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Outback Holiday Towns
South Australia
ANDAMOOKA
Population:
402
Andamooka is South Australia's
youngest outback opal
mining town. It is 120
kilometres north of
Woomera, west of Lake
Torrens and noted for
the quality of its investments
and heirloom quality
opals. Andamooka was
opened up with the discovery
of opal in 1930. The
main fields are close
to the town, where semi
dug-out homes are common.
The historical cottages,
now on the national
heritage register were
the first semi dug-out
permanent homes of the
early miners and opal
buyers. Local tours
can include inspections
of working mines and
the historical cottages.
COOBER
PEDY
Population:
2103
Opal was discovered
at Coober Pedy in 1315,
today it is Australia's
largest and oldest opal
mining town, known the
world over for the unusual
underground lifestyle
its inhabitants have
been forced to adopt
to escape the fierce
summer heat.
Coober Pedy is on
the main Stuart Highway.
Its most notable feature
is the moon-like landscape
of opal mines, holes
in the ground dug
by several generations
of miners and simply
left there untended
after being discarded.
Care should be taken
when walking around
the area. The mines
area is made up of
around thirty working
fields stretching
outwards in a radius
of up to fifty kilometres
from the town.
There are certain
rules of behaviour
visitors should observe
- including avoiding
fossicking for opal in and around miner's
claims. Ask permission
before searching for
opal in tailings heaps
('mullock' heaps).
Visitors can stay
in a choice of underground
accommodation.
GLENDAMBO
Glendambo
is a major service centre
for travellers along
the Stuart Highway between
Woomera and Coober Pedy.
It has a hotel-motel,
roadhouse, general store,
caravan park , camping
area, and fuel outlet.
INNAMINCKA
Innamincka
grew around a hotel
that serviced the early
drovers who brought
cattle down the Strzelecki
Track. It is on the
banks of the Cooper
Creek and before federation
of the Australian colonies
in 1801, was a customs
outpost where duty on
goods coming into the
colony was collected.
The ruins of the Australian
Inland Mission hospital
(1328) still stand
in the town. Close
to the spot where
the Innamincka Hostel
once stood, a large
cairn with two memorial
plaques commemorates
the expeditions by
Captain Charles Sturt
(1844-45) and Burke
and Wills (1860-61).
Will's grave can be
seen near Cooper Creek,
west of the town and
a memorial-to Burke's
last resting place
is along the creek
to the east. Another
historic spot is King's
Marker, a memorial
on the spot where
John King, the sole
survivor of Burke
and Will's tragic
expedition was found.
MARLA
Population:
243
Marla is a major service
centre on the Stuart
Highway between Coober
Pedy and the Northern
Territory border. Roads
from here lead to Mintabie
opal fields and the
Oodnadatta Track. The
settlement has a hotel-motel,
caravan park and camping
area, food outlets,
medi- clinic and is
base for several government
departments.
MARREE
Population:
380
Its first name was Hergott
Springs, and for a long
time Marree was a staging
post for the camel trains
used to transport heavy
goods north and south
along the Oodnadatta
and Birdsville Tracks.
Until 1980 it was a
major station along
the Ghan Railway journey
to Alice Springs. Today,
it is a service centre
for the enormous cattle
stations in the area.
MINTABIE
Population:
256
Mintabie is a small,
opal mining area 33
kilometres west of Marla
and 265 kilometres north
of Coober Pedy. The
fields were discovered
in the early 1920s,
when good deposits of
black opal were found.
Large scale mining operations
dependent on earth-moving
equipment opened the
area up in the 1970s.
The settlement is still
small, however, and
facilities for tourists
are limited. Access
to Mintabie requires
a permit, available
from the Police Stations
at Marla and Alice Springs.
OODNADATTA
Population:
230
This is one of the few
remaining outback towns
that hasn't lost its
character to the great
god Progress. Its name
stems from the Aborigine
'Utnadata' meaning 'blossom
of the mulga.' The long
cattle track that followed
the trail of explorer
John McDouall Stuart
into Australia's dead
heart bears its name.
Oodnadatta was an
important railhead
between 1891 and 1929.
when the section of
track to Alice Springs
was completed. Until
then camel train was
the main form of transport
to this central Australian
settlement.
Oodnadatta is the
starting point for
trips into the Simpson
Desert. The road from
the town to the Stuart
Highway and Cadney
Homestead passes through
the Painted Desert
or the Arckaringa
Hills.
PORT
AUGUSTA
Population:
15 291
The city of Port Augusta
sits at the apex of
Spencer Gulf and is
known as the crossroads
of Australia. the spot
where flinders stepped
ashore on March 10.
In the history of
white settlement,
the site was charted
by Matthew Flinders
in 1802 and was developed
early on as a major
port of export for
the outback's wool,
wheat and minerals.
Today, Port Augusta
is a busy outback
centre with a large
power generation plant
and railway workshops.
ROXBY
DOWNS
Population:
2,500
This modern town was
established in the early
1980s to accommodate
the staff of the giant
uranium mining operation
at Olympic Dam. A centre-piece
is the Roxby Downs Motor
Inn with its bedouin-like
tent structure arching
above the main complex.
Photo courtesy SATC
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South Australian Region
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