Visited and named by Matthew Flinders in 1802, after his home of Lincolnshire, Port Lincoln is yet another Australian town that remembers this explorer. Flinders was looking for fresh water during his visit, which lasted several weeks. He eventually located some, which enabled him to continue his voyage into the Spencer Gulf.
He lost eight of his crew in a rowing boat while going ashore here. The boat was found but the bodies of the crew never were. The cape at the tip of Lincoln National Park is called Cape Catastrophe after the event, and the surrounding islands named after each of the lost crewmen.
Port Lincoln doesn't get as warm as you may expect during summer, with averages remaining lower than [wiki=a02f9768660497d370831df932feeeaf]Adelaide[/wiki], and more northern towns.
Port Lincoln today is a town of around 15,000 people, it has a foreshore area, marina district, and is close to the Lincoln National Park. Although tourism is important to the area, this is a working city, and you are just as likely to see trawlers in the marina as you are luxury yachts or tourist charters. While swimming at the foreshore jetty, you can see the large grain silos and conveyors load grain ships at speed.
About 8 hours drive from [wiki=a02f9768660497d370831df932feeeaf]Adelaide[/wiki], a little quicker and less driving when taking the ferry [url=http://www.seasa.com.au/]arriving]at [[Lucky Bay[/url]] from [wiki=d64cf4f0bbb7b1f87c3ec707ef564d8c]Wallaroo[/wiki] on [wiki=cfbb82d853f8da48309bab36c6b0a7a4]Yorke Peninsula[/wiki].
Port Lincoln has a regional airport situated north of the town on the Lincoln Highway (B100) and near North Shields at the north western end of Boston Bay. The airport is around 15 km from the town and is the second busiest airport in South Australia.
Rex Regional Express [url=http://www.regionalexpress.com.au/]]and Qantaslink [url=http://qantas.com[/url]]fly from [[Adelaide[/url]] several times daily. Compared to the drive, flying is quick and flights are easily obtainable for less than $100 each way. The distance of 245 km (152 mi) as the crow flies across the Spencer Gulf and St Vincent Gulf to Adelaide is not that great when compared to the much longer road route to the north via [wiki=050830aaa125d83c19571c97cb454235]Port Augusta[/wiki] and around the top of the two gulfs and top of [wiki=cfbb82d853f8da48309bab36c6b0a7a4]Yorke Peninsula[/wiki].
[wiki=0c6fb3868c171b834a14c90edbcf921b]Whyalla[/wiki] is the next closest airport with scheduled services, about 3 hours drive (268km) to the north. Flights there are less frequent and more expensive.
Premier Stateliner [url=http://www.premierstateliner.com.au/]]run daily services to [[Adelaide[/url]] via [wiki=0c6fb3868c171b834a14c90edbcf921b]Whyalla[/wiki] and [wiki=050830aaa125d83c19571c97cb454235]Port Augusta[/wiki].
Lincoln National Park is 15 km drive south of Port Lincoln, The road is sealed (paved) for most of the distance to Cape Donnington and a well graded gravel road for the remainder. Near Cape Donnington there are many emu, kangaroo and goanna. Bring binoculars to see the wildlife on Donnington Island.
* Cape Donnington has a fairly modern looking lighthouse, rocks, and waves. Views out to Donnington Island.
* Stamford Hill at 1.6 km return walk to the Flinders monument. A great view over the town and beaches. This is the point to which Flinders climbed when he located the water that allowed him to continue his journey.