![]() About the area: South Australia's Outback is one of the world's truly unspoilt areas. The region is easily accessible from Adelaide and features vast dramatic landscapes; deserts as far as the eye can see, gleaming salt lakes and endless red sandhills. The Outback beyond the coastal strip is very hot for more than half the year and rainfall is uncertain. However there are permanent springs, palm trees and, when it does rain, a riot of wildflowers spring to life.
Stopping for a cold beer and a chat with the locals in an Outback pub is a truly Australian experience. Many of the pubs date back to the nineteenth century, when they played an important role in the lives of the early settlers who opened up the interior of Australia. Most Outback pubs serve more than beer, many offering good, basic meals and hospitality. Some are now famous for their more sophisticated and imaginative Outback cuisine.
The Flinders Ranges, a major part of the South Australian outback experience, has been named one of Australia's outstanding national landscapes - recognised as an emotionally uplifting destination, where adventure, spirituality and tranquility co-exist.
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Flinders Ranges: one of Australia's most scenic and wonderfully diverse regions, the Flinders Ranges are probably the most accessible outback region of Australia. This accessibility however, does not alter the beauty or majesty of this wonderful mountain range area. In fact, many sites are very significant to both pastoralists, and environmentalists. The Flinders Ranges National Park conserves the central section of these incredible ranges. Walking tracks criss cross the park, including the challenging climb to St Mary's Peak, one of the highest points along the rim of Wilpena Pound.
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Coober Pedy: Coober Pedy is a very small town with a big reputation for being the most eccentric place in Australia, if not the world. There is very little about Coober Pedy that can be described as normal, and it the town's uniqueness, and not just the quality of the opals mined around the town, that has made it a magnet for outback travellers.
While many visitors come for the opals, the majority come to experience the eccenticity. For starters, the first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. The local golf course is completely free of grass and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. The place is so hot, most dwellings are underground.
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The Oodnadatta Track: without doubt Australia's most famous outback highway, the Oodnadatta Track is a stretch of good dirt road from Marree through to Oodnadatta. It follows a traditional aboriginal trading route, making it one of the oldest continuously used roads in the world. Remnants of the many railway sidings of the original Ghan and Overland Telegraph repeater stations are scattered along the track, making the journey a history's lover's delight. Along the route there are mound springs, Lake Eyre (Australia's largest lake; 4WD access only), the biggest cattle station in the world (Anna Creek Station) and an ever-changing countryside that is both harsh and beautiful.
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Wilpena Pound: Amidst the vibrant colours of the 800 million-year-old quartzite and limestone outcrop that is the Flinders Ranges lies Wilpena Pound, a natural amphitheatre 17km long and 7km wide. Located 429 kilometres north of Adelaide, SA in the heart of the Flinders Ranges National Park, the Pound is the most northern point with access via a sealed road in this part of the Flinders Ranges.
Wilpena Pound is one of the most popular sites in the Flinders Ranges for international tourists to visit the outback because of the large development that has occurred at the Wilpena Pound Resort on the eastern side of Wilpena Pound and Rawnsley Park Station on the western side. There are many modern facilities there that makes it appealing for people who are not familiar with the semi-arid conditions.
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Nullarbor Plain: The Nullarbor is a semi arid, flat plain which extends across the border between Western Australia and South Australia from Ceduna to near Kalgoorlie. The Eyre Highway, the road link between east and west, cross the Nullarbor. The head of the Gt Australian Bight is where up to 100 Southern Right Whales come between June to October of each year to breed and give birth to whale calves. A viewing platform has been built so that Southern Right Whales can be observed at close quarters. The nearby Bunda Cliffs are a magnificent sight in themselves and stretch in an unbroken line for 200 kilometres to the Western Australian border.
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Woomera: Synonymous with the testing of long range missiles and rockets during the Cold War, and the launch and tracking of spacecraft in the early days of the Space Age, Woomera today offers travellers to the South Australian outback an oasis in the harsh desert landscape. Today, the Woomera Test Range is a strategic defence asset used mainly for aerospace test and evaluation activities. It remains the largest land-based range in the world and hosts a wide spectrum of ground, air and space activities for Australian and international government and commercial organisations. One of Woomera's major attractions is itsThe Woomera Heritage Centre tells the story of the town and itd rocket range.With a focus on the fifty five year history, this
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| Visiting The Region: The Facts |
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How to Get There: Port Augusta, known as the gateway to the Outback, is located at the head of Spencer Gulf just a three hour drive north of Adelaide. A regional airline and numerous charter operators provide scheduled and charter flights to Coober Pedy and Olympic Dam (near Roxby Downs) with scenic flights are available. Daily coach services operate from Adelaide to selected towns in the outback.
Travelling through the region by train is also very popular. The Ghan from Adelaide passes through Port Augusta on its way through outback South Australia to Alice Springs and then Katherine and Darwin. Many tour operators also run short and extended tours into the Outback from Adelaide including trips all the way to Alice Springs. Visitors self-driving the Australian Outback need to plan their trip carefully as the distances between towns can be long and road conditions can change quickly.
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Best Time To Go: The Outback is desert country and, therefore, has mostly a dry heat. The days are usually sunny and warm, but the nights can be cold, so dress accordingly. It's a good idea to wear layers of clothing and add/subtract for your own comfort. During summer, daily temperatures range from 30 to 35 degrees Celsius, dropping to 17 to 20 degrees Celsius in the evening. During winter the average daily temperature is 20 degrees Celsius.
The best time to visit the Outback is in Autumn, Winter and Spring, when the days are warm without being too hot. It is still possible to visit the region during Summer, however visitors need to be prepared for the possibility of extremely high temperatures
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| Regions of South Australia |
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