We are heading off from Coober Pedy today and travelling over to Coward Springs to camp tonight. We will go through William Creek again. The drive over is over featureless landscape basically all desert with some low sand dunes, a couple of clay pans and the occasional group of small trees along dry creek beds. For most part nothing was higher than about 40cm above ground. The road was good and we passed a few cars on the William Creek to Coober Pedy road and quite a few more on the Oodnadatta track. Unfortunately we sustained a broken read window with a stone deflection and have now taped it up for the rest of the trip. This will be a fix at home job as the part will be hard to come by – me thinks that this will be a insurance claim.
After a little searching we finally found Strangways Springs – it is totally not signposted off the Oodnadatta track and it is hard to understand why.
At Strangways there are Mound Springs and I had no idea what these were, but upon seeing them – it’s fairly obvious how they form. The water has such a high concentrate of limestone that the springs gradually build themselves up into mounds. Some are very high because the limestone in the water hardens and forces the water to continually climb higher and higher. At Arckaringa every tap around the camping area had lime deposits around them. We have found during the trip that we had to buy stuff to dissolve the lime scale in the kettle.
First thought is that the building on the left is a church – no - It is a buttress water tank. The birds were flying in, so it must contain remnant water from rain. Nice safe spot for them to drink from.
This is at the top of a “dry” spring mound. It is full of sand, but I would think by the plants that there is seepage not making it to the top.
This mound had water in it. It seems much lower than it has been in the past, it was running down the side.
The limestone overhang.
Very happy plants down from the overflow.
This is one of the highest mounds which they ask you don’t climb as it is fragile.
There was plenty of water in this mound and a little waterfall as well.
At the top of the mound.
Glen pointed out where the water was bubbling in, I got this photo and then it stopped ?? We didn’t see it bubble again.
A few things live in the water, we could see the slaters but didn’t see any fish.
We did both the walks. The cemetery was a little desolate. There were two marble headstones and a lot of basic rock outline graves. The headstone graves were from 1893 and 1895.
Camp Coward Springs and sunset tonight. Still hitched to the trailer, ready for pack up in the morning run down to Marree and starting on the Birdsville Track –
Above left – they are growing dates and have quite a few plants. Above right – our camper packed and ready to go.
Left – view from our camp across to the amenities.
Coward Springs was a cattle station lease but is now a conservation lease. The present owners bought the lease to preserve the area.
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