Port Augusta

Port Augusta is a regional centre of about 12,000 people 300 km from Adelaide at the top of the Spencer Gulf. It is at the crossroads of five major highways: Port Augusta towards Adelaide, Stuart towards Darwin, Eyre towards Perth, Lincoln towards Port Lincoln and Flinders Ranges towards the northeast and eventually Mount Isa.

Understand
Dubbed as the "Gateway to the Outback", in South Australia. It is also known as the "Crossroads of Australia", being situated on the Eyre Highway connecting Perth and Adelaide, on the Stuart Highway connecting Adelaide and Darwin, on the northeast-southwest highway between Adelaide and Mt Isa and finally on the road between Sydney and Adelaide without passing through Victoria. It also lies on the routes of both the Indian-Pacific and the Ghan.

Get in
Most people visit Port Augusta on their way somewhere else.

By car
It is about 4 hours up the A1 from Adelaide. It is at the start of the Stuart Highway to Darwin, and the Eyre Highway towards Perth. It is nicknamed the "crossroads of Australia" as it is where the Adelaide-Darwin and Sydney-Perth routes meet.

Premier Stateliner have a coach terminal, with coaches between Adelaide, Whyalla and Port Lincoln stopping here. Greyhound stop here on their trips from Adelaide toward Alice Springs and Darwin.

By train
The Ghan and the Indian Pacific both pass through here but do not stop.

The only passenger trains that stop in Port Augusta are run by the Pichi Pichi Railway, which runs steam locomotives from Quorn in the Flinders Ranges. These are geared exclusively towards tourists and not as a practical travel option.

By plane
Scheduled flights no longer operate to/from Port Augusta.

Get around
The Gulf (only a few hundred metres wide at this point) divides the west and east of the town with the city centre and the main commercial street on the east side with the majority of the shops, supermarkets and small malls

See

 * Wharf Precinct - Port Augusta used to have six commercial jetty wharves, and the main street of town looked down to the wharfs. The finger wharves were replaced by a parallel wharf in the 1950s, and the town's use as a port continued. That view is now unfortunately obscured by a supermarket, and the wharf is no longer a commercial wharf, but a recreational precinct. Just behind Woolies (Woolworths).
 * Wharf Precinct - Port Augusta used to have six commercial jetty wharves, and the main street of town looked down to the wharfs. The finger wharves were replaced by a parallel wharf in the 1950s, and the town's use as a port continued. That view is now unfortunately obscured by a supermarket, and the wharf is no longer a commercial wharf, but a recreational precinct. Just behind Woolies (Woolworths).
 * Wharf Precinct - Port Augusta used to have six commercial jetty wharves, and the main street of town looked down to the wharfs. The finger wharves were replaced by a parallel wharf in the 1950s, and the town's use as a port continued. That view is now unfortunately obscured by a supermarket, and the wharf is no longer a commercial wharf, but a recreational precinct. Just behind Woolies (Woolworths).

While driving over the bridge towards the west, the sign directing you towards the left fork for Perth and Western Australia, and the right fork towards Darwin and the Northern Territory is quite unusual. Each destination is many thousands of kilometres distant.

Buy
Being at the Crossroads of Australia, Port Augusta caters for a constant stream of passing traffic. There is a Woolworths, Coles and Big-W, and almost all the services you could need before continuing on to more remote areas.

Aboriginal art is available.

Eat
During the day you have a choice of coffee shops and cafes around the town centre. After dark, the pubs, clubs, roadhouses and fast food are your choices. There is a roadhouse and a Hungry Jacks open 24-hours. The pubs and clubs only serve meals at meal times.


 * Ian's Western Hotel and Ian's Chicken Hut.

Go next
Visit Quorn - a historical Railway Town. Ride the Pichi Richi from March to November. Visit Warren George to see the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, climb Mt Brown or hike on the Hysen Trail to Dutchmen Stern