Officially to complete the Oodnadatta track we should have headed north from Williams creek towards Marla but we wanted to head east instead towards Coober Pedy and to be fair the road was still a dirt track and halfway along the 160km route we had identified a campsite next to a lake we wanted to have a look at.
The road towards Coober Pedy was very corrugated and we passed a couple of campervans going very slowly indeed but we tried to stay on top of the corrugations by driving at about 60km/h which didn’t exactly make the ride smooth but did seem to help.
At about the halfway point we found a track that we presumed led to our lake and campsite. It seemed dry and people had obviously travelled on it before so we felt pretty confident and headed off pretty much into the middle of nowhere! About 5km up the track we crested a last slight hill and came across a beautiful lake with a couple of campsites and no one else about.
We set up and sat down to enjoy the afternoon and were just wondering how many times we had actually managed to camp in total isolation (the answer is probably less than 5) when 2 other campervans pulled up.
It did little to detract from us sitting back and relaxing and enjoying the sunset. The next day was spent relaxing and playing cards and going on short walks about the lake when that evening another two groups arrived and set up. Again not too much of an issue but we were amused that even as far away from it all as we were there were still so many people travelling around.
That second night it started to rain. Not a heavy downpour but a constant drizzle. We awoke to find all the others packing up and heading off and we had a decision to make. The rain had come a day earlier than forecast and while our forecast was a few days old it had predicted a day of rain only amounting to 2mm so we decided to wait it out. We had ample food and water to stay for well over a week or so and only after that would we have to start eating dried camp food and filtering lake water.
Still that day was a little unpleasant as it was cold and wouldn’t stop raining so we agreed that once we had made our plan we shouldn’t change at this point and then to warm ourselves up we put the generator on and fired up our electric heater for a couple of hours. Then at about 6pm it stopped raining.
The next morning we awoke to beautiful clear skies and while it was cold (probably low single figures) the sunrise was spectacular. The sun soon started to warm us up and the wind died down to nothing and we were there in a wonderful location.
We had a walk down the track to see if we could get out and while we might have been able to we might have got stuck as the mud was incredibly sticky and wet so we had a bit of a chat and decided that the sensible thing to do was wait another day for things to dry out. We were in no immediate danger and crashing the car and camper trailer or getting bogged on the track was a risk not worth taking.
We got to enjoy a superb day, afternoon and evening completely by ourselves with a spectacular view. We guessed that there wouldn’t have been another person within 80 km of us and these days I reckon that’s a pretty unusual position to be in.
The sunset that night and the incredible display of colours lasted for at least an hour and then the moon didn’t rise so we had a dark sky full of stars stretching from horizon to horizon. In fact the night was so still that we even managed to watch the stars in the reflection in the lake. With a fire to keep us warm sitting back and enjoying the sunset and the star gazing with Sarah will be something that I will always remember it was truly special.
In the back of our minds though was the fact that we had no means of communication and didn’t want any severe weather changes to occur leaving us stranded. Also we could see the main track from a spot near our camper and we hadn’t seen any vehicles travelling down the road. We wouldn’t have expected a steady stream but my guess would be one or two every hour at least. Still there wasn’t anything we could do but hope that the next day it dried out some more and we would be able to leave.
The next morning once again the sky was clear and the once the sun was up and warming us up we went for a walk and our track had dried up a lot so we decided to pack up and head off. We were very grateful that we had decided to get our off road camper trailer as while the track was a little muddy and slippery at points we navigated our way back to the main track with relative ease.
We turned west and headed off and were both pretty happy when we got overtaken by a Ute which at least meant we weren’t alone on the road. The track wasn’t in the best shape and was for the most part just 2 tire tracks while the rest of the road was a churned up muddy mess…that must have been everyone leaving the day of the early rain!
Still we drove on through the desert helping each other pick the best lines along the road until we finally saw the hills around Coober Pedy in the distance and the end of our desert experience!! We did turn back to check the road status and it was displayed that only 4wd vehicles were allowed but no towing so we were I guess a little lucky.
So that was the end of our Oodnadatta track experience and we had a thoroughly wonderful time. It was amazing to experience it after so much rain to be able to appreciate the amount of life and the variety of colours present in what so often is such a desolate land. We were so glad to have taken our time and not just hurried through and definitely keen for some more similar experiences in the near future. T