FAR NORTH SOUTH AUSTRALIA:-
It is an arid region, with many areas having an average rainfall of 150mm or less. In it's starkness lies it's beauty. Changing landscapes from red earth dunes to wild flower covered ranges, ephemeral lakes including Lake Eyre with it's huge network of draining rivers and unique desert ecosystems, such as the Simpson, the Strzelecki and the Tirari. Wildlife abounds and we often see emus, kangaroos and dingoes, while soaring above us are eagles, hawks and kites all competing in this harsh environment. Wild horses, camels and donkeys roam this region, once beasts of burden, now superfluous to the needs of pastoralists since the coming of the car, the motorbike and the aeroplane.
Far North South Australia is the "Real Outback", the ultimate arid zone wilderness. Adelaide is the gateway to this fascinating experience and we are here to share it with you.
CENTRAL AUSTRALIA:-
Central Australia basically extends from the South Australian/Northern Territory border to Tennant Creek and the sub-tropics. The heart of this region is Alice Springs;
immortalised by Nevile Shute in his famous novel A Town Like Alice. Here indigenous and white Australians live side by side along with many Americans who work at the joint Australian/ American defence facility at Pine Gap.
"The Alice" is a tourist's Mecca with shops, art galleries (many exhibiting works by Aboriginal artists
including the famous Albert Namatjira), craft boutiques, hotels, bars and casino. To the West and East of Alice Springs are the MacDonnell Ranges, with their spectacular
springs and gorges. Further out are Kings Canyon (Watarrka), Ayers Rock and the Olgas (Uluru-Kata Tjuta), Chambers Pillar, Mount Conner and many interesting outback routes, like the Sandover Highway, Plenty Highway and the Mereenie loop road.
SIMPSON DESERT:-
In the corner Country of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland lies this unique
desert. An expanse of soft red earth sand dunes, capped with spinifex, cane grass and yellow-top daisies. An area six times the size of Belgium, it is totally uninhabited by man--save for
a few hardy land-owners who live around it's periphery.
Aborigines once lived here--but the last of the desert people walked out of the desert a hundred
year ago-never to return save for short incursions on "walkabout". The Aranda, the Arabunna, the Wankanguru and many other tribes have roamed this desert for 5000 years or more--and it is still a place of
immense spiritual significance to their descendents. White man did not venture into this land until 1936, when Ted Colson from Bloods Creek Station,
together with an aboriginal companion, crossed the desert on camels. Three years later, Dr Cecil Madigan, (from Sir Douglas Mawson's Department at the University
of Adelaide), mounted the first scientific expedition to the region, following a route further
to the North. It was Madigan who named the desert after Allen Simpson, at that time President of the South Australian
branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia.
BIRDSVILLE TRACK:-
Running from Marree in South Australia to Birdsville in Queensland, this track runs for over 500 kms, through
some of the most inhospitable country in the world. Originally a stock route for the cattle moving down from North to the rail heads in the South, it also became
a service track for people living on the remote stations and missions in the area. From 1860 to the 1930's camel trains plied the track with their Afghan cameleers, bringing supplies and news--then to be replaced by the motor car and truck.
Pioneers of the track became legend : names like Scobie, Crombie and Oldfield have become household words--perhaps none more famous than Tom Kruse, the mailtruck
driver, immortalised by John Heyer in his 1950's classic film "The Back Of Beyond". Tom plays himself, as natural as any Hollywood actor. Today his old trucks
can be seen rusting away by the track, proudly bearing the signage E. G. Kruse "Royal Mail"--fading under the desert sun. Fortunately one of Tom's trucks, a Leyland Badger, has been restored and now rests in the Birdwood Motor Museum in the Adelaide Hills.
LAKE EYRE:-
Australia's largest salt lake, Lake Eyre (North and South) covers some 10,000 square kilometres. Filling from a huge area of some 1.2 million Square Kilometres, this Lake Eyre Basin drains water
from many sources-- including the Cooper, the Diamantina/Warburton, the Macumba and the Neales. Lake Eyre, like most of Australia's inland lakes is ephemeral, holding water infrequently. The lake filled completely in 1950 and 1974--but has held good quantities of water
in 1956, 1974, 1976, 1989, 1997 2000 and 2001. In 1974 the lake filled to a depth of 5.5 metres -
held some 35 cubic kilometres of water. One point in Belt Bay is acknowledged as being the lowest point in Australia--variously recorded as between 15 and 19 metres below sea level. The salt crust can be up to 0.5 metres thick in places - and the total weight of the crust has been estimated
to be around 400 million tonnes. Salinity far exceeds that of sea water.
This is a harsh, unforgiving place: summer temperatures often exceed 50°C and winter nights fall
to below zero. For all this though the desert is not dead but living. Hundreds of plants, animals and birds survive in this unique environment having evolved over eons of time.
It is indeed a most remarkable place.
The track is well maintained and graded, but it remains a remote and challenging adventure--even for experienced outback travellers. Preparation
is essential: the unwary still perish in this unforgiving country, though not affording it the respect it deserves.
The year 2000 saw phenomenal interest in the Lake. Visitors from all over Australia and around the world flocked to it's shores, paddled in it, sailed on it, or flew over it. In outback towns, like William Creek, whole "tent cities" sprung up to accommodate the sightseers. Hundreds of vehicles a day ventured out on the dusty tracks to reach this amazing place. In this arid country water means life - and when it comes life abounds. Around you, everywhere wildflowers bloom, desert creatures breed at an amazing rate, and birds flock in as if attracted by a magnet.
Pelicans, gulls, stilts and many more come to nest, the fledglings growing fast on the abundant nutrition of the lake. Then the inflow slows, the water evaporates, the Lake dries and the creatures leave-- or stay and die-- their decomposing bodies returning nutrients to the earth from which they came.
It is nature in it's rawest.
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