Entry 10 – August – 2025 Oodnadatta Track – 3rd
edition
We headed north out of Oodnadatta, towards Marla. At
about the 20-kilometre mark we decided to participate in another deviation.
Dalhousie Springs sounded like a nice place to visit. It was only about 163
kilometres, down a track.
We had been getting mixed reviews for the condition of
this road. Over the last week we had spoken to two separate people who had just
come out of Dalhousie Springs. Both said the road conditions weren’t too bad.
Around the first 30-kilometres we were getting jostled
about from bad corrugated road conditions. One of us piped up, “I’m not keen to
put up with these road conditions for over 300-kilometres, considering we are
planning to return along the same route. Number two diligently agreed.
We stopped and reduced our tyre pressures a bit more and
continued onward, until our next assessment. The road conditions did improve,
though we were still encountering many corrugated sections, thankfully in
shorter bursts.
We decided to “soldier on.”
There was one section of road still affected by the wet
weather event from about 3 weeks previous. At least the nearby land surface had
similarities to a lake bed. It provided a comfortable deviation for about
4-kilometres, though dusty.
Adding to the mix of hazards, we were encountering a
number of bull dust covered holes in the road surface. Appropriately, we
managed to capture a photograph of a bull, kicking up some dust in one of these
holes. Thus, could this be where the terminology “bull dust holes,” originated?
We did encounter some cow incidents, whom were acting
more like kangaroo’s, “unpredictable.”
The sun was getting low with still around 60-kilometres
to our destination. Due to the road conditions, we were travelling at a speed
of around 10 to 30 kph for quite a period. We found a spot to park up for the
night alongside of the track on the gibber plains. Another beautiful setting,
all to ourselves with the only background noise, some crows - crowing.
The following morning, we continued onwards. It was rough
going, with our pace at around 10 kph. When we did get a good section of road
we felt like we were flying. Even though our speed was barely 40 kph.
It felt good to finally arrive at the entrance to the
national park. Though, there was still more driving to our destination.
There was a stop at the ruins of
Dalhousie Station. It had been abandoned for over
100 years. It was quite the set up with a comprehensive array of buildings
and stock yards. One of the buildings, the predominate feature was the fire
place. Looking up the chimney you could see a piece of steel with lots of hooks
to mount various pots over the fire.
The timbers used to construct the stock yards were quite
substantial. It was sad to think there were no longer trees of this size
visible anywhere over the gibber plains country side. Though the backdrop
setting was a delight to view.
At Dalhousie Springs we set camp and had a look at the
pool, located about a 400 metre walk from the campground.
The pool temperature was signposted to be a warm 34 to 38
C degrees. We thought around the 38 C to be most likely.
This region was another location with about 80 Mound
Springs, discharging water from The Great Artesian Basin. West of the main pool
the spring discharges around 160 litres per second at a temperature of 43 C
degrees.
One morning we headed down to the pool at sunrise. The
air temperature was quite crisp. It was wonderful immersing our bodies into the
warm artesian waters. We were serenaded by the sounds of chattering birds
around us. A beautiful, blissful setting all to ourselves. So, we thought.
Within 15 minutes we were swamped by other campers, seemingly all with the same
idea. Our background sounds of birds replaced by people chattering.
Another morning, we woke with no breeze about. From a
distance it looked like smoke rising from the pool area, as if it was on fire.
The rising steam provided another element to the beautiful setting of Dalhousie
Springs.
There was the option of a couple of walking trails with a
start point nearby the pool. Both moving out into the country side. When
participating in these walks, we saw many mound springs covered by trees. Over
the hundreds of kilometres of country side we had travelled through, all the
mound springs we had sighted had been denuded of any tree life. The Dalhousie
Station buildings of its time, had been the most northern residence in South
Australia. The location of the Dalhousie Springs campground was quite a
distance from the station ruins. Could this have been the savings grace for the
trees surrounding many of the mound springs of this area? Of note the
campground and the Simpson Desert had been proclaimed a fire free zone.
We emersed our bodies into the hot artesian waters of
Dalhousie Springs often during the day. Each time we entered the water it
provided a delightful sensation. When you sat still for a period the local Dalhousie
Gobies would start to nibble at your feet. We thought it felt like a
defoliation exercise. Often unsuspecting first timers entering the water would
scream with fright on their first encounter of a Dalhousie Goby.
Daily we would see galahs, cockies, swallows, white faced
grey herons and some other visiting birds about the springs. They were a
delight to watch from our floating positions in the water.
Dalhousie Springs is on the edge of the Simpson Desert.
It is the start or finish point, depending on the direction of travel chosen,
for the iconic 4-wheel drive trek across the Simpson Desert. It travels along
the French Line, connecting with Birdsville at the other end of a 435-kilometre
track.
Dalhousie Springs may have been quite a remote location
in Australia. The reality today, it is a busy location with large numbers of 4wd
vehicles travelling the French Line. There was quite a large turnover of
campers in the campground each day and many passing vehicles stopping in the
day use parking area for a dip in the water.
