Beresford Siding another stone ruin. We camped here the night so I was able to get some shots in the late afternoon light.

There was a water softener tower here also.

As we slept here I was able to get a star trail shot. I will include some better shots of Beresford Siding in the photo gallery.

The car park for Strangway Springs is about 2 k off the main Oodnadatta Track.

A short walk up the hill from the car park you come to a set of ruins for what really was a small village. This is the managers residence and overland telegraph repeater station.

As these stone yards testify as well as being a telegraph station it was a grazing property complete with yards and a stone shearing shed.

This was all only possible because of the mound springs and the water they provided.

This mound spring is called the waterfall. While now its output is a mere trickle when the village was in its heyday it was reported that a man could stand under the water fall for a shower.

This is the most complete structure left on site. It was the water tank.

There is not much left here, but it is the last siding before we get to William Creek. The old car may or may not have anything to do with the operation of the siding.

The city of William Creek.

The pub and the sealed airstrip sit on one side of the Oodnadatta track and the campground is on the other and that is about it the extent of William Creek. There is a gravel cross air strip and to get to it you have to taxi the aircraft across the vehicular road - fortunately there is not much road traffic.

The wright air fleet on the tarmac ready for all we passengers and our scenic flights. Ours is a charter flight in a Cessna 172 with flaps in the rear windows to allow me to take photos through.

The painted hills.

Doing this flight did clear up some confusion on my part. These are the painted hills on Anna Creek Station and are different to the painted desert which is further north.

Yes you do need a permit to drive into lake Eyre. No we don't sell permits at the pub. After assuring the lady on the phone that no we would not be towing anything she sold us a vehicle pass and a camp permit.

We did not have a pleasant night. We were orginally parked 90 degrees to this but just on sunset a very strong wind picked up and then came the dust/sand followed by some spots of rain. What happens if the get a storm between here and William Creek.

After turning around so that we were not broadside on we stopped rocking so much but the wind kept up well into the night.

I did manage to carefully walk out far enough to come to the salt area of the lake and get some photos.