Caravanning Camping Touring
Let me share some of our stories with you. I'll try to keep it fun and interesting, with heaps of photos, hints, tips and reviews all relating to life on the road.
By the time we left Dalhousie Springs, the roads were mostly dry, our tyre pressures were lowered for more protection, both for them and us, (we were running out of fillings to shake loose 😊) and we were eager be on our way.
We had been following the mud map we had picked up in Oodnadatta. We knew it wasn’t to scale, but it hadn’t led us astray so rather than heading back the way we came, we thought we’d follow the map to Kulgera.
Kulgera is just a small town on the Stuart Highway, not a lot there, but we loved the sound of this word… highway. Any highway would do and this was the closest. We were keen to get off the dirt roads and back on the black. It was a slow drive from Dalhousie, the cars that had gone before us had made a fine job of churning up the dirt, but we soon made it to our first stop; Mount Dare.
I’m not saying Mount Dare is small, but after a coffee in the pub, we had seen it all. So, back on the road we went. We had only been driving a short while when we saw a sign we had not expected to see.
It seems that our little mud map didn’t show state borders and shortly after leaving Mt Dare, we crossed over the Northern Territory border. It didn’t really matter, this route would still get us off the dirt roads quicker and by now we both wanted that. Since leaving Port Augusta on the 14th of August to arriving at Kulgera on the 4th of September we had travelled 1,646 kilometres and of that, 1,240 were on dirt roads and some of these roads really were the worst we have ever seen!
But I digress. Still following our mud map, we drove quickly past Finke, an aboriginal settlement that didn’t look particularly welcoming. This is aboriginal private land anyway and you can be fined for going in there – so we drove on towards Kulgera. Then we saw another sign.
The road to Lambert’s centre was a very narrow, rough, dodgy track, and the skies were promising rain again, but we didn’t turn back, mainly because we couldn’t. We got a lot of tiger stripes (scratches on the car and van) as we squeezed past trees and bushes, but in the end, we did make it. I don’t know, maybe we’re strange, but it felt really good to be at the Geographical Centre of Australia.
However, that really good feeling didn’t last long. While taking photos, I happened to notice something wrong with the van. I called Peter over and said,
“I think we have a problem.” And indeed, we did.
One of the steel straps that held one of our water tanks in place had snapped. Judging by the drag marks behind us, we had been dragging it for the last hundred metres or so.
Now for a man who isn’t mechanically minded, Peter is fantastic at fixing problems on the go. After assessing the situation, we decided the best course of action was to sacrifice the tank. To do this he had to disconnect the water hose from the damaged tank, but that of course would result in loosing all of our water as the tanks are connected. So, Peter fashioned a plug from a tree branch, cut the remaining strap on the tank, disconnected the hose, rammed the plug in tight, and applied a liberal amount of gaffer tape. Job done! And we still had one full tank of water left.
Because these posts are back dated, I can tell you that we have been travelling like this for over three weeks and his repair is still holding strong.
We weren’t going to leave the tank (we pick up other people’s rubbish, we don’t leave any) but the tank weighed a ton. We thought it must still have some water in it, as I helped Peter lift it up so we could empty it I heard something, but it wasn’t water sloshing around. While it was being dragged it had split open and was collecting sand.
Apart from the tank, the lock mechanism on the drawer on the back of the canopy had shaken loose. That was an easy fix and the bolt that held one of the caravan chains in place had shaken loose, so we had been dragging that. I decided we needed a cuppa, that was when I noticed the water pump didn’t work, (so much for one tank of water left) I also noticed the table leg was missing. I found that on the floor, beside the bed. Stuff the coffee, we had a beer! When we finally made it to Kulgera, yes we did indeed make it, we discovered that the inverter wasn’t working. So, no power, unless we stayed on a powered site and of course…we didn’t.
And that is why we will be spending quite some time in Adelaide. Once more WA will have to wait.
