An early start and Reda passed
a comment that it was the hardest driving he has ever done, as we were driving due east
into the blazing sun.
We took a short cut that took
us back to the Heritage Old Ghan Railway track.
Reda was really happy because we were actually driving along the Old
Ghan Railway line in places - toot toot!!
On parts of the track the
Finke Dessert Racetrack also came onto the road, so we drove along the race
track in parts also. We spotted three
donkeys along the way.
We crossed the border into
South Australia and headed through Witjira National Park to Mt Dare for
lunch. We had a look inside the Mt Dare hotel. There were lots of stubbie holders and hats
hanging from the roof as well. There
were some beautiful paintings.
After some advice from fellow
traveller, we took the smoother road to Dalhousie Springs. At Dalhousie Springs, we set up camp and
relaxed in the 37◦C hot
ponds. They were AWESOME!
Fast Facts
Dalhousie Springs are like a
large upside-down shower rose discharging water from the Great Artesian Basin
through approximately 80 holes called mound springs.
Water from Queensland and the
Northern Territory soaks underground and travels here slowly under layers of
hard rock. The high temperatures of the
earths core heat the waters of the artesian basin. It takes some water up to 3 million years
until it can escape to the surface through rock faults as springs.
The water that flows out from
the springs has many minerals dissolved in it.
As the water evaporates the minerals are left behind as solids. Over
time they accumulate with the ancient sand and clay to form mounds around the
spring outlets.
For thousands of years the
springs have been the only natural source of permanent water in the desert.
 |
| Water Tank for Ghan Railway |
 |
| Somewhere near Mt Dare |
 |
| At the South Australia and Northern Territory Boarder |
No comments:
Post a Comment