drivetime sponsored by Round-up
STAY Marree Hotel Railway Terrace South, Marree 08 8675 8344, www.marreehotel
William Creek Hotel Oodnadatta Track, William Creek 08 8670 7880, www.
.com.au
Prairie Hotel High Street and West Terrace, Parachilna 08 8648 4895, www.prai
riehotel.com.au williamcreekhotel.net.au
Desert Cave Hotel Hutchison Street, Coober Pedy 08 8672 5688, www.desertcave.com.au
EAT & DRINK Skillogalee
Trevarrick Road, Sevenhill 08 8843 4311, www.ski
llogalee.com.au
Pangkarra Anama Park, Mt Tinline Road, RSD 18, Clare 08 8846 2137, www.pangkarrafoods.com.au
On to William Creek, population 12, where we
stay at the world's most isolated pub, the William Creek Hotel. With feral food on the menu again, I try kangaroo shanks – a little rich and not for the faint-hearted. With a lovely absence of all things metro, we are now entrenched in outback life. Next morning we fly over the world's largest
cattle property, Anna Creek Station, and the fragile inland sea, Lake Eyre. Flooded for the fourth year in a row, the lake still holds a mass of water. Our pilot, Michael Urquhart, provides a captivating commentary as we take in swirling salt flats flanked in huge sections by smooth, red terrain and water in gleaming shades of blue and, in parts, algal pink. We begin our drive along the Oodnadatta Track
between William Creek and Coober Pedy at sunrise. We stop to let emus cross, stare a dingo in the face and walk along part of the famous 5,300-kilometre Dog Fence built in the 1880s to protect sheep. At midday we reach Coober Pedy. The lunar-like
landscape is strewn with shafts and mine workings spanning 40 kilometres around the town. With Desert Diversity Tours guide and long-time resident Peter Rowe, we visit a stunning underground Orthodox church, an opal mine and a museum. Like kids on an expedition, we are delighted by our underground digs at the Desert Cave Hotel. When the time comes to return to the city, hand
over the car keys and settle in for the flight home, we're aware the journey has been very special.
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EXPLORE Wrightsair
William Creek 08 8670 7962, www.
wrightsair.com.au
Desert Diversity Tours Coober Pedy 08 8672 5226, www.desertdiversity.com
MORE INFO SA Visitor and Travel Centre
108 North Terrace, Adelaide 1300 764 227, www.southaustral
Burra Visitor Centre 2 Market Street, Burra 08 8892 2154, www.
ia.com visitburra.com
