Port Augusta - 30 June to 2 July 2009

From Burra our next stop was Port Augusta. We travelled there on a very windy day. On the road we saw a road train blown into a paddock, fortunately the driver was not injured. In Adelaide a semi trailer was blown over.

Port Augusta has a lovely old Hotel called the Standpipe Hotel. This is where the water pipe that came under the Spencer Gulf ended and there was a standpipe for the bullock drivers to water their bullocks. Naturally a hotel was built for the Bullockies. It has been renovated and is now a fine Indian Restaurant.

Port Augusta is a cross roads of Australia and the beginning of the Outback. We visited the Royal Flying Doctor service which is very impressive. Their brief is that Isolated People should receive the same standard of care as city people. They evacuate people in emergencies but also conduct travelling clinics and take Specialists around for Consultations.

A lot of their day to day work is done over the phone and people have a full medical kit in their homes for treatment. We saw the School of the Air but they do not run tours.

Then we went up the water tank for the views and drove around the town.

We saw the new Ghan which goes from Adelaide to Darwin. It looked beautiful.

The second day we went on the DekyZane to the head of the Gulf.

Our guide was very informative. The Spencer gulf is a reverse saline Gulf as no Rivers run into it. It also is one of two places in the world where there is a dodge tide. This is when the Sun and the Moon are directly opposite and the forces cancel each other out so there is no change in water levels.

Some Dolphins swam with our boat they like the low pressure area near the bow.

We briefly visited Whyalla, a steel town and visited the Wadlata Outback Centre. This takes one through the History of the Outback from primeval Soup to present day and I think is a must do as it gives one an understanding of what one sees later.