Oodnadatta pink roadhouse safe haven for travellers despite mobile black spot problems

Updated

For many drivers in the outback, where there are few options to rest, it is more than just an average roadhouse.

With no mobile phone reception between towns on the Oodnadatta Track, and limited signal even when in nearby towns, the town's Pink Roadhouse provides a stopping point and an oasis for locals and tourists.

Adriana Jacob and her husband own the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta, more than a thousand kilometres north-west of Adelaide in Central Australia, an icon in the desert for more than 35 years.

Ms Jacob said the familiarity for drivers when they see the bright colour of the exterior provides relief with travel tips, fuel, weather reports, road conditions, local knowledge and, importantly, a location for mobile phone reception.

"Pink is a great colour, it's a warming colour. You don't miss it and people do look for it," Ms Jacob said.

Every day she gets asked very similar questions from travellers across the country — what roads to use.

"What's the roads like? What can you tell me? And you know, we're always here ready to listen and help and give the advice that we want to give," she said.

Black spots lead to expecting the unexpected

In Oodnadatta, population of about 200, basic services that Australians may find in cities are found in the comfort of the roadhouse, provided by truck deliveries to the town once a fortnight.

Mobile phone black spots between towns create a reliance on the roadhouse which, along with other towns, are the point of call for emergencies including the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

As self-built towers are becoming more common in remote parts of Australia the case for an increased signal creates a major issue for outback communities.

"Honestly those who don't miss their mobiles say 'Who needs the mobile? Who needs anything other than the beautiful stars, the red dust?'" Ms Jacobs said.

Map: Mobile phone black spots are improving certain parts of Australia, however some areas remain isolated.

But like most emergencies, relying on your own means can lead to unknown events with road conditions changing throughout wet and dry seasons.

"You don't expect it … and you know these roads can be treacherous if you're not careful," she said.

Despite the Federal Government rolling out the second round of the $213 million Mobile Black Spot Program, several towns along the Oodnadatta Track remain without a clear signal.

Instead, travellers rely on handmade road signs to navigate to the roadhouse, created by former owners Adam Plate and his wife Lynnie who lived in Oodnadatta for 40 years.

"That's what encouraged people to be safe when you come out here. You know to do the tyre pressure, to stick to the conditions, you've got this far to go, they had the toll-free number which we've continued so people can ring and ask questions," Ms Jacobs said.

Turning a location into a landmark

Ms Plate turned the roadhouse into an outback landmark in 1983 by coming up with the idea of painting it pink.

In doing so, the colour scheme led to Mr Plate spending years committed to trying to make the Oodnadatta track safe for travellers.

The original 'mud map' guide was created by Mr Plate, something that Ms Jacobs still refers to and gives to travellers, continuing the legacy.

Upon visiting the Oodnadatta community for the first time since handing over the roadhouse to Ms Jacobs five years ago, Ms Plate acknowledged the memorial wall in her late husband's honour which still stands next to the Pink Roadhouse.

The wall is filled with hand painted signs that are still dotted along the track from Coober Pedy, almost 200 kilometres south-west of the town.

"Adam would've calculated what signs were going where so they'd be white and pink and black … both sides blank," Ms Plate recalled.

"When we'd set off. If I didn't zero the odometer I was in the s**t — I was the one recording the mileage."

Ms Plate said the thing she missed most about leaving Oodnadatta for a bigger city was the sense of community.

"I knew every single person here in the roadhouse. I had something to do with every single person every day … it's the most beautiful community," she said.

That reliance on each other and sense of attachment has made it hard for locals to leave the land they call home, especially for Ms Jacobs.

"It's the remoteness, it's the quietness, it's the people — I just love it," she said.

"When it gets in your blood it doesn't ever leave you."

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#BackRoads Heather Ewart returns to the Back Roads of Australia, to discover more resilient country towns and the inspiring people who live in them. She meets communities whose good humour and inventiveness will inspire and uplift.

Topics: mobile-phones, information-and-communication, community-and-society, community-organisations, community-development, rural, regional, deserts, rural-tourism, disasters-and-accidents, road, oodnadatta-5734, sa

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