Helen's Hitched

Our neighbour Helen has been working towards her wedding for some time and yesterday was the big day. All the planning resulted in a massive, happy occasion with a full church and refreshments in adjoining rooms to follow.  Our best wishes go with Helen and Victor.

To the Neck of Lake Eyre

Our destination today was the Neck, a relatively narrow channel that links Lake Eyre North to Lake Eyre South.

The surprise was the abundance of animal tracks and  wildflowers in the area.

Unfortunately, the most abundant wildlife were the flies.

The Lake is massive with its own desolate beauty

and there are reminders of the dangers in that environment.

Down the Oodnadatta Track

We headed south on the Oodnadatta Track heading for Marree. Even though this is an outback track there is plenty of interest along the way. Our first stop was the ruins of the Strangeways settlement, originally set up to service the Ghan.  The most intact ruin was the remains of a massive block work water tank for the old steam engines.

The old graves were an indication of the harsh environment.
Down the Track there were a number of "mound springs". Artesion water forced up to the surface produced mounds over the millennia with the water gushing from the top of the mounds.

Along the Track there are also ruins of Cottages used to house the fettlers who maintained the railway tracks.

At Marree we saw the station where we remember changing trains from the wide gauge train from Port Augusta to the narrow gauge Ghan that took us to Alice Springs in 1979.

There is no better way to finish a day than to spend time chatting around a camp fire.

Into Lake Eyre

Being at William Creek, it was almost obligatory to have a meal at the Hotel.

We took a day to visit Lake Eyre North, taking the track into Halligan Bay. The harsh environment, heat and salt made for some very strange landscapes on the way in.

The Lake itself, recently dried, was huge and fascinating.

Entertainment was provided by a team of 4 dung beetles pushing a load up a slope. Those little fellows work hard!

Encouraged by recent rains, we were able to see a number of desert plants coming into flower.

The perfect day was finalised with a great coffee in the pub.

William Creek

From Coward Springs the Oodnadatta Track took us up to William Creek, one of the iconic Australian Outback locations. The surrounding countryside was progressively more arid although the recent rain has resulted in plenty of greenery.

William Creek Pub is the main building in the area. Its long history and importance to the Ghan makes it a classic Australian Pub.

William Creek does not make a big impact on the landscape.

We had a look at one of the few remaining rail bridges from the old Ghan and found it odd to think we had ridden the Ghan over this bridge 37 years ago.

Up the Oodnadatta Track

Woomera is an important place in Australian history and the Museum holds a number of artifacts from the period when Australia was an important player in space technology.

We then headed north to refuel at the thriving community of Roxby Downs.

Here we let the tyres down for our journey up the Borfield Track to Lake Eyre.

Luckily the track had been recently graded so we made good time and were able to spend time at Lake Eyre South.

We made camp for the night at Coward Springs which was once a stop on the old Ghan Railway we traveled in 1979.

One of the old Railway buildings has been repaired to serve as a museum and we spent time in the Springs which are a warm artesian outflow.