Southern Flinders Ranges Coast

Leaving Port Augusta and heading 65km south along the Spencer Gulf coast we came to Port Germein, a beautiful coastal village with a long wooden jetty. The jetty was once the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, and was built in 1888. The lighthouse was once located at the end of jetty and is now located at the start of the jetty, along with an interesting tidal clock.

The first European to arrive in the area was Matthew Flinders in 1802. The name of the port comes from the Germein brothers, who discovered the inlet in 1840. First settlers cleared the land for grazing and crops, and this lead to the need for a port and the development of the town. It was declared a port in 1841. There is a great covered BBQ area adjacent to the beach, and an indoor stage in “The Shed”. The shed is a local icon, and meeting place for locals. It was once used as storage for wool leaving on the ships from the jetty and housing the steam engine that ran along the main street to the shed. A lovely little town with much more to see.

A further 25km along the coast is Port Pirie. A larger town than Port Germein, its main feature is the large grain silos visible from a distance. Originally called Samuel's Creek after Samuel Germein who discovered the muddy creek. In 1845 the first vessel, 'John Pirie' navigated the creek to load sheep from nearby runs, and in 1846 Port Pirie Creek was named by Governor Robe. Land was purchased in 1848 by Matthew Smith and Emanuel Solomon and half was put aside for a township, but little development took place. The town was surveyed in 1871, but development didn't take off until silver, lead, and zinc bearing ore was discovered at Broken Hill in 1883, and with the completion of the narrow gauge railway from Broken Hill to Port Pirie completed in 1888, and the construction of a smelter in 1889, the town began grow quickly. By 1934, Port Pirie had the biggest lead smelter in the world. There are a lot of historical buildings, however we didn't spend a lot of time in Port Pirie, as we wanted to head to our overnight site.