
Location of Oodnadatta in South Australia (red)
'Oodnadatta',
South Australia () is located in the heart of the desert 112 m above sea level, 1,011 km north of
Adelaide. It can be reached by a track from
Coober Pedy or via the
Oodnadatta Track from
Marree to
Marla. The name is derived from
Arrernte 'utnadata', meaning ''"
mulga blossom"''.
John McDouall Stuart explored the region in
1859. The route mapped by Stuart in his journeys of
1857 to
1862 was adopted as part of the Overland Telegraph Line route. Oodnadatta became the end of the railway line from the south in
1890, until the railway was extended to
Alice Springs completed in
1928. Since the closure of
The Ghan railway line in
1981 (it moved to a new alignment further west), Oodnadatta has become a quiet settlement inhabited mainly by the local
Indigenous Australians.
The population was 229 in 1976 and 160 in 1986.
Oodnadatta has also recorded the highest reliably measured maximum temperature in Australia of 50.7°C (123.3 F) on
2 January,
1960. A higher temperature was recorded at
Cloncurry in 1889, however this has since been shown to have been recorded in a non-standard enclosure and likely to have been considerably cooler than first believed.
External links
★
Tracking History to Oodnadatta by Roderick Eime
★
Pink Roadhouse Iconic landmark of Oodnadatta
★
Pacific Island Travel
★
Oodnadatta Track by Bicycle (2005)
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