Things to do in Kimba, South Australia
The best things to do in Kimba, South Australia are basically just photo stops. These include the Eyre Statue at White’s Knob Lookout, the Big Galah and the Halfway Across Australia sign. Take them in as part as a Nullarbor road trip – it’s not worth driving from Adelaide to Kimba otherwise.
Kimba is one of those strange South Australian towns that is under no circumstances a holiday destination, but has a few attractions worth a photo stop nonetheless.
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Where is Kimba, SA?
At the top of the Eyre Peninsula, Kimba is a 465km drive from South Australian capital Adelaide. The only reason anyone sane is going to take on the four hour, 52 minute drive from Adelaide to Kimba is as part of a road trip to Western Australia. It’s on the Port Augusta to Ceduna leg.
Kimba is a functional service town for the Gawler Ranges and the dry chunks of the Eyre Peninsula that are above Goyder’s Line. But it’s as good a place as any to refuel stretch your legs before the long drive across the Nullarbor Plain. Sandwich it in between a steelworks tour in Whyalla and swimming with sealions at Baird Bay, and you’re doing Kimba right.
Things to do in Kimba, SA: Halfway Across Australia?
Kimba’s big – and dubious – claim to fame is that it is halfway across Australia. In reality, Kimba is a 1,704km drive from Sydney and 2,231km from Perth. The true mid-point between Sydney and Perth is further east on the Eyre Highway, just before Ceduna.
But please don’t tell that to the giant, boomerang-shaped Halfway Across Australia sign in Kimba.
The Halfway Across Australia sign has a map and a potted history of Kimba underneath. It can be found at the Halfway Across Australia Gem Shop on the Eyre Highway. Go inside if you want food drink or other essentials such as opal stones and carved emu eggs.
Things to do in Kimba, SA: The Big Galah of Kimba
It might not be the first thing you see there, however, as also outside is the Big Galah. This is one of Australia’s notoriously tacky roadside Big Things, but it’s one of the best. The Big Galah stands eight metres high and is delightfully pink.
The other best things to do in Kimba are admiring the grain silo art on the eastern side of town, and visiting the White’s Knob lookout. This lofty perch of limestone conglomerate plays host to steel statues of explorer Edward John Eyre and his Aboriginal guide, Wylie.
The stature was erected in 2011 by artists Roland Weight and Marcus Possingham, and commemorates the first man to cross the Australian continent from Sydney to the Swan River. Both the Eyre Highway and Eyre Peninsula are named in honour of Eyre.
Kimba accommodation
Accommodation in Kimba is available at the three star Kimba Gateway Hotel or the cheaper Kimba Motel, Roadhouse and Caravan Park. There’s also the fairly basic Kimba Units.