Port Augusta: In the Outback region of South Australia with Ron
Port Augusta is a unique location where one of the icons of the Australian Outback, the Flinders Ranges meets the sea. Spend a littler time here and you soon realise you'll need to stay longer to experience it all.
Among other things, Port Augusta is one of the boarding points for the famous Pichi Richi Railway, which makes its way through the Pichi Richi Pass all the way to Quorn.
But there are plenty of other ways to take in this spectacular region such as a trip on Augusta Water Cruises. Aaron Morgan will take you around the historic Port complete with its turn of the century wharf and further north up the mangroves where Spencer Gulf peters out.
It's a great experience full of history. Along the way you pass Redcliffs which was named by explorer Matthew Flinders.
You also get a good view of Mount Brown - named after Flinders' naturalist, Robert Brown. Back in 1802, while Flinders rowed up the Gulf, Brown and a party of men climbed the mount. Over the two days they spent up there they collected an array of different plant species which will play an important part in the ongoing development of another of Port Augusta's attractions, the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Gardens.
The plants Brown collected and Ferdinand Bauer captured in watercolour were eventually sent back to England. But now blokes like Gardens Curator Bernie Haase are retracing the steps of the explorers and are again collecting plant specimens from Mount Brown.
"We've been going up there and collecting cuttings and seeds," explained Bernie. "We're going to grow the plants that Brown collected and put them in the banks out here at Redcliffs."
They'll make an impressive addition to what is already a very picturesque spot with one of the most imposing backdrops any gardener could hope for. The Garden was first opened in 1996 and now contains one of the country's most comprehensive collections of erimophilas. This really is your one-stop-shop for people who want to get a better appreciation of the plants to be found in inland Australia.
Before you head up the Stuart Highway it pays to also drop into Port Augusta's other major attraction, the Wadlata Outback Centre. Here you can get your bearings before heading up the Strzelecki, Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks. And it's also a good place to take in the Dreaming stories, which help explain the country to the aboriginal people of far north South Australia.
You'll hear the story of Arkurra the Serpent; a Dreamtime creature that helped shaped much of the Flinders Ranges landscape.
You'll also learn about the 'white fellas' ribbon of steel, which snaked it's way from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie. Wadlata's archive vision tells the story of the Transcontinental Railway and the gangs who set world records at the time laying two and a half miles in a day and 442 miles of track in one year.
Thankfully it's a much shorter trip to the Oasis Apartments, which offers comfortable and affordable family accommodation. Completed just two years ago the Apartments capitalise on Port Augusta's growing reputation as the gateway to the Outback.
"You've got the ocean and you've got the outback," said Melanie Rowe. "It's one of the only places in Australia, definitely in South Australia where you get that mix. People can be in the Flinders Ranges one day on a four wheel drive tour and they can be out on the water the next day and all by using the Oasis Apartments as their base."
The Oasis Apartments are in Maryatt Street on the foreshore. To book contact 8648 9000.
Port Augusta is 305 kilometres from Adelaide. For details on the region contact the Wadlata Outback Centre on 1800 633 060. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
The Oasis Apartments
Marryatt St
Port Augusta Foreshore
For bookings contact 8648 9000Port Augusta
About 300km ex Adelaide
For details regarding Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden
Contact Wadlata Outback Centre on 1800 633 060
