Carrying 18 liters of water and 12 kilograms of food per person, we left Marree in the evening and pitched our tent next to the road a few kilometers later. It was a good feeling to finally be on the Oodnadatta Track and not just thinking about what would happen if… The 600 kilometers of dirt road through pretty desolate landscapes had sounded more threatening beforehand than now, when we experienced them.

On the first day, attractions followed one after the other: the crossing of the Dingo fence at kilometer 40, the bizarre Mutonia art installation at kilometer 50 and the view of the Eyre Salt Lake in the evening. After that, the sights were over, but we were absolutely amazed by the vastness, the silence and the colors of the morning and evening hours! Even a few sandy creek beds and short sections of corrugated road did nothing to dampen our euphoria. With a tailwind and generally excellent road conditions, we reached Coward Springs on the second day. A friendly, enthusiastic couple run a campsite here with a café and date grove. In this oasis in the middle of nowhere, we treated ourselves to fresh scones, coffee and coke before returning to the dusty road.

From here it was only 70 kilometers to the village of William Creek with its 17 inhabitants. The atmosphere in the legendary pub/ bar/ restaurant/ petrol station/ hotel was already excellent at 8 o’clock in the morning. The motivated, cheerful team was looking forward to a good winter season. Due to the heavy rainfall in Queensland, Lake Eyre promises to fill up with water, which only happens every ten years or so. This is when visitors flock to Williams Creek to take a scenic flight over the lake.

After a refreshing break, we continued our journey overland. Because it had rained exceptionally heavily in the region three weeks earlier, the landscape was surprisingly green, actually a huge pasture for the cattle on the gigantic farms. At 24’000 km2, Anna Creek Station is the largest farm in the world – more than half the size of Switzerland! Unfortunately, the rain also brought with it huge numbers of mosquitoes, which spoiled our camping experience. The otherwise magical twilight was only bearable outside when we wrapped ourselves in the smoke of mosquito coils and applied mosquito spray. For obvious reasons, we didn’t want to spend the night at the waterhole by the Algebuckina railroad bridge. Fortunately, the 4WD driver Alex had held out here and offered to fill up our water bottles from his canisters. He did us a huge favor, because pumping water out of the murky pond would have cost us several hours of work and many drops of sweat.

The next morning, we rolled into the village of Oodnadatta (population approx. 102). Before making ourselves comfortable in the Pink Roadhouse for the rest of the day, we visited the community store. A large sign in front of the entrance indicated that only locals were allowed to shop here. Tourists and visitors were directed to the roadhouse. We were about to turn back when the indigenous owners asked us what we were looking for. “Fruit and vegetables… but we’re obviously tourists”. “No worries, we’ll make an exception for you. Fruit and vegetables are free anyway. Take as much as you want, a new delivery is coming today”. I felt like I was in paradise when I took a bag of carrots and fresh broccoli out of the fridge. I would have loved to help myself even more generously, but there had to be room for everything in our bags. We bought another cold drink and thanked them very much. Then we made our way to the roadhouse. With coffee, electricity, a comfy sofa and later an aperitif, it was a great place to stay😊. Just as we were about to make our way to the free campsite at the end of the village (200 meters further on😉), a 20-car bash rally rolled up. You don’t see this much spectacle here every day, especially when people dress up as the Smurfs family, Super Mario & Luigi or Lara Croft.

We stayed for a while, chatted to the organizer and he insisted that we should join them for dinner… make-your-own burgers. As we never turn down invitations to dinner, we spent a convivial evening in the Pink Roadhouse and didn’t start fighting the mosquito plague until late.

