William Creek, South Australia

William Creek South Australia
William Creek
Coordinates
Population	6 (2001 census)
Elevation	521 m (1,709 ft)
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	852 km (529 mi) from Alice Springs 1,000 km (621 mi) from Adelaide
LGA(s)	Outback Communities Authority
State electorate(s)	Stuart
Federal Division(s)	Division of Grey

The Pub inside

File:William Creek Public Solar Phone.jpg

Australias first public solar phone

William Creek, Australia is located halfway on the Oodnadatta Track, 210 kilometres north of Marree and 166 kilometres east of Coober Pedy in South Australia. The town has a population of 6. William Creek is in the federal Division of Grey and the state electorate of Stuart. It is outside of council areas, and administered by the Outback Communities Authority.

Location

William Creek is the entry point from Coober Pedy to Lake Eyre in the Tirari Desert. William Creek offers the only petrol station between Marree, Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track and has a campground, two motels and one of the world's most remote pubs. The world's largest cattle station is located in nearby Anna Creek Station and the Woomera Prohibited Area, former testing ground for atomic weapons, is also nearby.

William Creek is a good halfway stop along the track, with accommodation and meals at the Hotel as well as a well-maintained, if somewhat dusty campground. In the Memorial Park it is possible to see diverse items such as the first stage of the Black Arrow Rocket, Britain's only successful independent space launch that was recovered from the surrounding Anna Creek Station. More sobering is the commemorative inscription to a young Austrian woman, who lost her life in 1998 trying to walk back to William Creek from a 4WD vehicle bogged in the sand beside Lake Eyre.

William Creek is serviced twice weekly by the Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run. The 4WD mail truck also carries some general freight and passengers.

History

William Creek was named in November 1859 by explorer John McDouall Stuart during his expeditions in the area. William was the second son of John Chambers, a pioneer pastoralist of South Australia and a strong ally of Stuart.

The town was once on The Ghan railway line.

The town has always been small: never larger than a few cottages, a small school and a Hotel-store.

Near William Creek

Lake Eyre can be seen from several vantage points along the Oodnadatta Track and appears as a large, rather featureless, white saltpan. It is only from the air that its immensity can be appreciated. The curvature of the Earth can be seen on the horizon and beneath it is possible to identify the courses of the ancient rivers that still occasionally flow into the lake. Trevor Wright and the pilots from Wrightsair take up to five passengers for a 60-minute flight out of William Creek, passing over the spectacular Painted Hills to the west, then along the southern edge of the lake, pointing out the features beneath and explaining the topography. The Painted Hills are brilliantly coloured eroded sandstone ridges. These, and all of the country traversed in the one-hour flight, are part of Anna Creek Station. From the air the Track can be seen, stretching to the horizon in two directions.

The remains of Stage 1 of the R3 rocket, successfully launched from the Woomera Rocket Range in October 1971. The rocket engine was recovered from the immense Anna Creek Station and is now in the Memorial Park at William Creek

External links

• Memorial Park at William Creek
• A model of the William Creek Hotel in Google 3D Warehouse