It was a cool, cloudy day with a fresh breeze when we found ourselves driving out of Adelaide for a long-awaited trip through Central Australia.
We intended to travel to Alice Springs via the Oodnadatta track, Dalhousie Springs, Uluru, and Watarrka National Park where we were going to visit Kings Canyon. From there, we would travel the Mereenie Loop to Glen Helen and onto Alice Springs, then return home via the Stuart Highway.
My wife Linda and I were in our Land Rover Defender with our small, off-road caravan in tow. Linda’s sister Donna and her husband Bill were in their Isuzu MUX towing a soft-floor camper. Also with us was Linda’s younger sister Tracey, who had come over from New Zealand to join us, and their mother Margaret. This trip had been planned for almost a year and, with the threat of COVID cancelling it altogether, the feeling we all had as we finally got underway was a combination of relief and excitement.
We finally found ourselves driving out of Adelaide for the long-awaited trip through Central Australia.
Hawker and Farina
The first part of our journey took us through the Clare Valley, where we stopped briefly for a quick grocery shop, then onto Hawker (just south of the Flinders Ranges), where we had our first camp. Instead of cooking on our first night, we enjoyed a meal at the local pub. We then travelled through the spectacular Flinders Ranges, stopping occasionally to take some photos, and finally made our way to Farina where we camped on our second night.
Our first night in Hawker.
We travelled through the spectacular Flinders Ranges, stopping occasionally to take some photos.
Farina is a town in ruins, but thanks to the Farina Restoration Group some of the ruins are being stabilized to prevent further deterioration. It is a fascinating place to visit, where you can wander amongst the old buildings and read the information boards that explain how the town was formed, and how it was eventually abandoned. The last residents left the town in the early 80s.
Camping is in the privately owned campground just past the town, for a modest fee. There are numerous shady campsites and flushing toilets, as well as a donkey shower. The latter requires a fire to be set under a boiler which heats the water, delivering a hot shower. We tried this, but the fire was a bit small and took over an hour to heat the water – so it was lukewarm. Better than nothing! It was a very pleasant evening, relaxing around the campfire beneath the billions of stars.
Farina is a fascinating place to visit, where you can wander amongst the old buildings.
You can read the information boards that explain how the town was formed.
The last residents left Farina in the early 80s.
The Oodnadatta Track
The Oodnadatta Track starts at Maree – though it really isn’t a track as the name might suggest, but a dirt road that is usually open to all traffic. It can close from time to time due to rain making it impassable.
The track mostly follows the Old Ghan Railway from Adelaide to Alice Springs, which was the original railway line. It began operating in 1878, with the last train leaving Maree in November 1980. There is lots to see along this track including old railway stations and sidings, as well as several bridges. The original telegraph line ran through this area as well, and the Old Peake Telegraph Station is only a short detour from the track – a very interesting place to visit.
The Oodnadatta Track is more so a dirt road that is usually open to all traffic.
Lake Eyre and William Creek
We stopped for lunch at the viewing area for Lake Eyre South, which did contain some water. We had been along this track numerous times before, but this would be the first time we saw water in this part of Lake Eyre. We were originally planning to travel out to Lake Eyre and camp at the Halligan Bay campground, but after checking with the rangers in Adelaide were told that the lake was drying up fast. There was therefore no water to be seen at the camping area at Halligan Bay, so we decided to give that part a miss.
We did stop at William Creek for the night and, after a few drinks at the pub, decided to book a table for a meal. The next morning, I was greeted by a flat tyre on the Land Rover. There was nothing obvious causing the tyre to deflate, so I fitted one of the two spares I carried and would look at the tyre more closely later.
As we continued, we passed several more sidings as well as a couple of railway bridges. We decided to stop at one to pick up some firewood. There are still lots of old sleepers along where the railway track used to go, but they are starting to get harder to find. Other travellers also collect them for firewood, and the elements are breaking them down to mostly pieces of sleepers rather than whole ones.
One of the most popular stops along the track is at the Algebukina Railway Bridge that crosses the Neals River. It opened in 1892 and was the longest bridge in South Australia, until another bridge was built in 2014 that crossed the Onkaparinga River, south of Adelaide. There is a short walk along a boardwalk onto the bridge; it is possible to camp here, although there are no facilities.
My sister-in-law Donna, testing the water (…or mud).
We stopped for lunch at the viewing area for Lake Eyre South, which contained some water.
Oodnadatta
We continued into the town of Oodnadatta for lunch, and checked how the road conditions were looking for the track that leads to Dalhousie Springs. We already knew the route via the ruins of the Pedirka Railway Station were closed due to flood damage, but the track to Mt Dare was open – so we could first head towards Mt Dare, then turn off just before to make our way out to Dalhousie Springs.
