South Australia trip - Part 6 - Outback Australia on the Oodnadatta Track

Welcome back for Part 6 of our trip through South Australia. If you missed the first five parts, please scroll down to the bottom of this post to go to the links.  Here is the link to the quick overview - On the road through South Australia.

Today we will continue north on the Stuart Highway to Marla where we turn south east on the Oodnadatta Track which will take us 638 kilometres along a dirt road to Marree. 

The Oodnadatta Track in South Australia can be described as hot, dry, dusty, bone shaking, and when we travelled recently, fly-ridden. However it is also one of Australia's great outback treks which has plenty to explore, fascinating and historical, and which is easily achievable over 3 or 4 days (4WD highly recommended). The track follows the Old Ghan railway line and along the way you can explore old railway bridges and stone ruins of the old railway sidings, learn it's history, and even see hot water bubbling up from the Artesian Basin and take a flight over spectacular Lake Eyre. You can bush camp, or stay at caravan parks at Coward Springs, Oodnadatta, and William Creek (make sure you have a drink in the pub and meet the locals - all 4 or 5 of them!). 

 But be prepared - this is remote outback travel - so please take all the necessary precautions including carrying drinking water, food, fuel and good quality tyres, 4WD highly recommended, and drive to the road conditions which can vary from good to badly corrugated, and watch out for potholes and washaways.

If you remember from Part 5 we travelled from the south up through Coober Pedy. Our final stop on the Stuart Highway was the Marla Roadhouse. A last chance to top up with fuel and supplies and make telephone calls (unfortunately no internet connection) before heading out along Oodnadatta Track. This little oasis, 160kms south of Northern Territory border, is a nice patch of green in the desert.

We had lunch under the shade of the trees at Marla before turning east onto the Oodnadatta Track. 

The history of the Oodnadatta Track goes back to the early1840s when central Australia was unexplored by Europeans and commonly thought to contain a massive inland sea.  But really its history goes back thousands of years before following a major Aboriginal trade route and steeped in Aboriginal history and dreamtime stories.  

We were finally here - on the Oodnadatta Track!  

Please click on "read more" to keeping reading and seeing more pics from the Oodnadatta Track.