By the 1880s, Port MacDonnell was one of the nation’s busiest ports, shipping huge quantities of wheat and wool to Europe via clipper and ketch. Today you’re more likely to see fishing boats in the harbour of this quaint Limestone Coast town.

‘Port Mac’ is home to Australia’s largest lobster fishing fleet and is known as Australia’s Southern Rock Lobster capital. October to May is lobster season, so look out for the prized crustacean being served fresh in local eateries or purchase direct from the factory. There’s good snorkelling and surfing along the coast, and if you’re up for a deepwater fishing adventure, charter companies know where the local tuna lurk.

FAST FACTS!

• Before European settlement, Port MacDonnell was known as ‘Ngaranga’ to the local Boandik First Nation Peoples
• Port MacDonnell is the southernmost port in South Australia
• Dingley Dell cottage was home to Adam Lindsay Gordon, the only Australian poet to have a bust in London’s Westminster Abbey
• In 1867 Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop boarded the SS Penola from the Port MacDonnell jetty for the journey to take her formal vows in Adelaide
• Eighty-nine people perished when the SS Admella ran onto rocks near Port MacDonnell in 1859 – a dramatic eight-day rescue mission saved 24 lives