There was some low cloud about, but the forecast was mainly dry with a possibility of 1mm of rain. We planned to camp somewhere along this road, as we were not booked into the Dalhousie campground until the next night. We did find a nice spot beside a dry creek bed that had a cleared area with plenty of room for us all. We had a small campfire and a pleasant evening… but after we went to bed, I could hear the patter of raindrops on the roof of the van. Gentle at first, but steadily increasing! This started to worry me, as I knew what it could mean to the roads. It rained on and off for most of the night.
A Swervy Start!
We had a cool, damp morning, so we packed up and decided to continue on. The road was not all bad at first, but we did experience a few more light showers as we went. The road then started to become rather slushy. We reduced speed, as I could feel the Land Rover starting to slip occasionally – even in four-wheel drive.
We were fine for a while; travelling slowly and making progress when we came across a particularly slippery section of road. The Land Rover started to slide a little to one side, then quickly came back again. Nothing drastic, but this affected the caravan differently. A big slide first one way, then the other, pulling the Land Rover with it! This happened several times, and at one point it went completely sideways – I thought it was going to overtake me! This could have been a disaster, but it only lasted a few seconds. As we were travelling slowly, it soon came back under control.
With my heart beating at a rapid rate, I stopped to check all was ok – then saw how much mud had been spraying up over the front of the van. I could just make out the coupling and jockey wheel under the mud. Donna and Bill’s trailer was in the same state. At this point, we were about halfway to Dalhousie Springs, so we thought we would continue on rather than turning back. We reached the Dalhousie Springs turnoff and, given there were no barriers or signs saying it was closed, we turned toward Dalhousie.
That’s when things got worse.
Preparing dinner, about halfway between Oodnadatta and Dalhousie Springs.
When we turned toward Dalhousie – that’s when things got worse.
Donna attempting to remove mud from her shoes.
The surface of this section consisted of a layer of sticky, slippery mud while on top of a firm surface. This offered little traction for both vehicles, and at one spot Bill’s car slipped into a hollow on one side of the road! Normally, not a problem – but because the track was so slippery, there was no way he could get himself out. I was behind, so was able to snatch him out backwards. I then managed to pass him by going right up on the shoulder of the road on the opposite side. Bill then followed in my tracks, and we were both past it. At times, going up a slight rise in the road, the Land Rover would spin all four wheels with the sticky mud flying through the air and up both sides of the car.
A little further on, I started to feel like something was holding us back. It felt like the caravan brakes were coming on. Over the radio, Bill said he was stopping because the wheels of his camper were not turning and he was dragging the camper through the mud. We also stopped and found that the wheel arches were so full of sticky mud that the tyres were jamming up against it, and wouldn’t spin!
Sticky stuff!
To listen to the full story, tune into this episode of the Snowys Camping Show:
Dalhousie Springs
We spent the next 20 minutes digging out the mud, only having to repeat the process twice more before we reached the campground. We had just spent around 5 hours travelling approximately 65 kilometres, so were glad to finally arrive! We set up camp, then went for a swim in the beautiful warm water of Dalhousie Springs.
Dalhousie Station was a pastoral lease that was first taken up by Edward Meade Bagot in 1873. It changed hands several times, and in 1985 was acquired by the Australian Government to make up Witjira National Park. There is only one spring for swimming, of approximately 60 artesian springs in the area. It is about twice the size of an Olympic swimming pool, and the water is between 38 and 43 degrees Celsius (depending on where you are).
The Dalhousie Springs swimming hole. We made it!
Sunset at Dalhousie.
The hassles of the day just floated away as we watched the Dalhousie Goby (a small freshwater fish) come up to us and nibble any dry skin we had on our bodies. It was a weird experience! There was a crew of workers there, removing the date palms from around the Dalhousie Homestead ruins. They told us there was about 10mm of rain that day – not the 1mm that was forecast!
We were staying two nights at Dalhousie, so we used part of the next day to remove as much of the mud as possible from the vehicles. Both wheels had to be removed from the caravan to get all the mud out of the wheel arches. Bill had to do the same with his trailer, and both cars needed all their wheel arches scraped out too. We noticed other vehicles coming in had the same problem. Most of the day was spent relaxing though, with an occasional swim in the artesian pool.
My wife Linda attempting to remove mud from the wheel arches.
