Oodnadatta: Ron explores this Outback region legend of South Australia
It's hard to know what to make of Oodnadatta… an isolated community of just 180 souls a little more than a thousand kilometres north of Adelaide. For decades it was the end of the line for a railway that some visionaries dared to dream might cross the nation.
Today, it's the last major stop to pick up essential supplies, make that all-important phone call or grab a luxury like a paddlepop or two before heading across the Simpson Desert. For others who've been coming here since the 1960s - it could perhaps best be described as an outback town with a great future behind it.
Dick Lang, Outback pilot: "I remember coming into here about 40 years ago and it was an absolutely booming thriving town. It was very, very proud of itself and it had a huge police population - the largest outside Adelaide. It had a large school, it had a flight control unit running the airport, it had a large weather observation point, which was very important to all of Australia, and it had a very large railway community. The whole town was thriving and booming. Then when the railway was shifted from here over to the west the town started to die."
That decline is certainly evident today but so too the reminders of its heyday. Inside the Pink Road House, one of the icons of outback Australia, the photo board tells the tale of the Oodnadatta airport, once a stopping off point for World War Two aircraft on their way to the Pacific.
Stop in this one-stop-shop for remote travelers and residents alike and you'll still take in the great melting pot that Oodnadatta has always been - ever since the town was established as part of the Great Northern Railway later to be known as the Ghan line.
The town, the rail line and pastoralism caused a collision of cultures. Aboriginal people who'd long based themselves around thermal springs like the ones at Dalhousie Springs on the edge of the Simpson Desert gravitated to Oodnadatta along with the railway gangs who pushed the line ever north until the depression of the 1890s.
When worked stopped in 1891 Oodnadatta became the most northerly railway town in South Australia. From here travelers would hook up with camel teams lead by Afghan Cameleers who became a pivotal part of the community. But the dream of further railway construction lived on and the pub was rather optimistically named 'The Transcontinental'. Oodnadatta remained the railhead for another thirty-seven years.
For nearly forty years until 1927 when the line continued onto Alice, this was the end of the line. And it's been just that for Lynnie and Adam Plate, the owners of the Pink Road House since they trekked in here just like the forgotten cameleers of the past.
Lynnie Platte, Pink Roadhouse: "Adam and I walked down here from Alice Springs in the '70s with half a dozen camels and probably fifty donkeys and some horses. Why? Because we were allowed to and because we were hippies."
Now Adam and Lynn are key figures in a town, which remains a gateway for a constant convoy of travelers heading out on the adventure of a lifetime. As the four wheel drivers and trail bikers head out of town - Adam stays put, doing the dishes or perhaps preparing one of the Pink Road House's legendary "Oodna" burgers. For this one-time hippie, Oodnadatta offered a unique freedom in an outback town like no other.
Adam Platte, Pink Roadhouse: "It was just a wild outback place. It felt like I was stepping back into history in some respects. I suppose every town has lots of history but this town has a ragged sort of history that I liked better. It's not a neat and tidy town."
But it is certainly well signposted thanks to Adam. In fact signs of his whimsical approach to life in this desert town are everywhere.
Adam Platte, Pink Roadhouse: "It's a funny place. You've got to laugh at things. It's a hard town. It's very hard weather here. It's very hard to live here. It's the driest and hottest town in Australia and it feels like it. You get here in January and February and it feels like it. But it doesn't stop people travelling."
For a taste of the raw outback head to Oodnadatta. The Pink Road House has basic accommodation starting at $50 a night. To book contact 8670 7822. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Oodnadatta
1075 kms north of Adelaide
The Pink Road House
Accommodation from $50 per night
Contact Adam Platte on 8670 7822Published 11th October 2009
