Drawn to the Red Centre

Touch the Red Centre in South Australia's far north-east

For most of us baby boomers, there's an inner call drawing us towards the Red Centre and to see the four corners of this big brown land before we die. For those with a yearning to touch that red heart, away from the tourist-drenched clichés, there can be few more attractive places than Innamincka, in South Australia's far north.

Sitting on the edge, between the Strzelecki and Sturts Stony Deserts, it is home to an estimated 15 souls and an oasis for the army of trucks servicing the region's oil and gas fields, as well as a steady trickle of grey nomads.

Whether you're driving a four-wheel drive, towing a caravan or piloting an RV, it is well within your reach with a few precautions and preparations.

Innamincka is best approached from the south, up the Strzelecki Track, which heads east and north from Lyndhurst. Along the way you can dip into the beauties of Wilpena Pound and the Northern Flinders Ranges as added bonuses.

What was once an indistinct set of wheel ruts straggling over sand hills and across clay pans, the Strzelecki Track is now a dirt motorway, mostly a good eight to 10 metres wide. The sand hills are topped with clay to provide firm crossings and the corners eased into long sweeping bends. Make sure you keep to the left on the sand hills, watch for oncoming traffic (and thus any loose or thrown stones), prepare your vehicle and trailer/caravan and you can do it.

Where to stay

There are several choices for camping. The Town Common in Innamincka is situated along the banks of the nearby creeks and can be had for around $5 per night. There are long-drop toilets scattered around and ready access to all the facilities of the, ahem, CBD, which includes showers (available at $4 for a limited time - and take plenty of $2 coins because the pub and store run out) and a restaurant corner in the pub, all within easy walking distance. Fuel is available at the store.

The other option is along Cullyamurra Waterhole, about 14km east of town. Here there's a good eight kilometres of flat and cleared area for your van or camper, scattered barbecues and long-drop toilets, and while the charge here is $15 per night the compensation is the glorious view over the lush waters of this unique haven of life in the harshness of sand and rock. If you've come this far and made this much effort, what's a few more dollars each night?

If you're into free-camping in the emptiness of the desert, there's plenty of vast space out here where you can stop for the night.

Drawn to the Red Centre

Touch the Red Centre in South Australia's far north-east

For most of us baby boomers, there's an inner call drawing us towards the Red Centre and to see the four corners of this big brown land before we die. For those with a yearning to touch that red heart, away from the tourist-drenched clichés, there can be few more attractive places than Innamincka, in South Australia's far north.

Sitting on the edge, between the Strzelecki and Sturts Stony Deserts, it is home to an estimated 15 souls and an oasis for the army of trucks servicing the region's oil and gas fields, as well as a steady trickle of grey nomads.

Whether you're driving a four-wheel drive, towing a caravan or piloting an RV, it is well within your reach with a few precautions and preparations.

Innamincka is best approached from the south, up the Strzelecki Track, which heads east and north from Lyndhurst. Along the way you can dip into the beauties of Wilpena Pound and the Northern Flinders Ranges as added bonuses.

What was once an indistinct set of wheel ruts straggling over sand hills and across clay pans, the Strzelecki Track is now a dirt motorway, mostly a good eight to 10 metres wide. The sand hills are topped with clay to provide firm crossings and the corners eased into long sweeping bends. Make sure you keep to the left on the sand hills, watch for oncoming traffic (and thus any loose or thrown stones), prepare your vehicle and trailer/caravan and you can do it.

Where to stay

There are several choices for camping. The Town Common in Innamincka is situated along the banks of the nearby creeks and can be had for around $5 per night. There are long-drop toilets scattered around and ready access to all the facilities of the, ahem, CBD, which includes showers (available at $4 for a limited time - and take plenty of $2 coins because the pub and store run out) and a restaurant corner in the pub, all within easy walking distance. Fuel is available at the store.

The other option is along Cullyamurra Waterhole, about 14km east of town. Here there's a good eight kilometres of flat and cleared area for your van or camper, scattered barbecues and long-drop toilets, and while the charge here is $15 per night the compensation is the glorious view over the lush waters of this unique haven of life in the harshness of sand and rock. If you've come this far and made this much effort, what's a few more dollars each night?

If you're into free-camping in the emptiness of the desert, there's plenty of vast space out here where you can stop for the night.

What to see

Innamincka

When you roll into Innamincka it's easy to think you've made a mistake. The total settlement consists of the closed-up rebuilt Australian Inland Mission building, the pub, the general store and about two houses, and a seemingly endless sea of dark red gibbers. In the background straggles a line of gums indicating the course of the Cooper and Strzelecki Creeks. The harsh environment killed off the original settlement here in 1951 and it was only revived in the 1960s to service the oil and gas workers.

East of town you have the previously mentioned Cullyamurra Waterhole, where you'll find the grave of explorer Robert O'Hara Burke, who died on this spot in 1861 after failing to connect with his depot party. His partner, William John Wills, died a little later further along Cooper Creek, west of Innamincka. It seems astonishing that they could have died within sight of this luxuriant oasis of life. Burke's remains were later dug up and interred in Melbourne.

