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Oodnadatta South Australia

Famous South Australian desert town once an important stopover for the Ghan

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Oodnadatta South Australia, Country Airstrips Australia
Oodnadatta South Australia

Oodnadatta in South Australia is a suitably wild outback town in the heart of the desert 112m above sea level. It is, by any definition, a fascinating place.

The town of Oodnadatta consists of one main street with the Transcontinental Hotel, the General Store and the Pink Roadhouse. The roadhouse is on one side of the old railway line and the fascinating Railway Museum is on the other.

Since the closure of the railway line in 1981, the town has become a quiet settlement. It’s inhabited mainly by the local Aborigines who now run:

  • The Railway Museum,
  • The General Store and
  • The local Transcontinental Hotel.

It is well known that the Oodnadatta Track, that famous old dirt road from Marree to Marla, predates the arrival of Europeans by tens of thousands of years. It was a trade route for the local Aborigines who moved from spring to spring along a route which was eventually to be used by both the Overland Telegraph Line and the railway to Alice Springs.

The Famous Oodnadatta Track.
The Famous Oodnadatta Track

Today Oodnadatta is a place which attracts people more for its exotic name than for any “must-see” attractions. The Pink Roadhouse is a great place to stop. The museum, in the old railway station, offers an insight into the hardships endured by Europeans who ventured into this inhospitable land.

Location

Oodnadatta is located 1045 km north of Adelaide and 198 km north-east of Coober Pedy. It lies in the heart of the desert and is 112 m above sea level.

Origin of Name

Oodnadatta is probably an adaptation of a local Arrernte Aboriginal word “utnadata” meaning “blossom of the mulga”.

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