Alice Springs to Mount Dare Hotel via the Old Ghan Railway Heritage Trail

September 13^th

Took myself for another run along the dry Todd River this morning before we headed out of town towards Mount Dare via the Old Ghan Railway Heritage Trail. We had deliberated over whether we would take this route to Finke or go via the Old Andado Track but finally decided on the Old Ghan Railway Heritage Trail as it was a more direct line to where we wanted to go. Internet research on both tracks gave pros and cons. Not sure this was the best decision as once we were past the Rodinga siding ruins (old fettlers camp) the track became extremely corrugated and sandy and continued like this the entire way to Finke (141km). Just meant slow, careful driving and who knows what the condition of the other track would be like anyway. Did shake us to the core though and we had to stop a few times just to get out and be still for a while.

The Old Ghan Railway Heritage Trail is an interesting journey in history. The route is based on the elevations of The Ghan rail line which started in August 1929 and originally ran on the Central Australian Railway built as a 1,067mm narrow-gauge railway that ran as far north as Alice Springs. The Old Ghan got its name as a result of the Afghan camel teams who operated goods transport services to the outback stations from the railway towns and sidings. The original Ghan ran for the last time in 1980 and now its preservation is in the hands of The Ghan Preservation Society, which repairs sections of the old narrow gauge track and some notable sidings.

You actually drive on the old rail bed and get to see some of the ruins of the sidings and railway infrastructure along the way as well as track remnants like railway spikes – saw loads of these and had fun trying to avoid driving over them as they could have played havoc with the car tyres.

As well as driving on the old railway line, the track runs parallel to the Finke Desert Race Track. This is a major national event for off-road bikes, cars, buggies and quad vehicles which is held on the Queen’s birthday long weekend in June each year. It is one of the biggest sporting events in the NT and has the reputation of being one of the most difficult courses in one of the most remote places in the world.  The course looks like a roller coaster ride and we could only imagine what it would be like with hundreds of vehicles speeding along the 226km route. 

                      

Sign posts along the way included white coloured car bonnets sticking out of the sand every 10km to note the mileage from Alice Springs. 

 

There were also some amusing signs such as the one below as we passed Rumbala.

Finke (known as Aputula since the 80’s) itself is an Aboriginal community of 250 people just north of the SA border. Originally the old Ghan Railway crossed the Finke River (dry when we were there) just north of the township. Any major flood in the river washed out the rail bridge so the settlement developed primarily to repair the rai crossing. When the new railway was opened up in 1981 passing through Kulgera, 150km to the west of Finke, the community was set up as a Uniting Church Mission for the local aborigines. Aputula holds the record of having the hottest day ever recorded in the NT (48.3 degrees Celsius) on January 1^st and 2^nd 1960.

When we finally rattled into Aputula (Finke) after many more hours than we anticipated it would take us, we were greeted with nothing much. It was Sunday so nothing was open (not even the public toilets) and it seemed like a dry, dusty, hot place to be. We passed through quickly and stopped on the other side of town for some lunch on the side of the road.

The road improved somewhat after Aputula and we were able to increase our travel time a little. We eventually passed into Witjira National Park (some interesting things banned here) and after about 105km from Aputula we arrived at the Mount Dare Hotel – an oasis in the dust and dirt. We hadn't planned on staying here the night but didn't know what we would find on the road past the hotel so decided to pull up stumps for the evening. Had a few ciders in the pub, marvelled at the collection of icons hanging from the ceiling including a t-shirt from some crazy outback runners, met some other travellers, set up camp out the back, had some dinner and then sat around chatting with our new acquaintances (and their dog which they really shouldn't have had in a National Park) enjoying the stars.