Conclusion – corrugation and caravans can’t coexist. Well, they can you just have to keep an eye on things. 🙂
You might be thinking that we were perhaps a little silly to take the caravan on a Journey to the Centre of Australia, and perhaps we were, but consider this. Had we not made this detour, we would have been travelling faster on dirt roads to Kulgera, or worse, travelling at high speed on the highway when the tank strap decided to break. Now that would have been a whole different story.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
The ground was still firm underfoot, if a bit damp when we arrived. The rain was steady through the night and it continued on for two more days, until the ground turned into a veritable quagmire of sticky goo. There was no way we were going to risk towing the van in those conditions and we weren’t going anywhere. Just like that our overnight stop had quickly turned into a five night stay.
It seems that Dalhousie Springs isn’t actually a destination in itself, it’s a jump off-point for those adventurers crossing the Simpson Desert to Birdsville, (and vice versa) some 430 Km to the east. Dalhousie Springs provides a great meeting place and a good warm bath for weary traveller’s. We watched over fifty serious 4X4 vehicles come and go, plastered in layers of muck and nursing a multitude of mechanical issues while we waited for the ground to dry.
Dalhousie Springs is in the Witjira National Park. The springs are made up of over 60 natural artesian springs. We, as in all travellers, are only allowed access to the main spring. The good news is that the main “spring” is bigger than two Olympic swimming pools, and at a temperature of 37 degrees…ahh, pure bliss! So, you can guess where we spent a lot of our time.
It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck, there were a couple of walks around the area but not much else to do. We ran out of Netflix downloads on the third day (that was hard to cope with) and had to revert to old school entertainment; cards, scrabble, and…well, that’s all we can talk about.
We saw signs around the park saying there were dingos in the area. I was also pleased to see that they are protected here, well, at least they are not actively baited/poisoned. I don’t want to get on my soap box but I think Australians should be ashamed at how we treat dingos. Yes they take livestock, but so do vehicles. Road kill is a constant on our travels, including cattle and sheep. Yes dingos also take smaller native animals, but no where near as many as feral cats and foxes. More importantly, they are native to Australia and as such play a vital ecological role. I particularly feel for those dingos on Fraser Island. I’ve seen a few there and they look emaciated. With so little food is it any wonder they approach campsites trying to scavenge food to feed themselves and their young?
Anyway, on a more positive note…we saw one at Dalhousie Springs. How cool is that?
Because we had no mobile coverage at all, we were talking to other travellers in order to find out what the weather was doing. We had to wait until the roads dried fully, but we were told that there was a lot more rain heading our way, and we didn’t want to wait too long and get stuck for longer. Luckily we were able to get in touch with family members (there is a payphone there) and they kept us updated on the weather and road closures (many thanks for that). Until then, we relaxed, swam and Peter adjusted the tyre pressures, lowering them even further than he had before, hoping for a smoother drive.
Two days after we left, it began to rain again. For once it seems our timing was good. 🙂
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
We may not have been able to do the Birdsville or Strzelecki Tracks but were able to experience the Oodnadatta Track. The Oodnadatta runs from Marree through Oodnadatta to Marla and is, without doubt, the worst road we have travelled anywhere to date. It has dips and crests and creek crossings, and corrugations that would shake your fillings out. Seriously – these are not your normal corrugations, they average 100mm deep… and that’s being conservative!
We travelled slowly, 50 – 60 kph, both the car and the van coped quite well…sort of. We have a couple of new stone chips on the windscreen, courtesy of our fellow drivers who don’t slow down when they pass. The range hood went berserk (emitting a high-pitched noise that wouldn’t’ stop, no matter how hard I pressed the power button) in the end Peter ripped out the mother board. A bit of dust and some unwanted movement in the cupboards and drawers.
The first day out of William Creek was fun. I did a bit of cattle rustling, and Peter found a hill to climb, and we saw a small clump of Sturts Desert Pea so of course we had to stop to take a photo. Such a unique and pretty flower.
Trying to find an escape from the corrugations Peter became quite competent at weaving his way back and forth and driving on the wrong side of the track. His dad would have called this ‘a good hunting road,’ because you’re constantly hunting for the smoothest part.
We’d had enough by early afternoon, we pulled off the road at Algebuckina and found a camp site with water views. We were close to a bridge that was part of the Old Ghan railway; we stayed there for two nights.
