Sth Australia – a last hurrah – road trip into the desert beyond World’s End Highway

Written by Gary on April 13th, 2015

My rental car road trip exploring South Australia having left the lovely beaches of Port Noarlunga, the photogenic old copper mining town of Burra, and the Mount Remarkable National Park region, I now head back towards Burra and the extremely isolated desert areas north east of Burra that look towards Broken Hill some 400km away.

This area is off grid – no mobile telephone services, no internet and in my 4+ hours round trip on the gravel roads I did not get to see another car or another person, nor any evidence of current habitation. So not a place to have your car break down – it’s a long walk in the dry, heat without water back to civilisation!

The following photographs were all taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera with the Olympus mZD 12-40mm f/2.8 lens or the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Olympus ZD 50-200mm f/2.9-3.5 SWD lens, which I had ready at my side in the car for the very frequent stops for photo opportunities.

Jamestown:

Jamestown Hotel and church just south-east of Stone Hut:

Jamestown Hotel

Jamestown church

Back of beyond – the desert – remote yet only 2hrs from Adelaide

I stopped at the petrol station to see if they knew much of the mysterious lands across the highway – but alas they had never dared go, nor did they have any maps – their advice, just open the gates and close them behind you:

the desert

and beyond the gates, a 90km + remote circuit on gravel road across dry flood ways (although a storm was coming):

the desert

a dry sheep trough:

the desert

the only water I saw on the whole trip and it was far from drinkable:

the desert

ominous clouds suggest a brewing storm which would make the road impassable in my 2WD car:

the desert

stunted trees:

the desert

a kangaroo hiding amongst the ballerinas (shot with a 400mm eq focal length at a distant hill side):

the desert

desert hill lookout track:

the desert

abandoned sheep station on private property with signs prohibiting entry onto the property:

the desert

and another abandoned homestead:

the desert

a very old stone cottage further down the track:

the desert

remnants of a wall with the timber plinth used to support the ceiling:

the desert

this is why I took a radio beacon EPIRB device – not really a place to be stranded without supplies or communication, as it was I drank all of my 5 bottles of water on the trip – maybe it just made me feel thirsty!:

the desert

the desert

the desert

the desert

Nearby is the re-created birth homestead of the famous explorer of the Arctic, Sir Hubert Wilkins.

 

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