Oodnadatta track - Maree to Marla SA

Good Afternoon Mr. Sand..

We've travelled the Oodna. Tk. a few times- and will be again in August. We are aware of most of the interesting things along the track- but always open to other POIs.
So between (say) Maree & Oodna. (and even South to Parachilna) what would you reckon are the POIs that shouldn't be missed..
Cheers

Hey there Signman,

The Algebuckina Bridge is worth a visit for the history of the original Railway route and the Algebuckina Waterhole is a good place to camp close to Oodnadatta, but a better choice.

William Creek is probably my favorite place in the outback. Why?
I guess the relative remoteness that is still easily accessible from Oodnadatta, Coober Pedy, Marla, or Roxby Downs, plus the place has "a feel" about it. I have not visited since the pub has new owners and I want to go and say hello to the new proprietors.
We were planning to visit over the Easter period but crap happened and we had to cancel the trip.
Camping at the caravan park still gives a real feeling of remoteness, even though there is the background sound of the generator plant and you generally have the vocal contest of domestic dogs vs the Dingo as they communicate with each other.
William Creek is a good base to stay while visiting Halligan Bay on Lake Eyre, or taking a scenic flight with Wrightsair over the Lake, to the Painted Desert, or a day trip to Dalhousie Springs.
We really surprised the locals by staying three nights, before moving on.

Further south there are several "mound springs" formations, The Bubbler and Coward Springs the most popular. Other historic sites such as the Peak Telegraph Station will appeal to most people and there are other sites I can't think of, or haven't yet been to.

Basically, travel along the Track in either direction should be "leisurely" and be prepared to stop and visit the features that are signposted.

Sandman I've visited the WC pub and the new owners are hospitable, just as you'd expect in an outback pub.

John, What do you think of Tvan? How long have you had it? What affect on hwy cruising consumption? Ease of use etc? cheap skate wants free advice :)) .... silverback

Hi Anthony,

We are heading off on June 30th for 100 days up the middle and then down the west coast. I drive a 2000 TD Prado towing an OR Eagle. I'm in the process of installing a pressure vent, extra bracing on the cupboards, building a stoneguard etc. From your experience what else needs to be done to the van to make it stronger off road and survive some of the roads we are going to take. We are not staying on the bitumen. Looks like you didn't either by your photos.

Car looks great in real life too!

Cheers

Graeme

Hi Pheonix (& True Blue)

A lot of the changes we did to our Dove outback were more because we wanted to rather than needed to. We are a family of four, with two young girls aged 7 and 9 yrs old. So I changed the standard cupboards to become draws.

One of the more important off-road trip preparations was to protect the water tank drain tap from stone damage. I use a piece if galvanized sheet metal to basically extend the water tank guard on the vertical and flat and attached with metal screws.

The following is some of the wear and tear experienced on the Dove from 3000kms of outback tracks.

Stones cut the electric brake wires near the axle and brake drum area; I did a quick repair using screw type cable joiners and some tape.

I had repacked the trailer wheel bearings before we left and after doing some tracks in the Flinders ranges and the Oodnadatta track, I found myself replacing the RHS bearing in the Marla caravan park, glad I took spare bearings. Btw, the combined caravan park, garage, pub etc at Marla was set up for doing repairs for travelers.

While I had a stone guard fitted (the lower edge of it went across the top of the A-frame) the stones being kicked up by the 4wd were very hard on anything they came in contact with. All the galvanized plating on the A-frame, side step and axle was completely removed by the stones. The shockers of the Dove and the rear of the Prado are dented to the point they need to be replaced (but still work, I think). The guard on the water tank took a bashing (check the pix in my profile) to the point that the stones started to tear holes in the sheet metal.

On the inside, as ours has a wood frame for the seat and cupboards, I went to the local hardware store and bought small angle brackets (25mm by 25mm) and fitted them where Jayco had only used staples. Quite a few joins already had screws and staples.

On the wheels, I thought the standard 235/75-15 tyres supplied by Jayco (load rating 108Q) were a bit soft for outback tracks so I fitted the same wheel and rims as on the 120 series. If you are able to fit the same rims / tyres on your Prado on your Eagle its worth thinking about getting three extra rims and tyres (the rim offset on our 120 series required me to use 10mm wheel spacers to get the tyres to clear the inside of the trailer guard).

With the dust, we copped a fair bit, even after I taped over the door vent with some plastic. I will be interested to hear how the air pressure vent works for you, so all I can suggest is for anything that you want to keep dust out of, put it in side a glad snap lock plastic bag.

On the fridge - it does not work that well in temperatures over high 30’s. At the end of a day traveling after running our fridge on 12volts, the fridge temp was around 18 to 20C. Even running on gas or 240v when setup, the best it would do was about 5 to 8C. We had to change how we ate. Stopped buying fresh meat and bought canned ham etc. There is very little choice on canned food outside of the major towns so buy some quality tinned ham before you leave the bigger shopping areas.

I hope some of my long reply is of help or at least interest.

Cheers Anthony

True Blue, report on post 56412 for you.

Cheers Pesty