The next day we made it to Oodnadatta without incident and stopped for a spot of lunch at the Pink Roadhouse. The burgers had been recommended to us, so we thought…why not? I have to say, they weren’t bad. I gobbled mine down with a bottle of pear cider and thoroughly enjoyed both even though the pink décor was a bit distracting.
60k north of Oodnadatta we turned off the track and continued north towards Hamilton Station, heading for Dalhousie Springs. We had hoped this road would be a smoother drive but we were disappointed (the fact that this track doesn’t even seem to have a name should have given us a clue). We were soon wishing for the familiar corrugations of the Oodnadatta Track. Who’d have thought that corrugations could get this big? Never being one to exaggerate, Peter reckons he needed four-wheel drive just to climb each one.
I think it’s safe to say that we were pushing it on this stretch. Chunky Bum is classed as a semi off-road van but the road we turned onto is more suited to full off-road vehicles. Any four-wheel drive vehicle would find it easy, but one towing a three-ton van behind; not so much. Our speedy 50 – 60 kph soon dropped to 30 – 40 kph and often to a slow walk.
The images below (all roads) were taken on the section of road between the turnoff from the Oodnadatta Track and the road to Dalhousie, about 50k. It is intriguing how quickly the roads and landscape changed over such a short distance.
It’s also interesting how long it can take to cover fifty kilometres. We camped that night just off the side of the road and went to bed looking forward to another day’s drive. 😊
The next day’s travel was interesting to say the least. We saw something moving on the road ahead of us. At first we thought it might be a wallaby, then maybe a small pig. A dingo? As we got closer, we saw it was an old red cattle dog. He was almost deaf and fully blind, but clearly well fed, so we knew he had come from somewhere not too far.
He may not have known much, but he knew he needed help, and he was not going to be left behind. Wrapping himself around our legs, constantly barking, in short making sure we knew he was there. After we’d given him a big drink, we tried to figure out where he was from. He didn’t have a collar on, so no tags to id him or his owners, so I got onto our Oricom two-way radio and did a call out to any stations in the area.
It worked. As it turned out he was only a kilometre from home, but I doubt he would have found his way back. It took a bit of effort to wrangle him into the back of the cab, he couldn’t jump up, and he became upset when we tried to lift him in, but Peter braved the kicks and the headbutts and did a fine job of getting the dog in the car.
Apparently, Taz the thirteen-year-old cattle dog, had been blind for three years, but always managed to find his way home by following the sound/vibrations of the generator. The station had recently upgraded to solar, so…no more genny to lead Taz home. The station manager was very grateful that we brought Taz home. He thanked us, then further showed his appreciation by gifting us some of his home-grown beef steak. Can’t wait to try that.
As we inched our way toward Dalhousie Springs, the road continued to get worse. Suddenly, the “Your door is open!” alarm went off. Sure enough, the gull wing door on the driver’s side of the canopy was wide open. We screeched to a halt – from 20kph to 0 in three minutes (to avoid shredding our tyres on the rocks) and got out to take a look. Peter saw that the locking mechanism on the door had rattled loose. Now if we had lost the locking mechanism, that would have been fun. Not! We found an area where we could get off the road and Peter did what he does best. He solved our problem.
We stopped to explore the Dalhousie Homestead Ruins, one of many ruins scattered around SA. It was only quick stop as we could see rain falling in the distance.
I said to Peter, “I’ll tell you something, if it rains while we’re on these roads, we won’t be going very far.”
Five minutes later, it began to rain. We made it to Dalhousie Springs campground and found ourselves a spot for the night. After a quick look around, it began to rain again, this time harder, so we locked ourselves inside and hoped it wouldn’t last. It rained off an on through the evening, and all through the night, and guess what?
We aren’t going anywhere.
I was saying that we might have been pushing it a bit going to Dalhousie Springs. I guess that’s so. When we arrived we found that we were the only caravan in sight. All the other vehicles were tricked-out 4×4’s (and a good number of 6×6’s), off-road trailers and most not towing at all. We saw two vehicles undergoing repairs and got a lot of strange looks… Looks that seemed to say. “You’d think they’d have more sense!” And later over the radio we overheard a more pointed conversation. So we held our heads high feeling proud (and a little lucky) that we made it here.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Lake Eyre
After what seems like a lifetime, we finally arrived at William Creek. It’s small. It’s remote. It’s dry and dusty. It’s wonderful!
