Outback South Australia

Outback South Australia has some great experiences to offer. Some might find it too remote and the long flat roads tedious – but we find it amazing. We camped at the Farina Ruins on the way to Marree, where the Strezlecki Track and the Birdsville Track meet. At Farina we were fascinated by a family of emus stopping at the picnic tables for a rest, then a large number of galahs disturbed by the high winds and oncoming rains. It was very interesting to walk around the ruins of the old town. The name Farina means flour in Italian and the settlers originally thought it was a great place to grow wheat. They were very optimistic, to say the least! 

Plains near Farina

View from the ruins of Farina

Our next stop was Marree. The only point of interest there was the old truck of the famous postman, Tom Kruze, who delivered mail on the Birdsville track for 30 years. 

Tome Kruse's Mail truck

After Marree we followed the Oonadatta Track. We stopped off to look at the Mutonia Sculpture Park – a series of Mad Max inspired sculptures made by Robin “Mutoid” Cooke. They were bizarre and amazing – and enhanced by the creaking sound effects of the high winds.

"Plane Henge"

Size of the Dingo sculpture is enormous, the head is a car body,
 The body an old railway watertank! 

We turned off the Oonadatta Track to Roxby Downs and Woomera. Woomera was like an old army base – with lots of no trespassing signs. Our camp for the night was at Lake Hart, a huge salt lake that looks like a frozen lake from a distance. It was a great camp – but the flies were the worst we’ve had yet! The next morning we rode out onto the salt lake – that was an awesome experience. 

Camp at Lake Hart

Lake Hart Salt Lake

After driving along the worst dirt road yet we found a lovely campsite at Hiltaba property, amongst huge boulder formations. After that, we drove through the Gawler Ranges, but didn’t camp there as the weather expectation was for winds of 50kms an hour.  We got to see the ‘Organ Pipe’ rock formations that the National Park is known for.  

Hiltaba views

Hiltaba camp site (spot the car)

Organ pipe formations in Gawler Ranges

Gawler Ranges