PINE CREEK TO COPLEY

PINE CREEK TO COPLEY – 28/8 to 8/9/21
We began making our way south on the Stuart Highway’s straight stretches of road through flat countryside with eucalypt forests, dry grass and termite mounds. First night was at the Pink Panther Caravan Park in the small town of Larrimah. Next day we drove further to Renner Springs where we joined many other caravans at the back of the Roadhouse. Then on to Wycliffe Well where we had stopped on the way north. The weather was still hot during the day but less humid and the nights more comfortable for sleeping. We continued to Alice Springs where we were lucky to get a booking at a caravan park as many car enthusiasts had taken up accommodation for the upcoming Red Centre Nats car events. Frank was looking forward to going to a sprint car meeting but unfortunately it was cancelled because many entries from eastern states couldn’t cross borders due to Covid restrictions. After a couple of days we continued southbound, stopping at Erldunda before crossing the border into South Australia. Strangely there was no border checkpoint for either Covid border checks or fruit quarantine as there had been on all our previous border crossings. The road was still very busy with caravans heading north and south. We drove on to Marla where we stopped again at the roadhouse for the night and prepared for our trip on the gravel roads in the days ahead. Back on dirt roads with all containers secured with rubber bands this time! The 200km drive to Oodnadatta took us through mostly flat countryside with huge expanses of gibber plains. The road was in reasonable condition but very dusty. We pulled in to the famous Pink Roadhouse and camped at the back with a few other vans. We found that a lot of dust had leaked into the van despite all Frank’s preventative efforts. We looked around the town which was once a busy railhead on the old Ghan rail line and the old station building, some of the disused railway line and siding were still visible. We talked to a nurse who had come to work for a while at the Oodnadatta Medical Clinic and learned that most of the staff there were Aboriginal. The indigenous community is self managed and there is a low crime rate compared to other outback towns. The next day our journey took us further south on the Oodnadatta Track. The road conditions became rougher with some sections of deep corrugations, some stony and some relatively smooth. Most of the time we drove adjacent to the Old Ghan railway line across huge gibber plains and areas of red sand dunes dotted with spinifex and saltbush. We stopped to see a couple of the old disused steel rail bridges, one of which was Algebuckina which was very high and long with a waterhole beneath. There were the ruins of old stone buildings in some areas and the rusty water towers which were used for the steam trains in years gone by. We arrived at William Creek early afternoon where we set up at the caravan park opposite the hotel where we later enjoyed a drink and a delicious goat curry for dinner. Next day we headed off again on the gravel but the road conditions were even worse than previous days. The countryside was similar and we spotted a few emus and some cattle and the old Ghan line was always in view although not much more than a mound of earth with a few rotting sleepers scattered about. We turned in to Coward Springs and walked around to see the hot spring which had been set up as a natural spa. We also looked through an old restored stone cottage which was once one of the railway buildings at Coward Springs railhead. There was once a big hotel nearby but now only ruins. We drove a little further down the track and turned in to see Mound Springs. The access road was so badly corrugated that previous vehicles had made a side track beside the road and we found it a much smoother drive. In this area the natural springs have forced the sandy soil up into huge mounds where the water bubbles slowly to the surface and flows down to the flat plain. The area is dotted with many other mounds, some inactive and the surrounding soil is white with salt deposits. We continued our drive towards Marree, stopping at the Lake Eyre South lookout where we viewed the enormous, dry white salt lake which stretched to the horizon. Further down the track we spotted some outback art which was set up beside the road in the middle of nowhere. It included a couple of old planes standing up on their tails, a man made of bits of old machinery and an old windmill that looked like a huge flower. Very eye-catching! After arriving in Marree we looked around the small town and the old restored railway station which was set up as a museum with nearby diesel locomotives which once travelled on the old Ghan line. Next day we continued south on sealed road which was a relief after the bone shaking gravel of the past few days. We stopped at the old town of Farina which was once fairly large and a major stop on the old Ghan line. Now all the stone buildings are in ruins but some are slowly being restored. The well-known Farina bakery is the only newly built building but unfortunately it was closed due to Covid restrictions. There were lots of historical information boards along the streets of the old town which once had two or three big hotels and numerous businesses. We drove on to the small town of Copley where we checked in to the caravan park at the back of the Quandong Bakery which is well known for its pies. We made sure we sampled a few!!Read more