Coward Springs

Coward Spring c'est le plus beau des bassins artésiens du désert de Tirari. Les aborigènes traversaient le désert de sources en sources et on pu préserver longtemps le sercret sur ces ressources en eau. Mais dès que l'homme blanc en a eu connaissance il a tout détruit en quelques années.
Nous y avons passé deux jours extraordinaires au milieu des émanations de souffre et d'eau. Cet endroit n'est pas sans nous rappeller quelques vieux souvenirs d'Islande.

The Oodnadatta Track ( [show location on an interactive map] 28°54′S, 136°21′E), Australia is an unsealed 406 kilometre track between Marree and Marla via Oodnadatta crossing the Tirari Desert in South Australia. It passes the southern lake of the Lake Eyre National Park.

The track is a traditional aboriginal trading route. Along the route are a series of springs feeding water from the Great Artesian Basin - the best remaining example is the mound springs found near Coward Springs. Later, because of the availability of water, the route was chosen for the Central Australian Railway, the original route of The Ghan. Remnants of the many railway sidings and telegraph repeater stations are still along the track - one of the best preserved is the Coward Springs Campground - complete with natural artesian spa. Today, the Oodnadatta Track roughly follows the former railway line, and is passable to most vehicles but a 4-wheel-drive is preferable.