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Outback SA Holiday Holiday Attractions
South Australia
DUKE'S
BOTTLE HOME
This
local landmark is made
entirely from discarded
beer bottles.
ETTAMOGGAH
PUB
Along
a bumpy bush track at
White Dam is the late
Bill MacDougall's Ettamoggah
Pub, a landmark known
throughout the nation
derived from cartoonist
Ken Maynards' creation
in the Australasian
Post magazine. Bill's
tin and timber shanty
is a welcome stop for
opal miners, outback
workers and tourists
alike. It's surrounded
by the typical moonscape
of opal mines.
ANDAMOOKA
STATION
Telephone
(08) 8671 0788
This 2,590 square kilometres
property borders Lake
Torrens and provides
interested visitors
an opportunity to learn
and observe daily station
life, such as raising
sheep and cattle. Inspect
the original outbuildings
and blacksmiths workshop,
now the Station museum.
THE
BIG WINCH
Telephone
(08) 8672 5264 This
lookout and landmark
above the town centre
is Coober Pedy's largest
opal and art gallery.
The display includes
rough and cut crystal,
black opals, and the
largest opal fossil
in the world. The Big
Winch lookout features
a giant miners' winch.
THE
BREAKAWAYS
This
remarkable natural attraction
is thirty two kilometres
north of Coober Pedy
in the Breakaways Reserve,
approximately forty
square kilometres of
some of the most colourful
landscape in the area.
The colours of the Painted
Desert change with the
passing of the sun and
give the area a surreal
atmosphere no one should
miss.
OLD
TIMER'S MINE
Telephone
08 8672 5555
An original opal mine
& underground homes
dating back to 1916
The Old Timers Mine
is one of the most unusual
“Museums” you will ever
visit. The Old Timers
Mine is situated in
the outback town of
Coober Pedy in South
Australia. The exhibits
have been set up by
miners to demonstrate
the mining techniques
and lifestyle of those
who worked in the original
mine. The actual mine
however is not a mock
up, it is an actual
mine that was buried
and forgotten until
an excavation for an
underground home extension
broke through the sandstone
earth wall and the mine
was rediscovered. The
displays have been made
extremely life like
and organized into an
underground tour. By
following the tour and
viewing each display,
the visitor will get
a much better understanding
of a miners life underground
in the 19th century.
Pick and shovel were
the first tools used
and visitors will
see how the early
miners worked by candlelight
to find a trace of
opal. You can see
the early shafts used
to get access to the
underground mine -
or walk through an
original 1318 underground
home.
THE OPAL CAVE
Telephone
(08) 8672 5028
This underground complex
features a display of
high quality jewellery,
opal cutting demonstrations
and an opal museum.
Visitors can see the
original underground
house over fifty years
old, visit an underground
mine, see opal being
mined and learn the
history of opal.
OPAL
QUEST
Telephone
(08) 8672 5277
This working opal mine
offers visitors a chance
to see how the rare
and precious stone is
mined today. You're
given a hard hat and
miners pick to go and
fossick for your own
souvenir. Common opal
is readily obtainable
from the mine's walls.
But first a tour familiarises
you with the mines,
geological formation
of opal and its mining.
UMOONA
OPAL MINE
Telephone
(08) 8672 5288
This underground complex
has a museum covering
the development of European
settlement in Coober
Pedy, including all
aspects of opal mining
and Aboriginal culture.
A special feature is
the extensive display
of opals. A guided tour
takes you through real
opal workings where
all aspects of opal
mining are explained.
UNDERGROUND
CHURCHES
Coober
Pedy's fascinating attractions
also include underground
churches - the Church
of Saint Peter and Paul
(classified by the National
Trust) and the Catacomb
Church.
CULLLYAMURRA
WATERHOLE
A
picturesque spot on
the Cooper Creek, excellent
for fishing. Evidence
of the occupation of
the area by the Yantrwantas
Aboriginal tribe can
be seen with rock carvings
at the eastern end of
the waterhole.
MOUND
SPRINGS
Approximately
130 kilometres west
of Marree are some fine
examples of the many
mound springs found
in the area. Their discovery
around the rim of the
Great Artesian Basin
enabled pastoral settlement
in the outback. They
also dictated the path
of the Overland Telegraph,
the Ghan Railway and
stock route, the Oodnadatta
Track. They include
Bubbler and Blanchecup
Mound Springs. Coward
Springs is like an oasis,
the warm water bubbling
up out of the ground,
with date palms providing
a refuge for the many
birds that frequent
the area.
CURDIMURKA
SIDING AND ARTESIAN
BORE
One
hundred and twenty one
kilometres west of Marree,
a section of the original
Ghan line remains at
the old Curdimurka Siding.
Three old settlers cottages,
a water tank and sheds
have been retained by
the Ghan Preservation
Society; there is also
an artesian bore next
to the siding.
