William Creek, South Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = William Creek
state = sa


caption =
pop = 6 (2001)
poprank =
density =
est =
area =
elevation = 521
mayor =
timezone =
utc = +9:30
timezone-dst =
utc-dst = +10:30
lga = Stuart
stategov =
fedgov = Division of Grey
dist1 = 852
location1 = Alice Springs
dist2 = 1000
location2 = Adelaide

William Creek (coord|28|54|S|136|20|E|region:AU-SA), 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 Areas Community Development Trust.

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 the world's most remote pub.Fact|date=June 2008 The world's largest cattle station is located in nearby Anna Creek stationcite web|url = http://www.oacdt.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1334/plan_william_creek.pdf| title = WILLIAM CREEK Community Plan|last = Collins Anderson Management|publisher = South Australian Government| date = 2001| accessdate = 2008-06-23| format = pdf (38 pages)] 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 you can 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 is 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. [cite web|url = http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/courts/coroner/findings/findings_2000/grossmueller.finding.htm|title = Finding of inquest into death of Gabriele Grossmueller|publisher = South Australian Coroner |date = 10 March 2000| accessdate = 2008-06-23]

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 [cite web | url=http://www.desertdiversity.com/mail.htm | title= Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run] .

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 it appears as a large, rather featureless, white saltpan. It is only from the air that its immensity can be appreciated. You see the curve of the Earth on the horizon and beneath you can identify the courses of the ancient rivers that still occasionally flow into the Lake. Trevor Wright takes up to 5 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 you can also see the Track, stretching to the horizon in two directions.

External links

* [http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/William_Creek-SA/ Memorial Park at William Creek]

References