In July2008 my family and friends from Sydney travelled for 3 weeks around outback Eastern Central Australia 4WDriving where possible. We visited iconic outback towns and pubs like Birdsville, William Creek Hotel, Oodnadatta, Mount Dare Hotel, travelled the old Ghan railway track, Alice Springs, camped near Chambers Pillar and much more.
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Day One – The first day we travelled to Mildura (Vic) and met our Sydney friends and stayed in cabins at the Big 4 Holiday Park.
Day Two – Next day we travelled to Leigh Creek and Maree and stayed in a cabin at Hawker (SA).
Day Three – We travelled on the Oodnadatta Track to William Creek Hotel which is one of those iconic Outback pubs with the walls decorated with anything you can think of. We camped in tents out the back which was typical of everywhere in the outback, flat red dirt and several trees. Great experience.
Day Four – We packed up and moved on and travelled further along the Oodnadatta Track to Oodnadatta (SA)which has the most unique roadhouse, ‘It’s Pink’ so its called the ”Pink Roadhouse. It’s the only shop so it has everything.
After visiting Oodnadatta we travelled to Dalhousie Springs which is in the Witjira National Park. Dalhousie Springs is a spring fed natural pool and the water is contantly about 40°C and beautiful to have a swim in. When we were there was a large group of motorbikers that were touring for charity.
Next stop was Mount Dare (SA) near the edge of the Simpson Desert and not far from the Northern Territory border. We camped behind the Mount Dare Hotel with basic amenities there was about 10 other campers staying there as well. Mount Dare Hotel has a collection of stubby holders hanging everywhere inside that campers have donated must have been many hundreds of them.
Day Five – We left Mount Dare drove across the border into Northern Territory and went to Finke, theres is not a lot to see at Finke but it is where the Finke Desert Race starts and is run annually in June and the finish is just before Alice Springs. Some of the racetrack runs alongside the ‘Old Ghan Railway Track’ This photo shows us driving on the Finke Desert track.
Driving on the ‘Old Ghan Railway Track’ was an interesting experience it was very sandy in some places but only had to use 4WD once. When the railways were pulled up years ago many of the metal pegs that held the tracks down were left on the track so we had to dodge these pegs. Fortunately we got through without any punctures. The track has been made into a ‘Heritage Trail’ so there were information signs where the old siding buildings were still standing. We then drove to Chambers Pillar.
We arrived at Chambers Pillar, set up camp and walked to the Pillar and climbed up the stairs for a closer look. later we watched the sunset, it was amazing to see how much the ‘Chambers Pillar’ colours changed. By night fall the campground was full, there was a few that arrived late and setting up in the dark.
Day Six and Seven – At Chambers Pillar campground we camped several hundred metres away, we watched the sunrise and the outback colours were amazing again. We packed up again and drove to Alice Springs.
We have been to Alice Springs several times before and usually stay at the Big 4 Holiday Park, we planned to stay in cabins for 2 nights but we soon found out the ‘Alice Springs Show’ was on. Only one cabin left there, we ended up camping in tents at the G’day Mate Tourist Park which was a nice park so we tented for 2 nights.
While we were at Alice Springs we stocked up on the shopping, visited the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) which was very interesting, we are so lucky to have a service like them.
We got all boring things done, the washing, as we hadn’t been able to do any, charged up mobile phones, laptops etc, cleaned out vehicles.
The next day we are leaving Alice Springs and heading north up the Stuart highway then east along the Plenty Highway.
Part 2 of this trip and Part Three
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Sounds like a great trip.
Thanks Heidi, It sure was a great, exciting trip, the outback is very different and has a unique appeal. Can’t wait till we go again!
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