Towns in Australia

Exploring Australia, town by town

Port Germein SA

Port Germein

Postcode: 5495

Port Germein is a sea-side town in South Australia, on the east side of Spencer Gulf. It is named after either Captain John Germein or his brother Samuel Germein. It is located 250 kilometres north of Adelaide (27 kilometres north of Port Pirie) with a small population of 250 residents.

Port Germein was once famous for having the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It was built in the 1880s to export wheat and is 1646 metres long. It needed to be built this long to overcome the shallow slope of the shore, but turned out still not long wnough to load the larger sailing ships. Due to storm damage, the jetty is now only 1532 metres long, as it is no longer used by large ships.