We were
contemplating a departure day when a young family with four children set camp
beside us. At the time the campground was near empty and there were so many
other camp spot options, far, far away from us. Grrr. Gosh they were loud and
annoying. They helped with our departure time line. It was immediate. After six
glorious nights we said our goodbyes to Dalhousie Springs.
We
drove by the Old Dalhousie Ruins.
We stopped for a lunch break at another Old Ghan Railway
ruins. Pedirka Siding. It was a flat barren landscape.
We were travelling through desert plains, seemingly a
lifeless, relatively flat environment. For us it was still pleasurable viewing.
Though the road conditions made for tough going. We took it slow, minimising
any damage our vehicles might sustain. It was 187 kilometres from the
campground to Oodnadatta. We arrived at Oodnadatta after nearly 8 hours of
driving. We were exhausted.
We slept at the town common area of Oodnadatta,
continuing onwards to Coober Pedy the following morning. We decided not to
complete the full length of the Oodnadatta track, bypassing the last stretch
from Oodnadatta to Marla. There hadn’t been any identifiable points of interest
on this stretch of road.
It had been over 3 weeks since our last food shop. We
knew of a good supermarket at Coober Pedy and were keen for some fresh produce.
It was another 200 kilometre stretch of road with most of
it a dirt surface. It was in much better condition than all the other dirt
surfaced roads we had travelled along over the last three weeks. Our bodies and
vehicles were very grateful for the smoother ride.
It was still a barren country side. There was a
scattering of cows and we wondered how they survived on the seemingly unfertile
land surface.
At times we were treated to some beautiful colours.
We had been to Coober Pedy a few times, always travelling
on the Stuart Highway with views of mounds of mining rubble. Entering from the
other side, we could see the township, minus the mining rubble.
Over the last three weeks we had driven along a bit over
1,000 kilometres of dirt roads/tracks. Around a third, we had experienced
corrugated road surface conditions. Our bodies did not like being jostled about
on this occasion.
We pondered over reasons for our sudden change of
negativity towards rough roads after 12 + years of travel.
Our 4wd/tow tug had recently required a suspension
upgrade due to a technicality with the insurance policy for our new caravan.
The much firmer suspension impacting the comfort of the ride. There’s always
some form of compromise!
There had been a point of interest on the Oodnadatta to
Coober Pedy Road. A destination with the title of The Painted Desert. It was
another deviation road/track for a number of kilometres. We had heard of recent
reports the track was in very poor condition. It sounded like a worthwhile
consideration. Researching pictures of the Painted Desert showed nearly all the
photographs were obtained from high up provided by drone footage.
With the above thoughts, our bodies decided to bypass The
Painted Desert.
In its place we decided to view, Kanku – Breakaways
Conservation Park. It is easily accessible, not far from Coober Pedy.
It had been about 10 years since we had viewed the
Breakaways. There was still hill top viewing locations where you looked down
into the valley below at some beautiful colours. It was still just as fabulous
as our previous visit.
We spotted one of the locals watching us whilst they were
out catching the last of the days warmth before the sun set.
We spent two nights at Coober Pedy. Providing a
much-appreciated rest for our bodies. And the fresh food was delightful.
At Coober Pedy we had camped at the towns free camp which
was reasonably quiet. Heading south our next overnight stop was at the small
township of Pimba. There is a large free camping area with flushing toilets and
$2 hot showers. We had previously stayed at this location several times and
quite liked it.
There is a large fuel station with a good variety of food
available, where sometimes we enjoy a treat.
It is at a T intersection with the Stuart Highway and the
road to the major mining town of Roxby Downs. It is a very busy location with
large road trains constantly stopping. From the comfort of our caravan, we
watched a steady flow of large freight trains travelling along the Australian
north/south rail line. The trains sounding their horns when transversing the
nearby rail crossing.
Both of us didn’t sleep well on this occasion, mostly due
to the constant traffic noise. It seemed like we had been nicely spoilt over our
last three weeks by the sounds of nature, peaceful bush camping, away from busy
human activities.
The following morning, we both commented a desire, not to
camp there again.
Our next stop was at the Mambray Creek campground in the
southern Flinders Ranges.
The campground had received a significant makeover since
our last visit a few years previously. There was a flash new amenities block, the
camping sites/area had been reshaped with a change of identifiable numbers and
there was an addition of a small camp kitchen. It was quite an improvement.
Though our records of what sites best suited our needs was no longer valid. We
had to reassess suitable sites before booking a vacant site.
Wow! We had forgotten how the gorgeous Mambray Creek
setting impacted ones feel good neurotransmitters. Our eyes were constantly
trying to take in as much scenery as possible.
We spent a couple of nights at Mambray Creek and could
have easily stayed longer.
Our next stop will be at our home base for a period.