We drove into town past the airstrip, the Wrightsair Scenic Tours Office, and the pub/hotel/fuel station all on one side of town. On the opposite side was the caravan park, and that my friends, was that. The second we drove into town we both said, “I love this place!” I don’t know what it was, but it just had a really good vibe. Some small towns have it, some don’t, but William Creek (at least for us) has it in spades. During the cooler months, when people travel through to the centre, it can be quite busy. When there’s water in Lake Eyre, William Creek becomes a hive of activity, otherwise it has a permanent population of twelve.
As you can imagine there are not a lot of activities in or around town. Except one. And that was the one we had come for. A flight over Lake Eyre. We were finally going to see it from the best possible vantage point; above.
We chartered an airplane specifically for photography. Did that mean it had fancy gear, and super clear windows? Nope. In fact, there was nothing fancy about it at all. It was simply a small six seat passenger plane with one seat and one rear door removed.
How thrilling is that? I was hoping for some good photos, but even if I didn’t get any, I figured the flight itself would be amazing. And it was. I have never seen landscapes like this before, and having that door off, being able to say to the pilot, “bank left over that inlet please” then being able to shoot straight down at the ground…Wow. The whole experience was exhilarating.
Our pilot, Tony, was excellent. We spoke to him the day before the flight, told him what we wanted then relied on his knowledge of the area. After agreeing to a 0630 take off the following day, we went home feeling very excited.
I’ve never done aerial photography before, and it does come with challenges. It gets cold up there, and there is a lot of vibration, both of which impact the clarity of your photographs. Choosing the right lens, then selecting the correct settings to allow you to shoot while travelling at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour…all trial and error. Still, I’m happy with the shots I took, and they will give you a sense of the beauty of Lake Eyre and its surrounds, both wet and dry.
Tony suggested we fly past the Davenport Ranges (west of Lake Eyre) as sunrise was the best time to view them. He was right. The subdued shades of ochre and sand came to life as the sun touched the ranges which seemed stretch on to the horizon.
After the ranges, we just meandered our way across to the eastern side of the lake, often circling back to get a shot from a different angle, or to dive bomb a group of pelicans, (just kidding) because of our circuitous route and doubling back I lost track of our actual location. These were taken over the Neales River area, one of the three main flows that feed into Lake Eyre.
Although there are often many huge flocks of pelicans around Lake Eyre after rains and floods, there had not been many pelicans seen in recent weeks, so we were all thrilled when we saw a couple of groups of pelicans, and a large number of cormorants below us.
These next photos are without doubt my favourites. We passed two areas where these Mound Springs were evident, I could have spent the whole flight looking at them. They are formed on the surface of the lakebed as subterranean water forces its way up under pressure from the artesian basin. As it breaks through the surface, it brings with it a variety of minerals, mud and other debris. When this dries it creates a crust, and over time it can form into a mound. The overall result is visually stunning, naturally formed, intricate, unique shapes. They truly are works of art.
These next photos are just pretty. They were taken over some of the smaller tributaries and other interesting land formations. I find them pleasing to look at, but then, I am rather partial to abstract.
This last section of images proves that there is indeed water in Lake Eyre (north). Apparently, it is very difficult to accurately measure the water level in the lake. It covers and immense area, an estimated 9,500 square kilometres. It is the largest lake in Australia, but it is incredibly shallow, and according to Tony, it can move. That’s right, the water is so shallow that depending on the wind it can move across the flat lakebed and end up in an different location. You can see in some of these images just how shallow the water is.
I know I’ve been prattling on a bit, but this was an experience much worthy of prattle. We were in the air for just over two and a half hours and we both thoroughly enjoyed every second. The lake is majestic, even when not full. The landscape is breathtaking, almost ethereal with its delicate patterns and striking colours, and with tributary fingers that stretch across the surface feeding water into the salty lake. The salt deposits give an ironic feeling of snow and ice, so out of place in the centre of Australia; quite surreal. The splashes of green from the vegetation and the occasional yellow burst from the blossoming wattle trees add a touch of colour on this ecological canvas.
