Oodnadatta Track
The Oodnadatta Track is an unsealed 617 km outback track in the Australian state of South Australia, It goes from Marree in the southeast to Marla in the northwest via Oodnadatta. The track travels along the edges of the Great Artesian Basin, the Oodnadatta Track Basin pushes water to the surface, creating springs along the way, it attracts birds and wildlife.
The explorer Benjamin Babbage noticed aboriginal people travelling north west from South Australia, in 1858 he found a spring with green vegetation around it and published his findings. Then other explorers like Warburton and Stuart followed using the springs to explore the arid interior of Australia.
The string of springs following the track made it possible for John McDouall Stuart to complete the first crossing of Australia’s interior from south to north in 1862. Later the overland telegraph line was laid up to Alice Springs and on to Darwin.
When it rains in Queensland the water from the rivers flow southwest to Lake Eyre which is the lowest point in Australia some 12 to 15 metres below sea level.
