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SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
Fix this textMR WINNECKE’S EXPLORATIONS DURING 1883.
Fix this textOrdered by the House of Assembly to be printed, August 19 th, 1884.
Fix this textA
Fix this text[Estimated cost of printing (650), £l7 7s. Od. Lithographing (1 plan), £37 15s. od.]
Fix this textDIARY of NORTHERN EXPLORATION PARTY under the LEADERSHIP of
Fix this textMR. CHAS. WINNECKE.
Fix this textAfter various delays at Adelaide, Beltana, and Farina, the party left the latter place on the 30th of July,
Fix this text1883. The camels caused some trouble at starting, this being the first time they were fully loaded; each
Fix this text■camel carried about eight hundred weight, including saddles, &c. We only made a short stage of fifteen
Fix this textmiles, camping at sundown near Mundowadon Station.
Fix this textTuesday, July 31st. Started after the camels at 5 a.m. and left camp at 8 a.m.; travelled all day.
Fix this textCamped five miles north of Mundowadon Station.
Fix this textWednesday, August Ist. —Started at 8 - 30, and camped at Nantowarpunna Waterhole. Two of our camels
Fix this texthave sore backs.
Fix this textThursday, 2nd.—Started at 6 - 30 a.m.; travelled all day at a very slow pace. Camped at twenty-one
Fix this textmiles, near Wyeculcuna Waterhole.
Fix this textFriday, 3rd. —Started at 8 a.m.; travelled all day. Camped at sundown at Dulkaninna Waterhole;
Fix this texttwenty-one miles.
Fix this textSaturday, 4th.—An early start was made this morning from Dulkaninna. We travelled as before over
Fix this textstony plains, the only vegetation being a few low bushes of samphire, blue and salt bush. At twelve miles we
Fix this textarrived at Blanes Well, the native name of which is Ledracoordaninna. The well is situated amongst some
Fix this textlow bare sandhills, and near a polygonum and boxwood flat, which is subject to inundation. The well is
Fix this text95ft. deep, and contains a good supply of water, which rises 9ft. in the well. It is surrounded by a wall; a
Fix this textwhim as well as a windlass'have been erected over it; the latter, however, only is in use. Men are now
Fix this textengaged in putting up 100 ft. of double-width iron troughing. The water tastes strongly of soda.
Fix this textSunday, sth.
Fix this textMonday, 6th. —We got a reasonably early start; one camel was most spiteful, and for a long time he
Fix this textdefied our united efforts to load him. The sandhills only extend about half a mile around about the well,
Fix this textand we soon got on to the usual stony plains, which now undergo a slight change—small hillocks of hard
Fix this textcompressed sandstone and flint, some of which plainly show the action of fire, are scattered about in all direc-
Fix this texttions. At six miles we passed a small round hill composed of huge boulders of compressed sandstone.
Fix this textAt nine miles we crossed the Isa Creek. The stony plains now assume a bolder appearance, and resemble
Fix this textminiature tablelands with many rough and abrupt slopes. At eighteen miles we crossed a tributary or back-
Fix this textwater of Cooper’s Creek, and arrived at Etadunna, an outstation of the Moravian missionaries; the place ap-
Fix this textpeared deserted. After a time, three very old and feeble blackfellows made their appearance from amongst
Fix this textthe sandhills. They informed us that the missionaries had all removed to Killalpaninna. After filling our
Fix this textwater kegs, we continued our journey. The road now runs parallel to and on the eastern side of a heavily-
Fix this texttimbered swamp or creek; the stony undulations recede from the creek for several miles, only approaching
Fix this textagain at one point. The track passed over a level earthy plain, which shows many deep cracks and other
Fix this textsigns of heavy inundations. At sunset we camped on a polygonum flat, several miles south of Kopperamanna,
Fix this texthaving travelled twenty-six miles.
Fix this textTuesday, 7th.—We made rather a late start this morning, leaving the polygonum flat about 8 o’clock ;
Fix this textthe delay was caused by the camels who had strayed away during the night. The road still continues along
Fix this textthe creek and over an earthy flooded plain. At about two miles a large sandridge approaches the creek.
Fix this textThe track now leaves the plain and enters the creek, which is about three and a half miles wide, and thickly
Fix this texttimbered with stunted box timber. At two and a half miles the road crosses a well-defined sandy channel.
Fix this textAt three and a half miles we arrived at Kopperamanna Station, which is now abandoned, and presents a very
Fix this textdilapidated appearance. It is composed of a few low mud huts and several brush sheepyards, and is situated
Fix this textin the middle of Cooper’s Creek, close to the station. Kopperamanna Lake extends to the north-west and
Fix this textnorth. The track, which has hitherto been running about north, now takes a sharp turn to the east at half a
Fix this textmile. It crosses another sandy channel of Cooper’s Creek which leads direct into Kopperamanna Lake. Three
Fix this textwells have been sunk in the bed of the creek near the crossing, and several more are visible about half a mile
Fix this textfurther down the creek; they are all about eight feet deep, and do not hold much water, which is slightly
Fix this textimpregnated with soda. The track again turns in a northerly direction at one and a half miles across a
Fix this textheavily-flooded sandy flat, overgrown with box and polygonum bushes. We entered the cane-grass sandhills
Fix this textor ridges, which are devoid of timber and run in well defined and parallel ridges almost due north and south,
Fix this textwith polygonum flats in between, which are inundated by the overflow of Cooper’s Creek. At two and a
Fix this texthalf miles we got clear of all the floodmarks and properly into the sandhills (which are composed of a fine loose
Fix this textwhite drift sand). Cane grass becomes abundant. A few low bushes of acacia and saltbush grew in the
Fix this textvalleys between the sandridges. At six miles from the wells we crossed a small polygonum flat or shallow
Fix this textwaterhole. The natives have dug two or three wells here, which are now dry. The flat is surrounded with
Fix this textbox trees, the only timber within many miles. At eleven miles from the wells, the sandridges, although still
Fix this textmaintaining
Fix this textA—No. 39.
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
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Winnecke, C. (1884). Mr. Winnecke's explorations during 1883 : diary of Northern Exploration Party under the leadership of Mr. Chas. Winnecke Retrieved February 23, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52802100
Winnecke, C. Mr. Winnecke's explorations during 1883 : diary of Northern Exploration Party under the leadership of Mr. Chas. Winnecke Adelaide: Govt. Printer, 1884. Web. 23 February 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52802100>
Winnecke, C. 1884, Mr. Winnecke's explorations during 1883 : diary of Northern Exploration Party under the leadership of Mr. Chas. Winnecke Govt. Printer, Adelaide viewed 23 February 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52802100
{{Citation
| author1=Winnecke, C.
| title=Mr. Winnecke's explorations during 1883 : diary of Northern Exploration Party under the leadership of Mr. Chas. Winnecke.
| year=1884
| section=16 p., 1 folded leaf of plates : map ; 34 cm.
| location=Adelaide
| publisher=Govt. Printer
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52802100
| id=nla.obj-52802100
| access-date=23 February 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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