ATTRACTIONS & INSPECTIONS
Wadlata Outback Centre
41 Flinders Terrace
A visit to Wadlata's "Tunnel of Time" is a must do when visiting Port Augusta and the Region.
You would have experienced nothing like it and it is new again with a $1 million dollar upgrade having just been completed.
Visitors to the multi award winning attraction have written in the Visitors Book that Wadlata is the best attraction and Visitor Centre they have experienced in Australia.
For more information Refer to "About Wadlata".
You could walk through in 10 minutes or take 3 hours - but do not worry if you do not have time or want to see something else in the City - just ask for a Pass Out to return when you can.
Phone 08 8641 9193 (Conditions apply.)
Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden
Situated 1.4 km from the start of the Stuart Highway heading towards the Northern Territory.
The Garden
The garden occupies an area of more than 250 hectares. About 12 km of walking tracks have been established to allow you to view the existing and introduced arid native plants. Group plantings with interpretive signage showcase the various regional arid zone environments of Southern Australia.
It is free to inspect the garden, however you can either pick up a self guided tour brochure from the Visitor Centre to learn more about the arid land plants yourself or stroll around at your own pace. Most of the plants are labled with many informative interpretive signs to give you a little more information.
Guided Tours
Experienced Tour Guides are eager to show case their Garden to you with Guided Tours being available most weekdays at 10am.
The Garden is also a bird lovers paradise with two bird hides incorporating interpretive signage. A number of watering holes and nesting boxes have also been established throughout the Garden to help attract birds to attract the real enthusiast and to balance the ecology of the Garden.
The new bird brochure, with brilliant hand drawn illustrations by Peter Langdon, will help you locate and provide that little bit more information about our native birds of the Sandhill and Bluebush Plains.
The AridSmart Display Gardens will show you what you can grow in your water wise garden at home.
Gift Shop
If you like what you see, you can now purchase the most popular native plants from our new AridSmart Gift Shop in the Visitors Centre. We
encourge everyone to be AridSmart.
Dining
The licensed Bluebush Café in the award winning Visitor Centre has some of the best food and cakes in town, all made on site. The table service is a treat.
You can enjkoy a freshly brewed espresso or a glass of regional wine with mayube some of the native bush herbs and spiced infused menu choices. Try the bush flavoured Tuna Patties, which is now their signature dish. The Quandong Slice or cheesecake, the Lemon Myrlte Pancake drizzled with Quandong Suace is really popular.
This is the newest product available and it is walking out the door....Take a stroll around the Garden while enjoying one of their new exclusive lines of Quandong, Native Lime, Wattleseed or Lemon Myrlte Icecream, served in a waffle cone or you can dine in the Bluebush Cafe in style.
Conferences & Meetings
The WMC Herbarium - Meeting Room can be hired for meetings, conferences or for a small intimate celebration.
Contact: bookings@aalbg.sa.gov.au
The Visitor Centre is open Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5pm.
Saturday-Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm,
Open all public holidays except Christmas Day.
The Garden - opens at 7.30am and closes at sundown, allowing time to view the birds at their best.
Guided Tours are available most days Monday-Friday at 10am (charge apply)
For large groups, including weekend tours by appointment.
Phone: (08) 8641 9116
Fax (08) 8641 1241
Email: info@aalbg.sa.gov.au
Web: http://www.aalbg.sa.gov.au
Port Augusta Cultural Centre - Yarta Purtli
In what was the old court room, court offices, public toilets and court library, is now the Cultural Centre Gallery. The Gallery houses two spaces, referred to locally as Gallery #1 and Gallery #2. An initiative of the Port Augusta City Council and Country Arts SA, the Cultural Centre Gallery aims to provide a unique, quality and accessible venue for the display of a variety of local and contemporary cultural products for all Port Augusta residents, visitors and surrounding communities
The Gallery also serves as a venue for professional touring exhibitions that aim to complement other existing local community and regional cultural facilities. Exhibitions consist of a broad range of mediums, including acrylic and oil, painting, sketching, bronze and wood sculpture, textiles (2D and 3D) ceramics and photography.
The Gallery is manned by a dedicated group of volunteers.
When exhibitions are showing.
Open times are :-
Monday - Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm
Closed Sundays and public holidays
Admission is free.
Contact the Arts Officer (Ellenor Day) on (08) 8641 9175 with any enquiries, or if you would like to become a volunteer.
Curdnatta Art Gallery
105 Commercial Road
The building was opened in 1878, as Port Augusta's first Railway Station, known as Railway Terminus.
The Gallery is run by local volunteer artists who produce high-quality paintings, pottery, crafts and fabric art.