At the far eastern end of the camp ground you can park, and a walk of about 2km will bring you to The Choke, where rocks restrict the entry point of the Creek into the waterhole, and where the necessarily speeded up water has carved a channel 30 metres deep. Among the numerous red boulders are carved Aboriginal motifs that date back to the Dreamtime.

If you're a little more adventurous, there are canoes for hire at the pub and you can check out this unique and invaluable spot from the water.

Nappa Merrie

A drive 57km further east brings you to the turn off to Nappa Merrie station, where you turn west for a 14km drive to the Dig Tree, where Burke and Wills met the ultimate disappointment after stumbling back to their depot camp only hours after their party had left for Melbourne. There's camping to be had on the banks of the adjacent Bullah Bullah Waterhole (another creation of Cooper Creek). Access to the whole area will cost you $11 per vehicle as it is on private land and all facilities are maintained from this income.

If you've done this as a day trip you can return to Innamincka by retracing your steps or, I'd recommend, heading 15km north and turning west onto what is known as the Flood Bypass Road. This narrow roadway will take you back to Innamincka from the north, and if you do the trip late in the afternoon, the setting sun on the jump-ups and mountains makes for a romantic end to the day.

Coongie Lakes

Of course, if you've come this far, you couldn't leave without allotting a day for a drive to Coongie Lakes, another surprising desert oasis 110km to the north. This requires a desert parks pass, purchased from the Innamincka store ($20). The Coongie Track is much more track-like but in anything other than the wet is quite accessible in even the most basic vehicle. The track winds through sand hills for most of the way, but all are hard packed to make for easy progress. Twenty kilometres short of your destination you'll come to Kudriemitchie Outstation, which is being set up as a ranger base and research station and is worth a stop to look around the old stock yards and dam (which is called a tank out here).

It's that extensive tank that starts you thinking: where did the water come from? You're soon back in the desert. It's when you get to a small sign on your right that points up a sand hill, indicating Coongie Lake, that you might need a four-wheel drive to drive it. But you can easily walk, because it's only to the top of the sand hill. Either way, as you top the sand your jaw will drop as the green sheet of water in the midst of the desert greets your eyes.

Coongie Lake is fed by the Cooper Creek system and has only been known to be dry once. Its waters are home to black swans and all manner of bird life, plus fish, turtles, yabbies and numerous other creatures. There are Aboriginal middens everywhere, indicating the importance of this area in past millennia. You can camp near the turn-off, or drive straight on and picnic under the gum trees before you drive back to town.

On the way up the Strzelecki Track pull into Montecollina Bore, on the western side, 222km from Lyndhurst. It's well signposted and the constantly running bore water supports a huge population of birds. This is a spot to camp or stop for lunch.

Don't try to enter into the Moomba oil and gas depot 379km up the track from Lyndhurst - its fenced off and you can see little - but if you turn off towards Merty Merty and Cameron Corner, then 10km later north onto the Old Strzelecki Track, you'll pass a number of oil wells right on the track edge.

Getting there and precautions

Getting There

You can approach Innamincka via several routes. As said, the route up from Adelaide (1065km away) and along the Strzelecki Track is our favourite for its glorious scenery up to Leigh Creek, but if you want to come via Cameron Corner and Tibooburra in NSW, the roads are basically okay. You can also come in from Thargomindah in Queensland, along the Adventure Way, and you will have much less dirt (only 135km).

Precautions and preparations

Don't ever take central Australia lightly, or you can get into trouble. However, this is a trip that any well-maintained vehicle will handle.

Make sure your vehicle has been fully serviced before you start, carry a spare fan belt, fuel filter and hose set and know how to install them. Make sure your spare tyre is in good condition, and if you have a second spare, so much the better, as your tyres will really cop a beating out here.

The one major precaution is not to try this on average highway tyres. You will need all-terrain tyres, which are quite suitable for highway use, but have better strength to deal with gravel roads.

Once you hit the dirt at Lyndhurst, drop your tyre pressures (car and van/trailer) to about 26lb. The lower pressure will limit the stress on the tyres, and the suspension, by absorbing a lot of the knocks. Don't exceed 90km/h in this mode, and every now and then check your tyre temperatures. They should be warm to the touch, but if they're hot they're telling you they're under too much sidewall stress and you'll need to put more air in them. For this, the carrying of a small 12V tyre compressor, available from any auto parts outlet (avoid the throw-away cheapies, they'll let you down) is ideal. It also pays to carry a quality tyre pressure gauge and a puncture repair kit.

Driving on corrugated open roads is best done at 80-90km/h, which will avoid you shaking the car to bits at lower speeds.

Don't believe me? Then go ahead and try going slower.

You'll need to carry water and fuel as there's nothing available between Lyndhurst and Innamincka, 478km away. Buy a proper jerry can that's been designed to hold fuel, and don't carry it in the car.

Other than that, make sure you have plenty of drinking water with you, don't try to drive off any made tracks unless you're an experienced four-wheel driver with good communications equipment and don't wander away from your car into wild areas. If you do break down, don't panic and stay with your car; there's a surprising amount of traffic on these roads and you'll soon be found.

Australian Caravan & RV magazine, Issue 8.