It was about a 4 hr drive to Port Augusta. The 2 main points of interest during the drive were Kimba and Iron Knob. Kimba was a small town, but had the honour of being halfway across Australia at this latitude. We took a photo at the sign. The other place of interest was Iron Knob. This town was built up around an iron ore open cut pit. The pit was actually built into a hill. This area was the main producer of iron ore before the Pilbara region opened up. We didn’t drive into the town, but saw the hill with the pit in it as we drove past. As we drove towards Port Augusta, the southern end of the Flinders Ranges came into view. It reminded me a bit of the landscape as we approached Alice Springs – the flat desert with he mountain ranges rising up out of it and surrounding the town.

We reached Port Augusta around 4pm and booked in to the Big 4 caravan park as they gave us an extra discount when we rang ahead. However it was not a very nice one as we found out – quite dry and sparse – glad we were only staying one night. They did have a pool though and it was a hot afternoon, so after we’d set up the kids went for a swim. While Michael supervised them, I got everything cut up and ready for Sam to do the dinner tonight (a beef strog from an easy packet). Michael and I still wanted to have a look around the town (it was daylight savings, so still lots of light). The kids showered after their swim and then Michael, Hannah, Beth and I went for a drive while Lauren and Sam stayed at the van and Sam cooked dinner.

The 4 of us went to the old water tower which is now a lookout. We walked up to the top of the water tower and had a 360 degree view over Port Augusta. We were able to see the mountain ranges surrounding the city. We saw the ‘river’ which is actually the top of Spencer Gulf, and we saw the power plants. Then we drove across the river to the southern side of the town where the town centre and the waterfront esplanade are located. Apparently Port Augusta used to be a very industrial town and the riverfront area not very appealing. They have done it up over the last decade and it looks quite nice now. Still not a town that would draw crowds for its aesthetic appeal though.

We drove back to the van park and Sam had dinner ready for us – he’d done well. We ate dinner and settled down for the night.

We got away by 8.30 am as we were planning on doing quite a bit of driving today.