With multiple caravans bogged on South Australia’s Oodnadatta Track and up to 80 travellers still stranded, concern is growing about just when they will actually be able to ‘escape’.
Recent rains turned the iconic Outback track into a skating rink, catching may travellers by surprise. Now, with more rain forecast for Friday, there is uncertainty about what happens next.
William Creek publican Trevor Wright said some people had been stuck out on the roads for up to three days … and there were abandoned caravans out there as well.
He said the town’s residents and stranded tourists were ‘handling it really well’ but remain concerned for supplies if the Oodnadatta Track couldn’t open by the weekend.
“We’re nearly out of gas bottles for heating, so they could be having some cold showers relatively soon,” he said. “We’re looking at where we are with food … I think people are just trying to work out what decisions they have to make given there’s more rain on Friday coming.”
He said people were saying ‘well, we can’t get out by then, what are the contingency plans we need to make?’.
Andrew Eagle is one of the travellers who was caught out several days ago.
The William Creek Hotel held a meeting yesterday with the stranded travellers to discuss what to do. PIC: Andrew Eagle / ABC)
“We were planning on staying here for a night and then Leigh Creek for a night but, yeah, now we’ve spent three days and maybe four here,” he told the ABC.
Mr Eagle said the sense of Outback camaraderie had been a bright spot with both locals and travellers picking people up who were stuck on the roads and bringing them back into town.
Publican Trevor Wright says the crisis showed there needed to be fast and reliable phone coverage infrastructure put in place so people could communicate effectively with authorities if they got stranded.
“We desperately need to get these microcells that Telstra have cleaned up so that you can actually have data on them,” he told the Adelaide Advertiser. “Luckily we’ve got one of the Starlink [communication satellites] from Elon Musk, so we’re giving everyone access to it for free.”
They went out there looking for an adventure, they got it..
Should have stayed on the high ground for a few days and let it dry out.
All good as long as the pub has beer!
Running out of food ? Dont they carry spare supplies ? Especially in those areas.
Getting the real taste of remote trevally. Max-track, snap straps, plenty of water and mud terrain tyres is must. It’ll be slow going but you will eventually get back into the hardtop.
What’s happened need people to look after them after 3 days should stay in their mobile hotels and eat the food that’s in it , unless they have medical issues, should be food and water for 2 weeks minimum.
Agreed
I agree on the food part but 2 weeks water takes up a lot of load limit even for just 2 people
Australia should not have to rely on overseas communication systems, to be able to talk with family and friends, in any situation. Step up to the plate Telstra or Optus