GOLDEN SHORT CUTS

A SHORTCUT CAN SAVE ON TIME AND FUEL, BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN ADD TO AN ADVENTURE AND TAKE LONGER THAN EXPECTED

- KEV SMITH

THE definition of a shortcut typically means a shorter route than what is usually taken, and that’s what I thought when we veered off our intended route on a recent off-road trip – little did I know what we were going to find along the way.

The original plan was to head across to the Flinders Ranges, from Broken Hill into South Australia and up to Wilpena Pound, to hike and revisit the area after recent rainfall. However, with an overnight stay at Yunta in South Australia, we found we could cut across the desolate plains towards the Flinders and maybe save some time – or so we thought.

Yunta, on the Barrier Highway between Broken Hill and Adelaide, has a population of less than 100 people and is now used as a stopover for fuel, but it was once a bustling railway town. Established in 1887, Yunta was an extremely busy place where more than 5000 miners passed through on their way towards new goldfields at Teetulpa and Waukaringa to the north, as well as being a busy railway town on the growing Adelaide to Broken Hill line. Around Yunta, there are still a few rail relics standing from this bygone era.

Yunta is also known as being a base for the well-known Harry Ding, who took on Arthur Kruse’s business in 1934 which included a general store and a post office. It was from here that the legendary Tom Kruse, at the ripe old age of 22, first started his iconic runs to Birdsville on January 1, 1936. For nearly 20 years, Tom and his aboriginal offsider, Henry Butler, worked tirelessly to get the mail truck to Birdsville and back, enduring a range of conditions and hardships. It wasn’t until 1957 that a road was graded for an Ampol car trial to Birdsville, which made life easier for Tom and the crew.