Only mother nature can come up with artwork like this, and I highly recommend a flight, any flight, over it, you won’t see anything like this in an art gallery. Wrightsair were great to work with, they really know the area and we haven’t spoken to anyone who has regretted taking a flight with them.
I’ve been searching for a topic for my 2023 calendar…I think that search is over. 😊
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
It’s a relatively short drive from Muloorina to William Creek, 250 kilometres, and truth be known most people do it in one day. But why hurry? We spent the first night at Curdimurka siding a ruin at the site of an Old Ghan railway siding. Its glory days may be gone, but it still has its uses. Providing a lovely backdrop to campers such as us and offering shelter from the extremes for quite a few birds.
You may well be asking, “What’s a siding?” I know I was, until we started to follow the Old Ghan rail track (a twelve-hundred kilometre stretch of narrow gauge railway which runs from Port Augusta to Alice Springs). Simply put, a siding is a section of track, off to one side of the main track, which is used for one train to wait o, while another passes by. Because the Old Ghan is a single-track line this was necessary to allow for two-way traffic. There will be at least one building near each siding, a square water tank to service the old steam engines. There are also usually fettlers cottages for the rail workers.
Now all that is left of the Old Ghan are a few sections of line, quite a lot of the old bridges and some of the buildings near the sidings.
The following day we camped at Beresford siding. This must be one of the best maintained buildings that we have seen, and as an added bonus, it had a nice big dam within easy walking distance.
I know it seems as though we take a ridiculous amount of time to travel from one destination to the next and I’m sure you must think we travel at, like 50 kilometres an hour, but that’s not the case. We take a lot of time to explore sites along the road, like Coward Springs, but the main reasons are:
- We have no need to hurry
- I keep saying, “Oh, can you stop the car? I want a photo of that.”
- Peter keeps saying, “Look! There’s a hill I want to climb it.”
- Hugo keeps saying, “I need to pee.”
So, we take our time, take lots of photos, climb lots of hills, take more photos and have frequent pee stops.
Next stop William Creek and Lake Eyre…I promise!
Now this is an oasis
Sticking to our plan (I know…shock and amazement 😊) we left Marree and drove back to the Muloorina campground. I think it’s safe to say that this has to be one of our favourite campsites.
Muloorina is a property that covers four thousand square kilometres. It runs cattle and sheep, but more importantly, the owners have very kindly set aside a large area for campers. The camp ground is well treed, offering shade to those who need it, but it also has ample open areas for those who need the sun to power solar panels. There is a natural (capped) artesian bore that feeds into numerous water holes around the area and provides a natural hot/warm bath for all to enjoy. Even Hugo had a quick dip.
And of course, where there are trees and water, there will be birds, and what are my favourite birds? You got it, Budgies.
There were of course, some water Birds
Some little Birds
A brief break from birds.
We had planned on staying at Muloorina for two or three nights. Then it turned to four or five. We met a lovely couple camped next door to us, and we had a lovely evening with them and their dogs. We sat around the fire for an hour or so, then the wind picked up and we all got sandblasted, so we moved inside. Needless to say our guests of honour got the best seats in the house.
In the end, we decided to stay at Muloorina until after Peter’s birthday (when he finally got to open the mystery package he’d been carrying around in the back of the car for a couple of weeks). After all, what better place to celebrate a 70th.
And back to the birds. Bigger birds this time.
A very pretty bird and a couple I couldn’t identify.
I’m don’t know if it’s because of the hot bore water, but it was considerably warmer here than it has been elsewhere. Perhaps this is why we had quite a few snakes in and around the camp. We saw 3 browns go through camp, another looking for a feed in a tree, yet another brown going for a swim (a first for me) and a snake I have never even heard of let alone seen before. A Strap-Snouted Brown snake.
So G.R. be warned, this next section contains images of snakes.
So as the sun goes down on our stay at Muloorina we will continue our journey to William Creek and Lake Eyre (north). See you there.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
