The elementary yet extraordinary ‘Oodnadatta Loop’

THIS ACHIEVABLE Adelaide-to-Adelaide outback odyssey is an all-in antidote to everyday life: stuffed with whimsical things you’d never thought you’d see, from horizonless lakes that become the sky-to-desert outposts that tussle for survival with singular spirit and personality.

From Adelaide, wend your way north through Yorke Peninsula’s snoozy coastal hamlets before the gradual climb into the fetching Flinders Ranges. Pause for a couple of days to digest the majesty of the ranges’ spiritual ticker, the marvellously grand Ikara (Wilpena Pound).

As the Ranges melt into the plains to the north, you must pull into Australia’s fairest outback pub, Parachilna’s Prairie Hotel, for a Feral Mixed Grill (camel sausage, kangaroo fillet, emu mignon) and a wine/beer of transcendent provenance. From here, the South Australian outback rolls out before your eyes, punctuated by towns that were once proud vertebrae in the Central Australia Railway backbone, stomping ground of those legendary nation-builders, the Afghan cameleers.

If the big board at Marree says ‘open’, you’re ready to tackle a section of the Oodnadatta Track; stage left at the Lake Eyre Yacht Club (yes, really). You don’t need a military-grade 4WD or to be a four-wheel-driving nerd, but be prepared: carry water, spares tyres (deflate as required), notify people when you should be expected, and defer to locals for road goss.

Keep an eye out for the Mutonia Sculpture Park – which is marked by two planes that mirage tail first from the red dirt – before you reach Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre-front William Creek Hotel, a quintessentially offbeat outback watering hole and headquarters for flights over Australia’s grandest salt lake that depart from its nearby airstrip.

Head up to Oodnadatta (if you have time) and down (or cut across directly) to opal-mining anomaly Coober Pedy, with its underground churches and hotels, and proudly shady characters who don’t care what you think but are glad you came. After a couple of eccentric days in CP, hit the tarmac back to Adelaide, stocking up on Clare Valley riesling on the way through if you’re still feeling frisky.

DISTANCE: 1900 kilometres round trip (route dependent).