes, horses and cattle opened up this vast land. Our Kidsetter enjoyed meandering through the tunnel of time to watch and listen to the tales of the early settlers, of bullockies, wheat, drought and disasters in the three-screen theatre.
Our Kidsetter was captivated by the idea of being a student on the School of the Air, pedaling the radio and learning how the Royal Flying Doctor Service meets the needs of people in remote areas.
The old telephone switchboard enthralled our Kidsetter.
Our Kidsetter enjoyed going underground at the Olympic Dam Mine to experience a real blast, viewed the precious metals, minerals and the beautiful opals from Coober Pedy and Andamooka.
Next, we visited the Australian Arid Lands Botantic Garden, located 2km outside Port Augusta.
Here our Kidsetter was gain an insight into the rich diversity of flora on the Australian Dessert.
There are three walking trails through vegetation which grows in the Great Victoria Desert, the Flinders Ranges and the Gawler Ranges, and along the West Coast of Eyre Peninsula.
This 200 hectre site offers dramatic views across the Flinders Ranges. There are many native animals that home to these gardens and our Kidsetter was keen to keep an eye out for them.
Next, we stopped at the Matthew Flinders Lookout. Located on top of the red cliffs along Spencer Gulf near the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Gardens and can be reached via a short walking track. Admittedly our Kidsetter was a little stroppy as he had had enough of the heat by now ! The views of the Flinders Ranges and the upper Spencer Gulf were superb, worth the effort in the heat.
Matthew Flinders first sighted and explored the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf on 11 March, 1802.
We took a short 40km drive north-east from Port Augusta to explore Quorn. A small picturesque railway town which calls itself ‘The Capital of the Flinders’.
Its location in the Flinders Ranges and its old style charm has seen Quorn chosen as the setting for historic scenes in movies as diverse as Wolf Creek, Gallipoli, The Shiralee, The Sundowners, The Lighthorsemen, Sunday Too Far Away, The Last Ride and Robbery Under Arms.
The first European settlers arrived in the 1850s. Prior to European settlement it is thought the Nugunu Aborigines lived in the area.
Exploring the surrounding area tells the harsh story of trying to farm successfully on very marginal land on the edge of the desert.
The Transcontinental Hotel was erected in 1878 by Mr Greenslade. It was the first two storey hotel in Quorn and was said to have the largest and best billiard room in the north.
The historic Pichi Richi Railway is a must for Kidsetters young and young at heart. This was the first leg of the old Central Australian Railway to Alice Springs – the old Ghan route. The train departs Port Augusta at 10.30 am for Quorn (2 hours each way and a stopover of 2 hours) and returns around 4.30 pm. See the ancient Flinders Ranges landscape unfold before you. Quorn was a vital railway junction, especially during World War II when military, coal and other traffic placed sizeable demands on the railway.
Port Augusta is the gateway to so many Outback adventures.
