My travels

Port Flinders (Weeroona Island)

Port Flinders is on a 45 metre high sandstone hillock, located in the Spencer Gulf between Port Pirie and Port Germein. It has superb 360-degree views, from Port Pirie to the Southern Flinders Ranges, enabling some excellent photos. Not many people - a few houses (shacks).

There is some controversy over the name. There is also controversy over whether the geological formation is a 'headland' or a 'tidal island'.

Port Flinders was assigned as the official, gazetted name in 1994 and is the name used by government departments. This is the name of the town that was to have been built, but it lost the battle with Port Pirie to become the port and railway terminus for the area so the town never really became a reality.

Weeroona Island is the common or colloquial name. 'Weeroona' appears to be an aboriginal name meaning 'resting place' but it appears to come from Victoria or New South Wales - I've found no evidence that the name comes from any local aboriginal language.

The hillock is now known as 'Mount Ferguson' after pastoralist Peter Ferguson. It had previously been named 'Benjamin's Hill' by Captain Germein after his youngest brother in 1840. It has also been known as 'Prices' Nob' (origin unknown).

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