Day 19 – Iga Warta to Williams Creek
Travel Location: Williams-Creek,Australia
We woke up today after a night of rain. The first thing to do was to check the road condition. This normally comes by fax and shows the roads that are closed and which roads are accessible only by 4WD. Fortunately for us, the roads from Iga Warta towards Marree were open. We started our drive towards Marree which we reached just after lunch.
Marree is the last town before embarking on the Oodnadatta track or the Birdsville track. We tried to see the police to check on the road condition. However, we found the hospital, the royal flying doctors but not the police. We finally went to the roadhouse to top up our petrol and to buy some last minute food. Then we were on the way on the Oodnadatta track with nothing but outback in front of us. The scenery from the previous relatively vegetative environment changed fast to desert, with a few bushes here and there. The roads became straighter and it was more difficult to see where the road ends and the desert starts. If we were ever in doubt if we are in the Outback now, we certainly can answer this question affirmative.
On the way we saw the remainder of the old railway that went from Port Augusta to Oodnadatta. There were terraces built, bridges and here and there some wood left over. The highlights, apart from the great dessert environment, are the remainder of the builders and maintainers of the railway as well as ruins from earlier settlers. After crossing the dingo fence, which is the longest fence in Australia, the first highlight was the Lake Eyre South Lookout which is with 12 meters below sea level one of the lowest grounds in Australia. Next, we visited the Bubbler and Blanche Cup. Those are springs emerging from the underlying water reservoirs in the midst of the desert. They offer an oasis of live and some creatures only survive there. Another stop was at Coward Springs, so named after Corporal Thomas Coward which was part of the party discovering it. It is a spring in the desert and a small pool was built around it, just nice to cool down on a hot day.
About 5 pm we arrived at Williams Creek. Population 2, although we were told that currently there are 7 workers from a drilling party here plus one temporary staff. Including us, the population increased to 10. The Williams Creek Hotel is a nice place to hang out. Everyone can put stuff up on the wall and you can see money of different currencies, photos, business cards, hats and bra’s all over the place. We had a nice cold beer. Towards the later evening, we got a thunderstorm and one of the seldom rainfalls around the area. We will know in the morning if the roads are open or if we are stuck another day here.