You really have to have a look at this Gallery.......oils ain't just oils in this case....it is really good.
Open Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm.
Entry by donation.
Phone: 08 86 410195
RSL Military Memorabillia Museum
15 Fulham Road
Experience a Leopard Tank up close at the Port Augusta RSL.
The tank can be viewed at anytime, but is would be worth timing it in with a visit to the RSL Military Museum, which boasts the largest display of war memorabillia of its type in Regional South Australia. From the Boar War, through both World Wars and to Australia's most recent conflicts, the museum showcases photos, memoraillia and artegacts donated, or on permanent loan, from Port Augusta families.
The Museum is open daily from 3.30pm or call to arrange a tour.
A donation is appreciated.
The Leopard Tank can be viewed at any time.
Phone Mario Caresimo on 0438259270.
Kangaroo Meeting Place
Press Road
Guarantee you will see a kangaroo while in the Region, with a large number of hand-reared kangaroos located at the Department of Transport offices on Press Road, on the western side of the City. Their home is idenfitied by the large fenced surrounds. Visitors are not permitted to enter the fenced area.
Mural on the Hill
All Saints Church Hill -Highway One.
The story of Port Augusta from the Aboriginal Dreaming, European settlement to the present day, is interpreted as, "Our Story, Our Pride",
The beautiful work of art is a mural made up of 2,500 hand made and painted tiles.
This very special display tells the story of Port Augusta in a very artistic, interpretive way.
It was created by Dianne Turner and local Port Augusta artists.
The mural was funded by the Port Augusta City Council and Country Arts South Australia.
Royal Flying Doctor Service
Port Augusta Airport.
Tours of the new Base at the Port Augusta Airport have now commenced.
You can now visit the Base where Communication Operators attend to emergency flights and inter hospital transfers for people living or visiting the Outback areas of South Australia.
See a video show and a display Museum or purchase a souvenir from the shop.
Open: Monday - Friday from 10am - 12pm; 2pm-4pm
Cost: Donation entry
Phone: 08 86 48 9500
Lookouts/Parks
Foreshore
Spend some time at our beautiful foreshore areas, equipped with excellent BBQ facilities and a modern playground suitable for all ageas and a self cleaning toilet system.
Walking tracks can take you along the southern shores of the Gulf, swimming pontoons, public toilets and a wash-down shower for beachgoers - and a basketball and netball half-court.
Swimmers Memorial Garden
The Garden on the eastern side of the Gulf on the foreshore has been restored to its former glory. The Garden pays tribute to the brave Port Augusta Swimming Club's members who died while paying the supreme sacrifice in World War 11. It is a lovely relaxing area.
Gladstone Square
Marryatt Street - City Centre
The scenic parklands provide a shady landscaped area suitable for a picnic or BBQ lunch.
Facilities include a playground with a disabled swing, BBQ, sheltered gazebo, a drinking fountain, the Rotunda, a memorial to AD Tassie, Port Augusta's first white settler, Thomas Young Junior and our War Memorial. A public toilet is positioned at the northern end of the park.
Matthew Flinders/Redcliff Lookout
via the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden
Enjoy a short walk to the Memorial Cairn, dedicated to Captain Matthew Flinders, where he stood and named Mt Brown, Mt Arden, Point Lowly and Curlew Point in the Flinders Ranges.
This lookout provides the visitor with excellent views of the Flinders Ranges and the very top of the Gulf.
Flinders and Outback Water Cruises can take you past the brilliant Redbanks or Redcliffs to the very tip of the Gulf - tide and weather permitting.
The area has recently been redeveloped with excellent walking tracks that allow you to stroll through to the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden.
Park your vehicle in the newly developed parking area and experience the views of the Flinders Ranges or take a stroll along the tracks.
When leaving your vehicle, ensure you lock and leave it as you do if you were shopping at home.
McLellan Lookout
at the end of Edinburgh Tce
A stone cairn marks the spot where Captain Matthew Flinders stepped ashore on the 10th of March 1802. The cairn was named in 1976 after Allan McLellan, an early Port Augusta historian.
An excellent view of the Gulf, NRG Flinders Power Stations and the picturesque Flinders and Bluff Ranges can be enjoyed. A great spot for whale watching during its season.
Water Tower Lookout
Mitchell Terrace
Surrounded by lovely gardens, this tower was built in 1882 to provide a reserve water supply for the residents of Port Augusta West.
Excellent 360 degrees views of Port Augusta overlooking the Flinders Ranges, Spencer Gulf and the Outback can be experienced from the water tank at the top of the tower.
It is a great place to relax and take photos.
NOTE: Some of the editorial has been extracted from the Port Augusta Visitor Guide.
