William Creek: the real outback!!
I just got to Coober Pedy from a stay a William Creek and it is 39C and windy.
William Creek is the outback as most North Americans would imagine: rough, dry, hospitable people, and everyone pitches in to get something done. I was even enlisted and it got me a complimentary beer at the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, I’m not sure whether there are upgrades to suites, but I will say this: “the bar is the priority and the beer is ice cold”. I walked in after a 10 hour dirt road drive and was welcomed as one of the family. Yes, I had a beer or two.
It is a tiny community of mainly pilots. In fact Trevor, (owner, pilot, and all things outback) has some 15 aircraft and it seems they are in the air more than they are on the ground. I met some very interesting people. People that looked like they are growing on a bar stool. Wrong, that is where I met them and not what they do most of all. One guy brokers aircraft around the world, one guy was a champion bull rider, one guy flies grid patterns at 60 meters above ground for a mining company, and all the young females in town are pilots.
Tay, chief pilot took me on a plane tour of the painted hills region. It is desert with vivid colour and I could have spent all day photographing the colour, texture, and pattern. This is one of the reasons I came to William Creek: people and photo opps.
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I got a couple of grab shots of the hotel at dawn as I was leaving, an intercontinental missile (crashed in the desert), and a few desert scenes. A couple of the scenes are of the “mounds”, artesian springs. Williams Creek is on the Oodnadatta Track, a route used by the camel train and later the “old Ghan” railroad. It was a vital north/south route from Adelaide to Darwin and followed the “mounds” for water. There are vestiges of both camel train and the old Ghan along the way. There are a couple of shots showing a hut for the camel drivers. In fact it is considered a Mosque. One of the shots shows an old “Ghan” locomotive showing through a window.
…and for the golfers: no problem as the terrain is perfect as there are no end of rabbit holes and sand traps. All you need is a piece of astro turf and you are away!!
Got to go back! Here is the location: http://goo.gl/TbX73