We had planned three days riding for the 210 kilometers to Marla on the Stuart Highway. As there was no water on the way, we filled up all our water containers again. But no water also meant fewer midges… and that was well worth the extra 18 kilos each😊! The last section of the Oodnatatta Track is the least frequented, which is why we feared the road conditions would be worse. But the opposite was the case: with a strong tailwind, we rolled along the packed clay at 25 km/h without much effort. Only shortly before Marla did the surface become stonier and looser, but this did not prevent us from reaching the roadhouse in two days. Thanks to the best conditions, a great tailwind, pleasant temperatures and cloudless skies (rain would have turned the road into an impassable mud track!), we only needed seven days to complete the route from Marree to Marla instead of the planned ten. With chain maintenance every evening, the bikes also remained in perfect condition and we were able to enjoy the ride on the Oodnadatta Track thoroughly.

Nevertheless, we were happy and relieved when we turned onto the tarmac road to the roadhouse in Marla and allowed us a cool drink. Two weeks ago, we had sent a 17-kilogram food parcel, because it was still 500 kilometers from the roadhouse in Marla to the nearest supermarket in Yulara. We were overjoyed to receive it and distributed the contents onto our bikes.

From Marla, we followed the unspectacular Stuart Highway northwards. There was surprisingly little traffic on the road, so we were able to shield each other from the strong crosswinds. At Erldunda Roadhouse, we followed the flow of tourists and turned left towards Uluru. The annoyance about the most expensive coffee of Australia and the grim management quickly vanished as we were blown westwards by the tailwind. Two further daily stages followed with almost no variety. Only the Curtin Springs Roadhouse announced itself well in advance with “Free Camping, Homestyle Meals, Cold Drinks, Beer”. At first glance, the site looked well-kept and inviting. We were looking forward to the cold drink and I was hoping to buy some carrots and onions from the kitchen supplies. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be: When David asked if he could fill up half a liter of petrol for our stove, he was rebuffed by the cowboy behind the counter: “No, I don’t waste my time on that!”. David was so annoyed by the insulting tone that he left the roadhouse and left me to try and get something fresh. Without asking the price, I had them give me two apples from the display, made $6 and no, they needed vegetables for their restaurant guests. These were served in a stinkingly friendly manner and with an awful lot of humor. Grrrr… what a terribly attitude! Matching this was the fact that the ultra-nationalist Eureka flag flew above the entrance and Uluru was still consistently referred to as Ayers Rock. If any of our readers are heading to Uluru any time soon: Save yourselves Curtin Springs!

By the way, we still managed to get something fresh: one of the many “adventure tour buses” stopped in Curtin Springs and we watched cool boxes being transferred. I asked the driver without hesitation whether they had any fruit or vegetables left, and she was only too happy to give us the leftovers from the picnic. Because even out here, the untouched food would have ended up in the bin, what a waste!

We had to be a bit creative for our stay in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, as the park is closed at night and camping is so strictly forbidden that even we had to comply😉. Especially as we were the only cyclists in the park and couldn’t simply hide incognito in the bush. So after a long stop in the village of Yulara, we continued to Kata Tjuta Rocks, 60 kilometers away, to enjoy the sunset. We were a little jealous as we watched some tour groups in white blouses and shirts sipping their cocktails at the viewpoint. It was quite understandable that the patrolling ranger asked only us where we would stay overnight. However, he was very happy with the answer “outside the park” and wished us a safe onward journey. Before nightfall, we left the park in a westerly direction and pitched our tent five meters beyond the border😉.

The next day began with a short hike through Kata Tjuta, followed by a ride to the Uluru Information Center and the great disappointment of a closed café. In the evening, we watched the sunset at Uluru and then had to cycle another 20 kilometers out of the park to camp in the bush. It didn’t really matter whether it would have been legal to spend the night there, because we were already on the road again at 4:30 in the morning to cover the same 20 kilometers and to admire the sunrise. Uluru is very well marketed, but we still found it magical how the red colossus rises from the plain. After cycling around the rock, our tourist program was over and we returned to Yulara.

Leaning against the outside wall of the supermarket, we enjoy the amenities of the tourist town. We are only partly motivated to continue, as three days of headwinds and ten days until the next shopping opportunity are awaiting us.

This post was written on April 19, 2025 and published on May 3, 2025.