- Join for free
- Sign In
The Arckaringas (or Painted Desert)
tiabunna Says: Head west from Oodna for about 70km and you will come to The Arckaringas, or Painted Desert (you will hear both names used, you also will hear this described as ‘the Breakaway Country’). It doesn’t feature in most tourist itineraries, but surely would if it were better...
tiabunna Says: If you’re making a visit now, the only access is by road or private aircraft. If you drive around for just a few minutes you’ll see the town. When I was there, apart from being a railway station, Oodna was the administrative centre for the northern part of SA. The population...
tiabunna Says: This was something of an institution. It was run for many years by a Czechoslovakian by the name of Pecanec and provided nearly every conceivable service. It was the agency for the Post Office, for two airlines, for the Commonwealth Bank, had its own trucking service, and...
tiabunna Says: The Pink Roadhouse (new since my time) supplies fuels, has a store, operates the post office, has caravan facilities and can assist with any mechanical work. It seems able to provide for most of the likely needs of travellers.The Pink Roadhouse also has its own very...
Drive the Oodnadatta Track Part 2
tiabunna Says: About 60km from Oodna, you come to a wide area of river beds known as The Neales at a place called Algebuckina. Yes, occasionally there is rain and The Neales actually flows, though at other times it can be totally dry! To cross it, the railway engineers back in the 1890s...
Drive the Oodnadatta Track Part 1
tiabunna Says: Does this come under ‘things to do’ or ‘off the beaten track’! Either way, it’s one of Australia’s more legendary drives, about 400km between Marree and Oodnadatta, and certainly takes you well ‘off the beaten track’. I’m sure it’s somewhat busier now than back when I was up...
tiabunna Says: At the time I was there, the Aboriginal people largely still retained their nomadic lifestyle, moving between Oodnadatta, various cattle stations, and traditional camping grounds. While their residences still often were built in the construction style of wilchas (see...
tiabunna Says: When we were travelling around the country doing the Census (see ‘Off the Beaten Path’ tips), accommodation consisted of camping in the bush. It was simply a matter of deciding that an area of ground was clear enough to be able to safely light a fire and not too rocky to...
tiabunna Says: In 1969, South Australia (in those days still run by good conservative souls) was the last bastion in Australia of 6pm closing, better known as “the six o’clock swill”. What that meant in Oodna was that all the blokes in town rushed to finish whatever they were doing so they...
tiabunna Says: When we lived in the far north of South Australia, there was relatively little tourist traffic and no developed ‘souvenir’ industry. There almost certainly is now!This old Aboriginal man at Indulkana had made these boomerangs for selling to the occasional tourist, probably...
Carry spares and water and do your homework first.
tiabunna Says: When travelling in this area, at the least you should have enough water to provide several litres per person in the vehicle for several days. You also should have for the vehicle some spare coolant (NB it’s poisonous), oil, fuel and, I would suggest, some two-part epoxy...
tiabunna Says: The ‘Oodnadatta Track’ and other main roads to and from Oodna are graded with reasonable frequency and can be negotiated by 2WD vehicles if there has been no rain, though 4WD would be a better choice. Do not attempt them in a 2WD vehicle after rain and think carefully about...
Census collecting in northwest SA – Part 1
tiabunna Says: We arrived in Oodna in 1971 at the same time the National Census was being undertaken. My father-in-law, apart from his duties as Patrol Officer, also found himself the census collector for the northwest of South Australia. As an aside, this was the first time the Census had...
tiabunna Says: Anna Creek has the distinction of being the world’s largest cattle station, covering an area of 34,000 sq. kms. For comparison, you could fit Belgium (just over 30,000 sq km) into it and still have room for the largest ranch in the USA (about 3000 sq km). It is run by under...
Census collecting in northwest SA – Part 3
tiabunna Says: The Presbyterian Church set up Ernabella as a mission station in 1937, at a marvellous setting alongside the Musgrave Ranges. Showing uncommon foresight, in 1948 an Aboriginal art programme was established, originally to employ the women at spinning wool from sheep grazing...
Census collecting in northwest SA – Part 4
tiabunna Says: As we returned, we saw this marvellous sunset. The ‘red centre’ of Australia seems to be particularly favoured for great sunsets: whether it is the clarity of the atmosphere or the flat horizons which emphasise the sky, I do not know. From Musgrave Park the shortest way to...
Census collecting in northwest SA – Part 2
tiabunna Says: After leaving Indulkana, the country was arid but constantly changing. At times areas of low open scrub, at other times gibber plains, or tussock grass. From time to time we passed areas of low hills and, almost endlessly, there were corrugated dirt roads with clouds of red...
tiabunna Says: I guess the William Creek Gymkhana would qualify as a ‘sporting event’. It’s an annual fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and draws entrants and spectators from many hundreds of kilometers. We drove down from Oodna with friends and camped nearby. Next morning,...
tiabunna Says: The main Aboriginal tribal group in Oodnadatta are the Pitjantjatjara people. When we were there, they still retained most of their tribal customs and traditions, though even then these were being displaced by contact with western ‘civilisation’. This dignified old...
tiabunna Says: Back when the trains ran, passenger trains went twice a week in each direction. One was an express “the Ghan” with sleeper carraiges direct to Alice Springs or Marree (at Marree it was necessary to change trains to go further south to Port Augusta). The other was a ‘mixed...
Plan a Oodnadatta vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Oodnadatta locals
Does this come under ‘things to do’ or ‘off the beaten track’! Either way, it’s one of Australia’s more legendary drives, about 400km between Marree and...
Our members can help!
1
“Oodna-bloody-datta!!” was my reaction when, on leave after returning from a year in Antarctica, I received the telegram advising me the Weather Bureau were posting me there until I returned south to...
2
Tell you what, if you're looking for a brilliant 2 / 4WD (depending on the season) road trip to experience the South Oz dessert region the Oodnadatta track is the way to go. I started out from Pt...
Build your own Oodnadatta page
