Port Augusta 15 November 2013

Some trivia I forgot to mention in the Ceduna entry - it is likely that the two largest islands off the shore here (St Peter and St Francis Is) were the setting and inspiration for Gulliver's Travels. Francois Thyssen and Pieter Nuyts of the Dutch East India Company ship Guilden Zeepaert (you remember them don't you?) sighted the islands in 1627 and reported that giants 'might' be found there. According to Jonathon Swift, Lilliput was supposed to be north west of Van Diemens' Land  in the vicinity of 30 degrees South latitude and these two islands are the only land masses which fit this location.

Next stop was supposed to be Kimba, "Halfway accross Australia", but there was still plenty of daylight left, and frankly the Big Gallah, though undoubtedly big, and pink, just didn't do it for us, so we pressed on all the way to Port Augusta.







Now Port Agutta has some not so fond memories from the last time we visited the "Pearl of Spencer Gulf", and I've got to say, the caravan park did nothing to alter our feelings. What a dump. Train assembly noises, loud bad pub music, and drunk and screaming 'custodians' throughout the night. To ice the cake as it were, the park hands out tickets with your departure day writ large on them which are to be displayed prominently so that no-one overstays their welcome - FAT CHANCE!!!!! We have only seen this at one other place on our travels, at El Questro, but they need to. First off the place is simply devine, and secondly, they get so many people coming through it would be easy to cheat the system (we actually met some people who had stayed overnight without paying!). But Port Agutta????? Have to admit that we drove through town central on the way out in the morning, and things actually looked pretty good. Quite a vibrant little CBD with shops, offices and eateries and not a sign of anyone after your last $5.00. There is a 24/7 alcohol ban in public places in the town and this seems to be working (at least in the CBD), so maybe there is hope for the place, and the local custodians - It would be good if things could be turned around here.