DAYS 38-40 (24/5-26/5): Mt Dare to Marree via Oodnadatta (Irrwanyere and Kuyani/Arrernte/Arabana countries)

 DAY 38 (24/5): Today was a rest day at Mt. Dare.  Very welcome after all the driving we've done over the last few weeks.  

Mt. Dare is a little oasis in the gibber desert. There is a dam that has water in it at the moment and this is a haven for all sorts of birds.  My morning walk was a delight.  The morning colours of galahs are always beautiful and I even saw an Eastern Barn Owl.

While I was admiring birds, Pete was capturing the essence of Mt Dare in watercolour.

After breakfast and doing a few chores, such as laundry and cleaning up the camper a little, the day was mine to do as I pleased.  I checked with the manager and found out where I could walk.  I didn't actually get very far at all.  Too many interesting plants!  What always astounds me in this sort of country is the variety of plants and the various ways they have of managing the harsh environment. Some are succulent for storing water, some are spiky or thorny to detract predators, some are leathery or needle-like to minimise water evaporation. Some grow really quickly, flower then set thousands of seeds so that when the next rains come at least some seeds will still be viable and germinate. And the flowers are many and various.

I spent most of the rest of the day catching up on my blog and trying to upload some photos.  Even with Starlink available, this was a slow process.

The evening was another enjoyable one with our group. We ate at the hotel again - slack, I know - but the meals are good here and the hotel is warm, unlike outside! 

DAY 39 (25/5): We filled up the main tank with diesel before leaving Mt Dare and were pleasantly surprised at how much was left in the tank. Because of the rubbish fuel gauges in both the main and sub-tanks, we really had no idea how much fuel we had used/left, so we used all the spare fuel we were carrying (extra because we were carrying jerry-cans that did belong to the car that didn't end up coming with us).  We filled the second tank when we arrived at Oodnadatta to work out that we had used 17.8L/100km in the desert.  About what we had hoped.

Our first stop on the road south, our morning tea break, was at Eringa Waterhole, another beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert. This would be a lovely place to camp if you were using this track to head north.

Next stop was just for me.  My great-grandparents on Mum's side had a property about 50 km north of Oodnadatta where my great-grandfather is buried. I had contacted the owners/managers of two of the properties in the area where Niddrie Station used to exist (it has since been subsumed by these stations) and they gave me an area where they knew two graves were.  Pete and I and our guide went over one dune, the others over another. The others found the two graves we had been told about. 

                    

Unfortunately, neither belonged to my great-grandfather, but it was great to see the area that they had thought would be home.  Tough country, but a lovely creek area (Alberga Creek/River - depending on which map you look at) that probably contains subterranean water for most of the time. In the photo below you can see the line of trees.  They follow the creek.  See a tree in this area and you can be sure there is at least an ephemeral creek here.

With sand-dunes, gibber plains, claypans, saltpans, and tree-lined creek beds, this country is certainly more appealing to live in than the desolate gibber plains surrounding Oodnadatta township.  Even a few flowers around now.

There was plenty of old cabin debris around and I would love to have explored for longer.

   Old stove

  Old cabin chimney

"The Carp" marking on the chimney

Next stop was for lunch at Oodnadatta. The Pink Roadhouse still exists but the township looks a little less tidy than when we were last there in 2008.  Since then, I have managed to find out where my great-grandmother had a boarding house (after my great-grandfather died at age 43).  This is where Gran spent her teenage years - in the boarding house.  In 1911, one of John Flynn's inland health missions was set up next door - it now occupies the site of their property as well. Their old property is the one with the flags. 15 years ago when we visited with Mum and Dad we wondered where the old boarding house was - now I know.  The building that is there now wasn't there 15 years ago.

                                 

This is Flynn's Inland Mission.

                                  

I have found out that my great-grandparents owned a few other bits of property in Oodnadatta but finding those (nothing is numbered here) proved impossible.  However, I imagine that the first place they owned was probably not unlike this little derelict cottage that still stands probably only a few properties away from one they had when Gran was born. 

                                    

This is where I know they owned property.  The cottage is just a couple doors down from an intersection where Google Maps thinks the property number exists (right in the middle of an intersection).

