As you can probably imagine, we’ve been pouring over the itinerary to make sure we’re getting the most out of the trip.
As it happened, we caught up with an old colleague of mine last weekend, who has traveled much of outback Australia. We took him through the itinerary we’ve sketched out and picked his brain about things that we should be seeing.
The one thing he said was a must, if we have time, is a trip to The Painted Desert. This works quite well and in line with our thoughts about not staying in Oodnadatta, which isn’t really ideal from all accounts.
As a result we’ve made a tweak to the itinerary to include this as an option. You can google the painted desert to get an idea of what’s there, and nearby is Arckaringa Station which has camping, toilets, showers and a small number of cabins.
Staying here one night see’s us in a position where the next day we can be in Oodnadatta for lunch, visit the museum, and then continue on to Hamilton Station, which by all accounts is a lovely place to say. This also means that if people want to head to Coober Pedy after the first night at William Creek, then we could meet up at Oodnadatta on the way.
From Hamilton Station, it’s only a three hours to Mt Dare, and along the way we can stop in for an extended stay and even a swim at the Eringa Waterhole, which is a stunning oasis in the midst of the arid landscape.
Hamilton to Mt Dare makes for a very relaxed days driving where we could be at Mt Dare by mid afternoon, with plenty of time to fuel up, restock water etc, do some vehicle checks, and be in a position to head into the desert the next day.
Do some googling of the painted desert which is, by all accounts, stunning. Also check out the camping options at Arckaringa and Hamilton Station.
Till next time, happy planning!
Cheers, Kent.