Back Roads on ABC TV – Back Roads continues the journey on the challenging Strzelecki Track, heading through the Strzelecki Desert to the tiny town of Innamincka in the top corner of South Australia.
Heather Ewart sets out to find what it takes to survive a job on this remote and historic track.
Triple road train driver ‘Knackers’ Stirling has seen it all. He’s been driving the track for 30 years, transporting food and supplies from Adelaide up to the gas fields and Innamincka. Rain can instantly strand any traffic on this largely dirt track. The longest ‘Knackers’ has been stuck waiting for the water to recede is nine days. And despite all the challenges, he’s still not a fan of the track becoming sealed!
Just off the track sits Cameron Corner, the junction where three states, SA, Qld and the NT meet. Heather catches up with Tina Thomas, manager of the Cameron Corner Store and one of only19 permanent residents in town. Heather hears tales about some of the fascinating quirks of across state living, including celebrating New Years Eve in three different time zones.
Travelling further north, Heather meets Nichelle Hodgson at the Innamincka Hotel and learns just how off-grid a remote pub can be. This one is powered by 774 solar panels and everything is recycled, from the bottles and cardboard boxes, to kitchen scraps feeding the pigs and chooks.
Historically this area is fascinating, with our greatest European explorers, Burke and Wills, passing through Innamincka in 1861. Heather goes to the spot on the Cooper River, where Robert O’Hara Burke spent his final tragic moments.
Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.
Back Roads – Monday 10 July, 2023 at 8pm on ABC and ABC iview (episode 10)
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