Sunday, September 16, 2007

Marree clinic



Not specifically related to my aviation activities, but here's an interesting truck I see when I go Marree for the clinics. Marree is NNW of Port Augusta on the "Oodnadatta Track" - an old, disused narrow-gauge railway track. The trains haven't run through Marree for many years so it is a bit of a ghost town now, but there is still a human presence. I think the population is less than 100 now, and the RFDS has a clinic there with a full-time nurse living there to take care of immediate problems and help organise the regular clinics. There are a few interesting sights there, including three old narrow-gauge diesel locomotives that were obviously considered surplus to requirements and abandoned in the town. By now they've been well and truly vandalized of course, but they serve as a reminder of the once busy railway and thriving community. This is as close to a ghost town that I've seen in Australia.

Also note, the truck is "parked" right next to the fuel pump - I wonder which one of these machines "died" first?