Oodnadatta Track Archives - Peter MacDonald Photo

Maree

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On April 8, 2014
0 Comments

I have been through Maree many times on my way to somewhere. It was the same a couple of weeks ago when I passed through Marree to do a feature for the upcoming R M Wiliams “Best of Outback Stations” magazine. Maree is the beginning ( or the end ) of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville […]

Aerial Ops 3

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On May 23, 2013
3 Comments

This picture best illustrates for me the vastness of Anna Creek Station. The KIdman station is the largest in the world. The statistics say it is 6 million acres or 24,000 square kilometres and as big or bigger than some countries, but that is hard to imagine. This scene, with the Margaret Range in the […]

Aerial Ops 2

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On May 21, 2013
0 Comments

Anna Creek station’s Cessna 172 in action spotting cattle for the ringers on motorbikes below. Without the flying experience of my friend Trevor Wright from William Creek, shots like this would be impossible to achieve.

Aerial Ops 1

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On May 19, 2013
0 Comments

Working cattle from the air is an essential part of cattle production these days. On a vast property like Anna Creek Station in South Australia’s far north, using an aircraft to spot cattle spread out over big distances saves time, money and the efforts of the stockmen on the ground.

A Splash of Rain

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On March 25, 2013
0 Comments
Anna Creek Station

It is a fallacy the Australian Outback is a vast, flat featureless plain. Granted, at times the gems may seem far apart but in reality it is an ever-changing landscape of colour…almost chameleon like. Take for instance the Margaret Range, about 70 kilometres south of Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track not long after a brief […]

The Peake Telegraph Station

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On August 13, 2012
2 Comments

140 years ago this building must have seemed like an outstation on the moon. Even today it takes a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get the last few kilometres to it. Back then the trip would have been of astronomical proportions. This is the Peake Telegraph station, constructed as part of a commutations network that crossed […]

Crossroads

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On May 16, 2012
0 Comments

These photos need no explanation……same part of the world…different journeys.

Afterglow

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On April 18, 2012
0 Comments

With the smokey grey sky and the leafless bushes, it would not be hard to imagine this was the aftermath of a bush fire. It’s just scrub country up the Oodnadatta Track after sunset. I’m not sure where…some distance north of William Creek I think. It was just something that caught my eye because it […]

On the Road

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On April 9, 2012
1 Comments

The question is…what’s over the hill? It all depends on which way you are travelling, but what ever is ahead, it will be a welcome sight. If you can take your eyes of the road, there’s a vast ocean of green out there and it goes on for kilometre after kilometre. Travelling down the Oodnadatta […]

A Hasty Retreat

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On April 3, 2012
0 Comments

Having used a shot of a dingo only a short time ago I would have been a bit reluctant to use another one so soon, but I came across this one this morning while coming down the Oodnadatta Track. He was quite fearless and had no qualms about marching right up to me as you […]

Action A Plenty

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On June 19, 2011
1 Comments

Bronco Branding. The action is fast and furious once a young beast has been roped. This plan is to bring it to a thick steel frame, universal around cattle stations in Australia, at the same time putting a noose around one of its front and back legs. The plan doesn’t always work and that’s when […]

Ride’m Cowboy

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On June 16, 2011
0 Comments

Non-stop action all day for 10 bucks. You just can’t beat that The Australian bronco branding championships held at Marree over the holiday weekend were an absolute hoot. You have no idea how strong these competitors have to be and the team work that’s needed to compete, until you see them in action. There’s plenty […]

Land Art

Posted by Peter MacDonald
On June 9, 2011
1 Comments
Great Victoria Desert

It has been suggested that this is an artists impression of a South Australian Leafy Sea Dragon. Having never seen one I can’t vouch for that. It’s the surface of the Great Victoria Desert somewhere south of William Creek on the Oodnadatta Track taken from 2,500 feet (760 metres) up. I can only admire the […]

Outback Art

Posted by webmaster
On May 16, 2011
2 Comments

Here’s a little artwork that could do well on the international circuit…probably fetch a fortune. I guess you would describe it as paint and rust on metal but I’m not sure what the subject is.

Hard Times, Good Times

Posted by webmaster
On March 23, 2011
1 Comments

It’s still a recent memory….long years of drought. People on the land and their cattle just hanging in there. Lush pastures, fat cattle…..what a difference a drop or two of rain makes in AustraLia’s cattle country.

A Palette of Ochre II

Posted by webmaster
On November 12, 2010
0 Comments

The rich coloured ochre from the Lyndhurst Cliffs were used and traded by the local tribes for many thousands of year so the area is of great importance to the aboriginal culture. The ochre deposits are much larger than covered in these two photographs. Obviously, to keep the area preserved, it’s not possible to have […]

A Palette of Ochre

Posted by webmaster
On November 10, 2010
0 Comments

The beautiful white, red, brown and yellow ochre from these colourful cliffs was once a great trading resource for the aboriginal tribes of the region. The spectacular Ochre Cliffs, just north of the tiny South Australian Outback settlement of Lyndhurst on the Oodnadatta Track, were once considered to be of the finest quality for use […]

Centre of the Universe

Posted by webmaster
On October 14, 2010
0 Comments

William Creek, closest piece of civilisation to Lake Eyre and despite its isolation has been about the busiest airport in South Australia these last few months. The main strip can easily be seen running left to right in the picture. The racecourse in is the foreground and the Oodnadatta Track runs right through the town. […]

On the Road

Posted by webmaster
On September 15, 2010
0 Comments

I met these blokes about a day’s ride north of Maree, the jumping off town for the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks. They were heading for Darwin….a long way to go. The night before, wild dogs or dingoes around their camp had made them a little edgy. The dog were something they were going to have […]

Eating humble Dust

Posted by webmaster
On September 9, 2010
0 Comments

Believe it or not, this is a horse race meeting…but here’s a case of too much horsespower providing some trackside action between the main events.

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