Ah… so that’s why the wheels were jamming.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
It had remained dry since we arrived, so we were not worried about the roads on our way out. In fact, returning the way we came in, we found the road was well-compacted and easy to drive along. The hollow that Bill slipped into previously was hardly noticed as we drove past it. We stopped for lunch at Mt Dare, then continued to Finke and out to the main highway to Kulgera Roadhouse, where we stopped for the night. We then continued the next day to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The next day we’d booked a Segway tour around the base of the rock. These were fun and very easy to use. Even Margaret, my 82-year-old mother-in-law, found it a breeze to use! We followed our guide along the trail and stopped several times, as our guide filled us in on some of the geological history of the rock. As well as this, we learned of the cultural history, as told by the Aboriginal Elders of the Anangu people who have lived here for at least 30,000 years.
The segway tour was a lot of fun, and they were easy to ride.
Some of the fantastic formations on Uluru.
The weather, however, wasn’t the best. Some light showers passed through, and it became rather cold. After we finished the tour, we went to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta cultural centre where it was much warmer. Here, we looked at some amazing Aboriginal artwork and had lunch.
We also went to see the Fields of Lights. They can only be seen on an organised tour, and we opted for an early morning session. 50,000 spheres of light cover an area on seven football fields. We were able to walk around amongst them to take photos, then back up to a sand dune to watch the sunrise over the desert floor, enjoying a hot drink and some snacks. Watching Uluru then appear in the distance as the sun finally touched it was a wonderful sight.
The Field of Lights from the viewing platform at Uluru.
The Field of Lights, just before sunrise.
Uluru emerging from the night and catching the sunlight.
Kings Canyon
After our stay at Uluru, we had about a half-day’s drive to Kings Canyon where we stayed for two nights. The girls walked up to the canyon rim while Bill and I went into the gorge. Both our vehicles were still covered in mud and drew attention several times, as people asked where we had been to get so muddy!
Both our vehicles were still covered in mud and attracted the attention of others several times!
Ancient ripples in the sandstone indicates that this was once under the sea.
The steps going up to the Kings Canyon Rim Walk.
The girls at the top of the rim!
On our first night there, we went up to a viewing platform on one of the sand dunes. Here, there was a small caravan selling drinks and a guitarist playing some great music. It was a beautiful evening; we watched the colours deepen on the distant ranges as the sun went down.
There are dingoes in the area, and we were advised not to leave any food or food scraps out; they will find them and help themselves to it! Feeding the dingoes is frowned upon, as it encourages them to lose their hunting skills and natural fear of humans. This has led to some dingoes becoming very aggressive, where some people can cop a nasty bite. Unfortunately, this means these animals then have to be removed or sometimes destroyed – which is such a shame.
Looking out from the viewing platform at the Kings Canyon campground.
The colours of an outback sunrise are just breathtaking.
Glen Helen Gorge
From Kings Canyon, we went along the Mereenie Loop road to Glen Helen Gorge. We had booked into the campground here, but a few weeks prior to us leaving Adelaide we were notified that our booking was being cancelled; the campground was being upgraded and the facilities were not completed. After some discussion with the others, we decided to stay in the free camp on the Finke River for two nights, which was just opposite the Glen Helen resort. Lots of other people were doing the same.
It was a lovely place to camp, with some spots offering shady trees and lovely views across the river to the ancient rocky outcrops of the West MacDonnell Ranges. The Finke River is thought to be the oldest water course in the world, and dates back some 350 million years. There was lots of water in it, although it didn’t appear to be flowing as it was mostly made up of large pools of deep water.
The Finke River is home to some great campsites.
Ormiston Gorge, Ochre Pits, and Ellery Creek Water Hole
As we made our way towards Alice Springs, we stopped at Ormiston Gorge and saw numerous dead fish around the edges of the water hole. This is apparently caused by low oxygen levels in the water, and is a natural event. We also stopped at the Ochre Pits to photograph the colourful Ochre, and Ellery Creek Water Hole where we were fascinated by the amount of debris scattered around the campground and piled up against the trees. This was as a result of floods that had swept through here earlier in the year.
Final Stop: Standley Chasm
Our last stop before Alice was at Standley Chasm, where after lunch some of our group walked into the chasm for photographs and then into Alice Springs. We had booked a townhouse here, so didn’t have to set up camp; a nice change. After two nights in Alice Springs, we packed up and headed home!
We arrived back in Adelaide four days later, after travelling about 4500 kilometres in just three weeks. It was a great trip. I have always loved Central Australia; the beautiful colours, vast open spaces, as well as the rugged ancient ranges. It is a place I would happily visit again.
I have always loved Central Australia for its beautiful colours.
I first started in the caravan and camping industry in 1986 after moving to Adelaide from Sydney. I’ve always loved being outdoors and going on camping trips with family and friends. After working in the camping industry for over three decades, I’ve published a book called Caravanning and Camping in Australia after years of travelling in the Australian bush.