On towards William creek and Oodandatta

After our flight over lake Eyre we headed north up the Oodnadatta track wondering what this road holds for us. The first night was at one the many old Ghan railway sidings, which were put in for water because they were all steam trains back then. The history at these sites was really interesting but after 10 or more, all the same, we stopped looking. The Ghan today follows the Stuart highway because for one they don’t need the water, and with the water came the floods which took the line out most years.
Called in to an abandoned sheep station, Strangeways Springs, just before William Creek. Settled in the late 1800s , it was abandoned by the early 1900s , but time enough to build houses, sheds, water tanks, sheep yards and shearing shed. It was built where there were natural springs not flowing any more , so water wasn’t the problem, it was just the heat and lack of rain. They lost half their sheep in the first drought but soldiered on for quite a few more droughts until till they just walked away.
The next stop was one of the springs that still is flowing and it’s in the middle of nowhere, desert all around. Some great photos of that. The springs have basically stopped flowing because of mans greed for water. Ask BHP! They have a bore that takes 300 litres a second for its Olympic dam mine, a few hundred ks south of Marree.
On to William Creek pub for lunch and a coffee instead of a beer. (Believe it or not but these roads deserve a lot of respect so sadly no beers for me ) Once again heaps of history and plenty to see before pushing on to Oodnadatta. All this country is so fascinating, sometimes flat with trees then no trees then hilly with some great views. All the stock we saw were in good condition amazingly. Once again Oodnadatta, like the other little towns, a pub and general store with a few houses scattered around but very friendly people. Have a look at the campground, ( next page ). Just stunning! 😜 but the beer was nice and cold and the food was great in the pub. It’s called supporting the town!!Read more