{"id":2783,"date":"2022-07-28T21:28:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T11:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/?p=2783"},"modified":"2022-12-02T20:36:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T09:36:44","slug":"port-germein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/port-germein\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Germein"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Port Germein<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>
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Melrose<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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Sunset at Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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High Tide Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Fish Sculpture<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Crab Sculpture<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Cormorant Sculpture<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Ship Sculpture<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Shoreline near jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Low Tide – Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Lawn Bowls in Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty – Looking back to land<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty – Entrance<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Jetty Sculptures<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Tide Clock<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Jetty rail line<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein – Low Tide<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty Shed<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Sailing Ship sculpture<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Main Street Jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Main Street – Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Main Street – Port Germein<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Port Germein Historic Buildings<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n
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Port Germein<\/a> is a small but picturesque town on the eastern side of Spencer Gulf<\/a> half way between Port Pirie<\/a> and Port Augusta<\/a>. It’s very quiet (at this time of the year anyway) and is famous for having the longest wooden jetty in Australia, some 1400m long, reduced from it’s original 1700m.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sailing Ship sculpture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There is the caravan park, where we stayed, a general store with post office and a cafe that is open on Wednesday through Sunday and a Bowling Club. The caravan park and cafe, next door, are directly across from the jetty, which is fronted by an historic corrugated shed structure and has a area with some totem like sculptures, small lighthouse and a massive ‘tide clock’ that, back in the day, was mounted atop a high platform in the water so that ships could see the height of the tide from a fair distance.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The water is quite shallow for a long way out, hence the length of the jetty, as evidenced by the amount and distance of dry flat sand bed that can be seen at low tide that is subsequently covered at high tide. The rocks that make up the first section of the jetty where it meets the shore were actually ballast from sailing ships as the port was coming into being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the day, ships would anchor a long way out in the bay and the cargoes would be unloaded onto flat-bottom barges to be transfered into the jetty at high tide. The barges would then be reloaded with outgoing goods to be taken away by the ships.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Port Germein Jetty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It seems that Port Germein<\/a> is more a fishermans weekend town and is known for it’s blue swimmer crabs and whiting. We walked out to the end of the jetty, as you do, during high tide and could see a few schools of whiting darting around. We believe they are the type that the locals call ‘silvers’. We noticed them because you see slender dark streaks in the water and every so often they turn on their sides, which catch the sun and flash bright silver. They looked a decent size and if we had have been staying an extra day we would certainly have unpacked the rods and had a crack at catching a feed. As it was, there was a chilly polar wind blowing up from the south that would have made standing out on the jetty a little uncomfortable on that particular day with a 5:15pm high tide.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lawn Bowls in Port Germein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Bowling Club next to the Caravan Park has a single synthetic grass bowling green and they allow anyone to grab a set of lawn bowls, that they leave in a cabinet near the green, and have a go. We advantage on our second afternoon, which was warm and sunny under a clear blue sky. We decided to play first to 21 and it was a torrid affair with Rob quickly going to an 11-5 lead, however Jo then turned the table over a few ends levelling at 11 all. In the end it was one horse race though as Rob cleared out to a 21-11 victory and bragging rights.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Port Germein Tide Clock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So\u2026 Jo hasn’t driven, by choice, up until this point. On the morning that we left Port Germein<\/a> we decided to grab a couple of bacon and eggs rolls from the cafe next to the caravan park and we decided that she should, at the very least, drive the cruiser and van out of the park and across the road whilst we got breakfast. She jumped in and guided it out perfectly whilst I walked behind to check clearance between a couple of trees. As she crossed the street, with me walking behind, a couple of coucil workers were painting one of the picnic shelters looking out over the water towards the jetty. Jo drove slowly past them and into a long parking area and one of the workers, who looked a bit like a refugee from ‘ZZ Top’ calls out to me, “Not many blokes let their missus drive their 200 Series\u2026 Farken ‘ell!” Ya gotta love small secluded towns\u2026<\/p>\n\n<\/div>

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Port Pirie from The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Silo Art – Wirraburra<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Massive gnarled Gum – Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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First World War monument Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Mountain Bike Track – Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Lookout – Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Suspension Bridge – Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Suspension Bridge – Melrose<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Bangor Historic Site – Germein Gorge<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Pioneer’s Monument – Germein Gorge<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>
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Helicopter over Germein Gorge<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n
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In lieu of fishing the next day we took a drive up into the Flinders Ranges to the small village of Melrose<\/a>. It was a very scenic drive up through the Germein Gorge to the plateau where Melrose is located at the foot of Mt Remarkable<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Helicopter over Germein Gorge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We stopped at one point to look at a farmhouse ruin as large helicopter came quite close overhead doing a slow scan of the area as though it was looking for a missing person or trying to find somewhere to set down. It looked a bit like a rescue or care flight helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mountain Bike Track – Melrose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Melrose<\/a> is another of those small out-of-the-way villages but seems to be thriving as part of the Heysen Trail. It is notable for an extensive network of mountain biking trails in the hills that adjoin the town. There is a lookout that you can walk up to following the bike trails, some of which look very extreme. Before walking to the lookout we had a coffee in small shop that also ran a bike shop catering to moutain biking enthusiasts with lots of expensive, high-tech, high-end machinery as well as bike hire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can camp below the bike trails and pedal your heart out during the day and there are even mountain bkie skills sessions that you can meet up and do. Not enticing enough for us to hire though\u2026 The walk up to and down from the lookout was enough of an adventure for that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melrose<\/a> was also a convenient place to fill the cruiser with diesel, since there is no fuel station in Port Germein<\/a>, and grab some chicken wraps to take with us for a drive out to the ‘Bluff Lookout’. I was expecting $2.40\/L but pleasantly surprised to find it was $2.07\/L, the second cheapest price in our trip so far.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Silo Art – Wirraburra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After Melrose<\/a> we headed south toward The Bluff Lookout, via Wirrabara<\/a>, where there was yet another outstanding piece of silo art. The portrait of the farmer is of no actual person. It simply depicts a man of the land as a tribute to local farmers in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Onwards to The Bluff Lookout we followed a series of dirt roads only to end up getting half-lost and having to turn back from a restricted Helipad area, which we thought may have been something to do with helicopter that we saw earlier. In the end we found the right track, which ended in a very steep incline to the lookout parking area.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Port Pirie from The Bluff Lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then a short walk to a viewing platform that presented a fantastic panorama from which you could see all the way from Port Pirie<\/a> through Port Germein<\/a> and almost to Port Augusta<\/a>. It really was an unexpected gem after a bit of effort to get there.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three days in Port Germein as our last opportunity to be beside the sea to rest and relax before we head north to Darwin via Woomera, Uluru, Alice Springs and the outback…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[130,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-big-trip-july-2022","category-the-grand-tour"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Rob Maguire","author_link":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/author\/rob\/"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236.jpg",1024,768,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-768x576.jpg",474,356,true],"large":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236.jpg",474,356,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236.jpg",1024,768,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236.jpg",1024,768,false],"wprm-metadata-1_1":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-500x500.jpg",500,500,true],"wprm-metadata-4_3":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-500x375.jpg",500,375,true],"wprm-metadata-16_9":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-480x270.jpg",480,270,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-672x372.jpg",672,372,true],"twentyfourteen-full-width":["https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220726_101236-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Rob Maguire","author_link":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/author\/rob\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Three days in Port Germein as our last opportunity to be beside the sea to rest and relax before we head north to Darwin via Woomera, Uluru, Alice Springs and the outback...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjjc.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}