Port Augusta

26 – 29 August 2023

After 5 fabulous nights at Gluepot Reserve we drove out through Morgan, where we had lunch. From there we drove on towards Burra so we could stop in to the Red Banks Conservation Park. It would have been nice to camp there but after 5 nights in the bush without a shower we really needed to get to a caravan park. We stopped in the day use area “the oval” and Mick spent a bit of time looking for birds. Reluctantly we moved on, still not sure where we would end up. We decided to drive through Laura, looking for suitable caravan parks along the way. We didn’t find anything that appealed so while we were at Laura we phoned ahead to book into the park in Port Augusta where we always stay.

As usual, we spent a day washing, shopping and doing general maintenance at camp, and on the other day we headed out early to Arid Lands Botanic Gardens. The gardens were looking particularly lush and there were so many plants blossoming. We wandered around for a couple of hours before having a delicious morning tea at the onsite café. We then finished our “town” chores and repacked ready to travel into a more remote location.

Mick had heard about the birding at Mount Ive Station and had been keen for some time to get there so we added it to the itinerary for this leg of the trip. We had arranged to meet birding friend, Paula, on the Birdsville Track in a couple of weeks’ time so were able to fit in a visit to this spot in the Gawler Ranges.

We left Port Augusta and drove to Iron Knob where we had a quick look around what was left of the town and then turned off the highway for the two hour drive on the unsealed road to Mt Ive. The road condition wasn’t great to start with but improved as we went along. 

We knew we wouldn’t make it in time for lunch and, as luck would have it, we reached the only picnic spot along the road just on noon. The marker indicated it as “Edward John Eyre Camp 6 Site” and consisted of a small drive through parking bay and a picnic table. Not much, and given the wind was howling, it was sufficient for a quick chicken and salad wrap, then back on our way.