One of Australia’s iconic outback routes, the Oodnadatta Track stretches 620 km from Maree SA in the south, at the junction of the Birdsville Track, to Marla, just south of the NT/SA border, where it joins the Stuart Hwy. The Track follows the route of the Old Ghan Railway, providing an array of historic old bridges and ruined railway buildings to explore along its length.
However, more on the Oodnadatta Track later. It’s been 11 days and 2,150 km since our last post, so there’s a bit to fill you in on.
Whilst at Lake Cargelligo we received a text from our sister-in-law Jane. Having seen our post the night before, it looked like there was a good chance that we’d cross paths, them heading east from WA, and us heading west to WA along the same highway. We met the following night at Balranald, enjoying dinner out together at the local RSL before continuing our journeys the following day. It was a fortunate rendezvous, as it allowed us to offload our fruit to Bob and Jane before passing through the Riverland Quarantine Station a little further west of Balranald.
From Balranald we passed quickly through Victoria, taking just a few hours through the north-west corner, and stopping the night at a free camp at the unusually named Devlins Pound, west of Renmark in SA, overlooking the Murray. Our journey then took us to the north west, through the pretty historic township of Burra, then north past the Narien Range and Southern Flinders Ranges.
We had planned to revisit some of the stunning campsites in the Flinders Ranges we had enjoyed in 2018. When considering which campgrounds to choose, we made the decision to skip the Flinders altogether in order to spend more time in WA. However there is one constraint, being the need for internet access on 25 July for a BOG Zoom meeting. We’ll be at Uluru, and head west from there into the remote WA wilderness on the 26th.
We found a free camp on private property a few km west of Orroroo where we stayed 2 nights, then on to the historic town of Farina for one night, so as to enjoy the famous fresh bread from the underground bakery that is open only for 8 weeks each year. That left us just 54km to reach the start of the Oodnadatta Track at Maree.
It is a lottery as to how you might find the condition of these outback tracks, all a function of the weather, volume of recent traffic and time since last graded. We won the lottery. Those who had travelled the Track weeks earlier had endured severe rain, rendering the track impassable in places, but as the Track dried, it opened up, and the passing traffic compacted and polished the surface to a nice smooth finish, making for easy travel up to and above 90 kph. By the time we travelled, the surface hadn’t dried out enough to create dust which can then from corrugations, so it was a dream drive for the 200km from Maree to William Ck. The surface was drier north of William Ck to Oodnadatta, another 200km, so some corrugations had formed, but on the most part it was smooth sailing, with some sections being regraded. The final stretch to Marla was very dry but still able to support speeds in excess of 90 kph, with the exception of numerous floodways which were still waterlogged, with only one set of wheel tracks through which to drive, and the typical corrugations as you climb out of the floodway.
Where’s all the wildlife? In 2,150km we have seen 1 dingo, half a dozen emus and half a dozen kangaroo. We assume that with the recent rains they have no need to stay close to the roads for greener feed and water.
Upon reaching Marla at the end of the Oodnadatta Track we reflected on a wonderful and surprisingly easy 600km journey.
One thought on “The Oodnadatta Track”
Great journal of your latest trip. So pleased to see you on the way.
Great journal of your latest trip. So pleased to see you on the way.