Outback Secrets Preview
One of the Outback Secrets: Tookaninna Waterhole, Alberga River SA
Want to find that special place in Australia that’s just right for you? Outback Secrets can show you such a place. Follow me through the Australian Outback to share my favourite campsites and exciting areas to explore. Some of these destinations are shared by the more adventurous travellers but many are known to only a few. You can also discover your own secret campsites by following some simple steps. But to start off……How easy is this! My favourite places are listed below.
Each Outback Secret will eventually have its own page but to quote a Korean opal mining mate of mine: ”Slowly, slowly. Catch the monkey”. Please be patient. (Look for other "secret places" on the other pages too!) • ALBERGA CROSSING WATERHOLE (Tookaninna) is on the track from Odnadatta to Mount Dare. Turn to the east in the Alberga River bed, and follow it for about 500m. The grave of Frederick Sanford, a pioneering pastoralist, is hidden in the spinifex covered sand hills north-west of here. This is part of the spectacular and largely unknown Andado Track to Alice Springs. • 99 WATERHOLE is about 1km north of the Oodnadatta track about 3km west of the Lambina/Todmorden boundary. This quiet rocky-banked waterhole makes an excellent overnight stop. • The OLD OODNADATTA TRACK originally went through Lambina Station and past the Granite Downs Homestead. Watch for an “L” made of reflectors about 50km east of Marla. The track is not maintained but travels through some really beautiful country. Apparrently this track has been de-gazzetted by the Government and the owner of Lambina is not happy about tourists using it. (added 20 10 08) • ALICE WELL. Turn off to the west of the Old Ghan Track at Bundooma Siding ruins. Follow the track in to the magnificent sandy bed of the Hugh River. • The Stuart Highway entry to the Owen Springs/FINKE GORGE PARK. A couple of weeks after rain the camping spots a couple of kilometres into the park off the Stuart Highway are picture perfect. You can drive for miles before deciding which is the best spot out of dozens of best spots. An ideal place to camp before you hit the comparative bustle of Alice Springs.
• REDBANK GORGE. The most remote of the Western MacDonnell gorges 70 km out from Alice Springs. Take an inner tube, swim across the waterhole and explore this fabulous gorge. Most tourists stop at the waterhole. They miss the good part. Luckily for us a couple of young ringers (stockmen) told us about the magnificent gorge part. • MT BURRELL WATERHOLE. Ask permission at the Maryvale store, though the people working in there may not know where it is! From there head north and turn through the gate just before the creek crossing. Follow the track due west, passing the turnoff to the airstrip. You will eventually see the River Red Gums of the Hugh River in the distance and the two remaining chimneys of the old MT Burrell Homestead on your right. Follow your nose to a beautiful private sandy, pebbly banked billabong. You will pass the very obscure track off to the north-west to Kraegan's grave about midway to the waterhole. (Watch for a GPS reading when I finally find it again!) • POLICEMANS WATERHOLE, Innamincka. Follow the fence line before you get to the grid about 4 to 5 km south of Inamincka. Great fishing! • THE DIG TREE is a pivot point in the saga of the disastrous Burke and Wills exploring expedition. What Outback Secrets are hidden here? Read about it before you visit. (On Nappa Merrie Station, 80km from Innamincka.)
• WHITE CLIFFS. Stop at the pub to meet some interesting opal miners and local residents. These friendly people have shown me some of their Outback Secrets. It also has one of my favourite cemeteries. There is a lot more detail and probably a few corrections to follow. But for now these notes may give you some idea of the number of Outback Secrets there are to find and explore. Dedicated and adventurous travellers should be able to find most of the sites from these scratchy notes. Remember, to the owners of the property, these places are part of “their home”. Put yourself in their shoes for a while. A good attitude is to treat these special sites as if you were visiting the home of a respected friend.
Sunset over Mintabie Opal Fields
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