Guide to Port MacDonnell South Australia Australia

Port MacDonnell is a fishing town of about 660 people on the Southern Ocean, 28 kilometres south of Mount Gambier. It is the southernmost town in South Australia and the home port of one of the largest rock lobster fleets in the country.

A breakwater more than 1.5 kilometres long shelters the boats from a coast that has wrecked dozens of ships. The town behind it is unpretentious, with wide streets, old stone buildings from its days as a busy port and long empty beaches on either side.

Known For

• The southern rock lobster fleet and breakwater
• Lookouts and lighthouse ruins at Cape Northumberland
• A maritime museum of shipwrecks

Things To Do in Port MacDonnell

The Harbour

Walk the jetty, restored in 2015, to watch the lobster boats. The season opens on 1 October and runs through summer, and fresh crayfish is sold in the town.

Port MacDonnell Maritime Museum

The museum in the community complex on Charles Street tells the story of the port and the wrecks along this coast, including the Admella. It opens daily, with a small entry fee.

Cape Northumberland

West of the town, a heritage and nature park on the cape has lookouts over rock stacks and reefs, the ruins of the first lighthouse of 1859 and its replacement of 1882. It is the most southerly point of the state and a fine place at sunset. The little penguins once seen here have gone.

Dingley Dell

The cottage of the poet and horseman Adam Lindsay Gordon stands in a small conservation park north of the town. The park is open for a walk, but the cottage itself is closed except on occasional open days.

Germein Reserve

A 55 hectare patch of native bush on Springs Road with walking tracks and wildflowers in spring.

Where To Stay

The Victoria Hotel has pub rooms, the old customs house has been converted to apartments and there are beach houses to rent.

The Port MacDonnell Foreshore Tourist Park on Eight Mile Creek Road has powered and unpowered sites, cabins and a dump point, and takes pets. The council’s free sites are for fully self-contained vehicles only and some must be booked in advance, so check its camping guide. Free spots include Orwell Rocks and Cape Northumberland for a night and bookable sites along Eight Mile Creek Road for up to three nights.

Eat & Drink

The Victoria Hotel serves lunch and dinner every day. Cafes on Sea Parade, a pizzeria and two fish shops cover the rest; in season, order the lobster.

History

The Boandik people call this place Ngaranga. It was proclaimed a port in 1860 and named after the governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell, and by the 1880s it was one of the busiest ports in the colony, shipping wool and wheat from the South East.

Getting to Port MacDonnell

Follow the Riddoch Highway south from Mount Gambier past Mount Schank and Allendale East. The Victorian border is about 30 kilometres east by the coast road through the ponds.