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Port Augusta
Also known as Port Augusta, South Australia, Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia
city in South Australia
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Place details
- Locality
- Port Augusta
- Region
- South Australia
- Country
- Australia
- Population
- 12,788
Travel guide
Understand
Dubbed as the "Gateway to the Outback", in South Australia. It is also known as the "Crossroads of Australia", being situated on the Eyre Highway connecting Perth and Adelaide, on the Stuart Highway connecting Adelaide and Darwin, on the northeast-southwest highway between Adelaide and Mt Isa and finally on the road between Sydney and Adelaide without passing through Victoria. It also lies on the routes of both the Indian-Pacific and the Ghan.
Get in
Most people visit Port Augusta on their way somewhere else.
Get around
The Gulf (only a few hundred metres wide at this point) divides the west and east of the town with the city centre and the main commercial street on the east side with the majority of the shops, supermarkets and small malls
See
Water Tower Lookout|right|thumb|200px Wharf Precinct - Port Augusta used to have six commercial jetty wharves, and the main street of town looked down to the wharfs. The finger wharves were replaced by a parallel wharf in the 1950s, and the town's use as a port continued. That view is now unfortunately obscured by a supermarket, and the wharf is no longer a commercial wharf, but a recreational precinct. Just behind Woolies (Woolworths). While driving over the bridge towards the west, the sign directing you towards the left fork for Perth and Western Australia, and the right fork towards Darwin and the Northern Territory is quite unusual. Each destination is many thousands of kilometres distant.
Buy
Being at the Crossroads of Australia, Port Augusta caters for a constant stream of passing traffic. There is a Woolworths, Coles and Big-W, and almost all the services you could need before continuing on to more remote areas.
Aboriginal art is available.
Eat
During the day you have a choice of coffee shops and cafes around the town centre. After dark, the pubs, clubs, roadhouses and fast food are your choices. There is a roadhouse and a Hungry Jacks open 24-hours. The pubs and clubs only serve meals at meal times.
Ian's Western Hotel and Ian's Chicken Hut.
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~13 min read
Article
Port Augusta (Goordnada in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about 310 kilometres (190 mi) by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the gulf's head, comprising the city's centre and surrounding suburbs, Stirling North, and seaside homes at Commissariat Point, Blanche Harbor and Miranda. The suburb of Port Augusta West is on the western side of the gulf on the Eyre Peninsula. Together, these localities had a population of 13,515 in the 2021 census.
Formerly a seaport, the city supports regional agriculture and services many mines in the South Australian interior to its north. A significant industry was electricity generation until 2019, when its coal-burning power stations were shut down. A solar farm opened in 2020.
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1852 establishments in AustraliaAccuracy disputes from June 2020Australian place articles using Wikidata population valuesAustralian Statistical Geography Standard 2021 ID different from WikidataCoastal cities in AustraliaCoastal towns in South AustraliaEyre PeninsulaFar North (South Australia)Populated places established in 1852Port AugustaPort cities and towns in South Australia