June 5th-7th, 2011- Port Augusta- Big 4 Caravan Park

Sunday June 5th saw us make the short trip from Hawker to Port Augusta. We stopped for morning tea at Quorn which is a lovely old railway town. Had a steam engine which ran for tourist out to the old wool sheds which we were lucky enough to see. Carried on to Port Augusta arriving at Big 4 just before lunch time. The park is beautifully clean with all possible facilities. A bit on the expensive side ($36/night before Big 4 membership discount) but probably still good value for money. Had some lunch then ventured into town to do some shopping. Rans and I went to the Bottle Shops and then for a beer in the Pub while Sandra, Carol, and Di went to Woolies. Well I think Woolies probably set a sales records for the day with the girls stocking up for our big trip north across the outback. They swore they wouldn't need to shop again until they reached Darwin which I was happy to take a wager against. I think they have already been back to pick up a few necessities.

Monday morning we went to the Port Augusta Wandlata Outback Centre. Very informative with lots of audio and video interactive displays. We spent about 3 hours there but you could spend a lot longer. Good for all ages with history about the Aboriginal culture, European settlement and exploration, and the geological history and fauna of the area. As you can see from the attached photos we all got into the action parts like a bunch of kids. Actually, most of the other kids we saw were much beter behaved. Thanks Al Pierson for the suggestion. After some lunch Sandra and I went back downtown to do some shopping and explore. Our camera has started to give us some problems for some reason so we were researching some replacement options.

Tuesday morning Sandra, Di, and I took a Cruise of the harbour and up the channel as far as you can go on high tide. Again it was well worth the money as the guide, Aaron was very informative and the scenery and the dolphins were beautiful. As usual Sandra and I got some wonderful photos which I have added to our web album. Our camera is being quite tempermental so we have used Carol's as well as ours on our last few excursions. 

The afternoon is sort of a catch up day for me with the Blog and Sandra with laundry before we set off north tomorrow morning. Sandra gave both Carol and Di a touch up with hair colour after lunch to hide some of the grey! The girls have gone for a walk through the Botanical Gardens this afternoon; probably to see if the new colour works on the local male population. Given the nature of the local population I would wager they might get lucky! They aren't back yet if that is any indication. All in all Port Augusta is a rather interesting place although it would appear that there is a high crime rate with a number of security warnings posted at the caravan park. Our next stops will be Woomera and Coober Pedy. North we go!!