December 27 – 28 Strzelecki Track and Innamincka
And there we were living another ‘list’ thing - heading along the Strzelecki Track bound for Innamincka on the Cooper Creek. There are so many amazing stories about the mighty Cooper, the romantic ‘Clancy’ Banjo Paterson poem, the Burke and Wills expedition perhaps the most poignant - so I was pretty excited. The Strzelecki Track is a 470 odd km unsealed road that links the town of Lyndhurst to Innamincka in the northeast of South Australia. Today the track is used mainly by large trucks that carry supplies for the small population of inland stations or transport cattle down to the south but it also services the large oil and gas plants that spill out across the region. Contrary to what you might think at first glance, it is a rich land. The Track is sometimes impassable due to flooding and we came in on the tail end of one such event.
Over 100 years ago, it was Captain Starlight (of ‘Robbery under Arms’ fame) who gave the Track notoriety. In 1870 Henry Arthur Readford, better known as Harry Redford, or ‘Starlight’, drove a 1000 head of stolen cattle from Queensland, down the Barcoo River and Cooper Creek past Mount Hopeless, to Blanchewater where he sold them for $10,000. When he was finally apprehended in 1872, the now folk-hero and his two accomplices were found not guilty by a jury that was so astounded by his accomplishment that they couldn’t convict him for the crime. Be bold and fearless!
The road was a bit cut up in places but once we got passed those sections and the road water, it was not an arduous drive through to Innamincka. The town which lies within the Innamincka Regional Reserve, is perched on a high plain, almost alpine-like, surrounded by the Strzelecki Desert to the south and the Sturt Stony Desert to the north. A rather inhospitable place one might think but Cooper Creek was part of a major Aboriginal trade route, and the name Innamincka is believed to have derived from Aboriginal legend. Some say it means ‘dark hole’, others say it means ‘meeting place’. Incongruous perhaps but it is certainly a place of extremes. The Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarrka people lived in this region for 10s of thousands of years, taking advantage of the prolific birdlife and seasonal wildlife and bush tucker. Both groups retain a strong interest and presence in the area. It was part of an important trading route for Aboriginal people that crossed Australia north to south. In the north people travelled to the ‘Simpson desert’ to collect and make pituri (a narcotic) from a desert shrub and ash; it was highly valued and traded the length of Central Australia. From the south from just a few places in the ‘Flinders Ranges’ came rich red ochre (we talked to Aboriginal people in that region back in 2009 who told us about this precious trade commodity). From Innamincka came flat slabs of sandstone that were used for grinding seeds. These stones were highly valued and were traded across the country; we found some in the western Simpson desert on our trek in April. Below is the image of a woven string bag made over 100 years ago from vegetable fibre to carry pituri from the desert areas.
The astonishing and extensive Coongie Lakes and associated wetlands just north of Innamincka are a spiritual site for Aboriginal people and were crucial to those populations because of the availability of resources, particularly following flood events. There are many mammal, reptile, frog, bird and fish species living in the Cooper system including the lakes. In this region alone 16 species of fish have been found 13 of which are native species. One of the non-native species is goldfish which were released into the lakes by recreational fishmen to serve as bait - no comment! the other are the Murray cod which are believed to have come from a farm dam during a flood.
It’s a land of challenge and delight. Captain Charles Sturt discovered the Cooper Creek in 1843 in his attempt to reach the centre of Australia. What followed was pastoral occupation as was the fashion of the European settlement of Australia. And some few decades later the area was named the ‘Land of Promise’. Tragically in little more than a decade after pastoral runs had been established the traditional Aboriginal way of life had been destroyed.
An inland mission hospital cum Nursing Home and Flying Doctor Base was established in 1929 and that served the far north east and parts of the Queensland channel country as well as the local indigenous population for many years, but eventually all facilities closed and the town was abandoned in 1952. It wasn’t until the discovery of gas and oil by Santos in the 1960s and a sharp increase in 4WD adventurers trying their luck on the Strzelecki Track that prompted the revival of the town. The hospital has been restored and refurbished now as a headquarters and information centre for the National Parks and Wildlife Service and museum.
Sadly for us because of recent heavy rains the road to the Lakes was impassable. It was a great disappointment but we could return! On the positive side that and others rains meant that the mighty Copper Creek was flowing. Absolutely magnificent. And there we camped alongside the ‘Creek’ in Innamincka. We were surrounded by a deafening silence punctuated by birds serenading us - it was idyllic. Along the river bank we were a little mesmerised by small turtles feeding – we both tried to capture pix of them. So many stories about this area and also about the Cooper as it meanders its way towards Lake Eyre. And as I gazed about I was humming in my head …..
“Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.
In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving "down the Cooper" where the western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.
And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.”