Wednesday 28th March 2012 Day 29 Lake Eyre 4WD Tour from Coober Pedy SA

Today it was up early as usual but today we were being picked up By Wayne from Arid Areas Tours for a 4WD tour to Lake Eyre. We left Coober Pedy to travel down the dirt road some 166km to William Creek to join the Oodnadatta Track to a track some 66km to Lake Eyre.
Where do you start to tell this story, driving a few minutes and its stop to pass the 500km Dog Fence. The best bit about Wayne's tour is that they are tailored to whatever you want. Wayne would stop for anything we would want to photograph and nothing was too much trouble, his knowledge matched his professional driving skills. Along the way we had close encounters with brown snakes, Bearded dragons and of course flies the minute you opened the door. The drive along William Creek Road was pretty smooth with a couple of washouts and several patches of corrugation likewise with the Oodnatta Track. The majority of the tour is actually passing through Anna Creek Station the latest Station in AustraliaAfter a short stop at William Creek we drove a few km down the track to join the track to Lake Eyre and a track was a kind word for the next 63km.

One of the sights along the William Creek Road

The track is poorly maintained and for the unexperienced 4WD would definitely be selected during the numerous thick sandy patches of the mud/water hazards. The most interesting thing about the drive was the number of times the landscape changed, the images Darren and I had were of a flat drive. We couldn't have been further from the truth.

Sand, water,  mud and rock the track had it all to challenge the driver

One of the last remaining telegraph poles from the overland telegraph near William Creek SA

Lake Eyre, what can you say an expansive of white salt with some water in the distance. We walked out a few hundred metres but the salt was slippery and later quite wet suctioning the boots as you walked. You have to be there to really appreciate its beauty.

After lunch on the lake we drove back to William Creek for a beer in the 1887 timber and corrugated iron pub. Character all through it. From there it was a visit to the Lake Cadibarrawirracanna which was quite plentiful with water. At 7pm we returned to the caravan park after what can only be described as a fantastic day in the outback.

The 1887 William Creek Pub