                                    

My head was swimming with imagined scenarios of their lives here.  I found a centenary memorial plaque.  I think my grandmother and her family are some of those that are being honoured here.  The country is harsh now - can't believe how they survived.  The aboriginals before them are even more amazing. Their knowledge of where to get water, where to go when was vast.  It is unlikely they stayed around Oodnadatta for long periods of time, except when there was plenty of water.

 

Pete meanwhile was painting the town pink.

When all the group had finished lunch, we headed off south down the Oodnadatta Track towards Creek. We stopped at the Algebuckina Bridge, one of the most photographed parts of the track. This is not a surprise.  It is such a grand structure, even in its dilapidated state, to be found in this remote part of the land.

The creek that it spans had a few puddles of water left and I suspect (we didn't visit) that the Algebuckina Waterhole had plenty of water in it.

                              

Onwards we went, arriving at William Creek in the late afternoon. We are camped here for the night. There are plenty of others here too.

There is a reason that William Creek and its pub are iconic.  Something unexpected can happen here at any time and there is no knowing what it will be.  Today, we were struck by a cold change that brought a dust-storm with it.  Oh, what wind!  Oh, what dust! We just managed to get into the pub before the worst of it hit.  Everytime someone tried to come into the pub, clouds of dust came with them. My phone was coated thickly with the stuff.  We gave up the idea of returning to our camper to cook dinner and decided that a pub meal, rather than a meal of grit, was a better option.

 Inside the main bar 

  Sign on the sleeper wall in the dining room

We were lucky, because the owner of William Creek gave a little talk to a bus group that was having dinner at the same time as us.  He was an interesting character and told interesting stories about his 30 years in the place. A few of the group, not us, enjoyed cake or cheesecake made by a pastry chef who learned her trade at the Savoy in London and who had made one of the Queen's Jubilee cakes.  She is on a working holiday with her partner and is currently working at William Creek Pub. What a difference!

 Trevor Wright, the owner talking

Eventually the wind died down enough for us to return relatively unscathed to our camp.  Fortunately for us, our camper held up well and was not filled with William Creek dust. The tent campers were not so lucky - a thick carpet of dust lay on their floors and their doonas were gritty.

Our night was punctuated regularly by the screech of corellas that were 'resting' above the tent of one couple in our group. I don't know why they were so noisy throughout the night but they'd screech, move away, come back, screech again and so on.  Quite a commotion. Dingos and cattle made up for more night-time accompaniment.

DAY 40 (26/5): Today is the last day of our tour, but one member of our group and the tour leader left us today to head north. The rest of us headed south, as intended to Marree.

We had a lovely leisurely but cold day, stopping at Coward Springs (which now has a coffee and date scone van), Blanche Cup Mound Springs and a lookout over South Lake Eyre, still dry.  We learned that the water has started entering North Lake Eyre now - I wonder if and when it will reach this far south.

Coward Springs is a privately owned property that has an historic bore bath (we didn't go in as the wind was freezing outside). They are regenerating much of the area surrounding the bath and we had a lovely wander around. The samphire plants were flowering and looking a real picture in their various colorations.  There were also some amazing and ancient cyprus or cyprus-pine trees.

The property has historically always had date palms and there is a plantation of these that provided the dates in our delicious date scones.

                             

Not far down the road are Blanche Cup Mound Springs.  There are now boardwalks around the springs and you cannot get close to them to see the myriad of life that live around the edges.  Tourists in the past have chopped down trees and done other stupid things and this is the consequence.  No real matter - the springs and their surrounds have been revived and will survive well into the future.  The difference between the area immediately surrounding the springs and the surrounding desert is amazing.

About midway betweeen the springs and Marree is a lookout where you get a wonderful view over South Lake Eyre.  Vehicles have been stopped from going down to the lakeside which means there are no more ugly tyre marks at the lake's edge and I'm sure fewer bogged vehicle recoveries!

     The water hasn't reached here

 Enjoying the view from a carseat

We have camped at the caravan park at Marree rather than the free carpark next to the pub.  A little more privacy and better facilities.  Enjoyed dessert at the historic Marree Hotel to end our tag-along tour.  We have been so lucky with the people in our group.  All in all, a wonderful couple of weeks.