KILLALPANINNA
LUTHERAN MISSION MEMORIAL
At
Etadunna Homestead 121
kilometres north of
Marree is a memorial
commemorating the efforts
of the people who ran
the Lutheran Aboriginal
Mission, the ruins of
which are just to the
north- west. The mission
was built in 1867 and
once cared for two hundred
Aboriginal people. The
severe drought of 1915
forced its closure.
LAKE
EYRE SOUTH
South
Australia's giant inland
ocean, Lake Lyre is
81 kilometres west of
Marree and can be seen
from the Oodnadatta
Track. There are two
lookouts next to the
road and a rough track
leads to the lake shore.
LAKE
HARRY RUINS
This
is where the state government
struck its first bore
along the Birdsville
Track. The old deserted
homestead was once a
busy camel trading post
until 1851. A few date
palms, survivors of
a large plantation,
remain.
ALGEBUCKINA
SIDING RUIN
Just
west of the Oodnadatta
Track and fifty kilometres
southeast of Oodnadatta
is the Algebuckina Siding
Ruin and a permanent
water hole. One of the
old Ghan Railway's most
impressive bridges,
nearly 600 metres long,
still spans the river
nearby.
RAILWAY
STATION MUSEUM
Telephone
(08) 8670 7828
The 98 year-old station
contains a collection
of historical photographs
memorabilia and Aboriginal
artefacts and a preserved
portion of the historic
Ghan Railway.
AUSTRALIAN
NATIONAL WORKSHOPS
AT PORT AUGUSTA
Telephone
(08) 8642 2611
One hour guided tours
are held twice a week
at these large and important
workshops, taking the
visitor over the locomotive
and wagon workshops
where overhauling and
repairs of the equipment
occurs. Also in the
complex are the machine
shops, car building,
welding, painting and
electrical workshops.
A tour of the apprenticeship
training centre is included.
HOMESTEAD
PARK PIONEER MUSEUM
Telephone
(08) 8642 2035
This is a railway and
pastoral museum featuring
the historic Yudnapinna
Homestead which was
transported from its
original site to Port
Augusta and re-built
as a museum. The 130-year
old homestead is fully
furnished in period
style and is the only
original log homestead
in the state.
McLELLAN
LOOKOUT
This
vantage point, on the
site of Matthew Flinders'
landing-place in 1802,
offers excellent views
of Spencer Gulf, Port
Augusta's power station,
and the Flinders and
Bluff Ranges. A stone
cairn marks where Flinders
stepped ashore on March
10
ROYAL
FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE
BASE
Telephone
(08) 8642 2044 The Port
Augusta base is one
of fourteen in Australia
and provides medical
services to people in
remote areas of the
state. Visitors have
the opportunity to see
first- hand the work
of this uniquely Australian
Aero Medical Service.
SCHOOL
OF THE AIR
Telephone
(08) 8642 2077
Visitors can see this
radio education for
students in the remote
outback. There is an
audio visual display
and a viewing bay to
observe teachers working
with geographically
isolated students via
the two-way radio, broadcast
through the Royal Flying
Doctor Service. The
service began in 1951.
In 1991 it became a
primary and secondary
school, part of the
Open Access College
of South Australia.
WADLATA OUTBACK CENTRE
Telephone
(08) 8642 4511
This interpretive centre
features a series of
hi-tech displays with
the themes of The Greentime
(ancient geological
development), Aboriginal
Heritage and Culture,
Early European Explorers,
Transport Development,
Communications Development,
Modern Technology and
Development and a variety
of other themes. Each
is depicted with audio
visual means, storyboards
and imaginative display
methods.
WATER
TOWER LOOKOUT
This
tower dates from 1882
and is surrounded by
beautiful gardens. It
was originally built
to provide Port Augusta
with a reserve water
supply. There are excellent
views of Port Augusta,
the gulf and the Flinders
Ranges.
OLYMPIC
DAM VISITORS CENTRE
Telephone
(08) 8671 8888
This centre explains
the operations at Olympic
Dam a vast copper, uranium,
gold and silver mine.
A video is available
for viewing, and daily
tours of the Olympic
Dam surface mine site
leave here.
WARRINA
SIDING RUIN
These
ruins, 117 kilometres
from William Creek are
stone settlers cottages.
At the Warrina Siding
Ruin is a commemorative
plaque to the Elder
Scientific Expedition
which in 1891 left this
spot for a 6,886 kilometres
journey to Western Australia.
MISSILE
PARK AND HERITAGE
CENTRE
Telephone
(08) 8673 7042
The Missile Park displays
a fine collection of
rockets, missiles and
aircraft used in the
testing range. The Woomera
Heritage Centre includes
a museum which displays
historic groupings of
fossil and stone, Aboriginal
artefacts and homestead
items.
Photo courtesy SATC
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South Australian Region
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