Our early morning view from the tent.

 

The next morning we said farewell to the waterhole and headed off to have a look at the bridge from the other bank.It really is a marvel of engineering being built to withstand a raging river in flood.

 The fruit of the saltbush, edible but very salty.

A lonely grave near the Mt Dutton ruins in the midst of a gibber plain.

 We also stopped to have a look at the bridge crossing the North Creek floodway. The creek is a gravel one which is a rarity in the area. On the right is what's left of the train track.

 Next stop was Oodnadatta and the iconic Pink Roadhouse.

 Run by Adam and Lynn Plate for many years, Adam passed away a few years ago. The town has its own Aboriginal community and it's not a bad idea to walk up to the Railway museum. Even in the outback one can find an example of "yarn bombing"

The community house.

This poem was written for aboriginal mothers and children who were forcibly separated from each other.

The Angle Pole memorial recognizes the great achievement made by the completion of the overland telegraph, a feat of hardship and determination in a harsh environment.

Soon after Oodnadatta we reached the turnoff to Dalhousie Springs at the edge of the Simpson desert.We were looking forward to a swim in the warm waters of the springs later that evening.

After crossing over Fogartys Claypan and carefully passing cows who wanted to cross the track, we reached the next turnoff to Dalhousie near the Hamilton river.

    the Pedirka Siding ruins and time to relax. :)

The next set of ruins that we stopped to explore were those of the  Dalhousie station.For more information on the station look up this site:
http://www.ausemade.com.au/sa/destination/w/witjira-np/dalhousie-ruins/dalhousie-homestead.htm

There a number of unknown graves at the station.

The yards were constructed from local wood by the Aboriginal stockmen.

Not far from the station ruins there was a lookout over the hot springs, a patch of green in a barren                                                                                         landscape.

                  Swimming in the hot spring was like being in a bath where the water never gets cold. Heaven.

Though a lovely place to camp, make sure the fly protection is used as the mossies are really bad here.