Australia here we come!

5/10/12

We left Iron Knob at about 9.00am and drove the enormous distance of 67kms to Port Augusta. Our first port of call was at the Visitor Information Centre and there the girls decided on the Port Augusta Shoreline Caravan Park.

After setting up and having lunch we drove to the local Toyota Dealer and tried to book the Prado in for a service. No luck, unless we wanted to stay in town for another 2 weeks. We tried a couple of other places but they were all booked out as well. We had a drive around town for me to cool off!

We found the Catholic Church which had a mural on the stone front wall. It was called 'The Mural On The Hill'. The mural was made of hand painted tiles in the shape of a snake and told the story of Port Augusta from the time before white settlement to the present. Next we drove to the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens situated at the top of Spencer Gulf. There were spectacular views of the Flinders Ranges. We found the spot where Matthew Flinders came ashore in 1802 and from there he named certain mountain peaks of the Flinders Ranges.

We then drove to the Alan McLellan Lookout. This was the location where a party from Matthew Flinders' crew spent the night on shore after exploring the area on foot and collecting botanical specimens.

Our next stop was the Water Tower Lookout. The girls went right to the top but I couldn't as my leg was playing up. The tower was very high and the steps were ricketty but the view from the top covered all of Port Augusta, the Flinders Ranges and views out to the desert to the north.

On the way home we did a small shop for groceries and returned to the caravan park for the night.