We had been keen to see the eco-resort Arkaroola ever since we each read about Reg Sprigg. The visit included an amazing 4WD Ridgetop Tour, see below.
Reg Sprigg: The Outback's Original Rock Star.
Reg Sprigg was a legendary geologist from South Australia who embodied the defining forces of our times: oil, uranium, geology, and conservation. Widely regarded as the greatest geologist of his generation, he reshaped Australia's scientific and outback landscapes. He set up the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, where we will stay, and made the world-altering discovery of the ancient Ediacaran fossils.
By His 30s: World-Firsts and Cold War Drama
By the age of 30, Reg had discovered the oldest complex animal fossils in the world in the Ediacara Hills. He also mapped Sprigg Canyon off the coast of Kangaroo Island—an undersea canyon roughly the size of America's Grand Canyon.
His early career took a dramatic turn while working at Australia’s first uranium mines. During the height of the Cold War, his radical, anti-authoritarian streak caught the attention of ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation). Suspected of being a security risk, he was blacklisted from government element research. This political exile forced him into the private sector, which sparked his next massive breakthrough.
By His 40s: Energy Tycoon and Scuba Pioneer
By the time he was 40, Reg had co-founded SANTOS and discovered the massive Cooper Basin oil and gas fields—Australia's largest onshore petroleum province. Driven by an insatiable curiosity, he established the largest private geological consulting firm in the nation, built his own boat and diving bell, and mastered the primitive, dangerous art of early scuba diving to map the ocean floor.
By His 50s: Crossing Deserts and Founding Arkaroola
In 1962, Reg made history by driving the first motorized vehicle across the brutal dunes of the Simpson Desert. He didn't do it alone; he was accompanied by his equally adventurous wife, Griselda Sprigg, and their two young children, Doug and Margie. The family of four squeezed onto the single bench seat of a short-wheelbase G60 Nissan Patrol, navigating the trackless desert using a sextant and stitched-together aerial photos. Griselda managed the immense logistics of this and many other grueling expeditions, later chronicling their wild outback life in her book, Dune is a Four-Letter Word.
By 50, Reg expanded his ventures by launching Beach Petroleum and purchasing a rugged pastoral lease to establish Arkaroola Wildlife Sanctuary—one of Australia's very first eco-tourism resorts.
A Lasting Legacy
Reg devoted the rest of his life to balancing the unlikely bedfellows of mining and conservation. Kristin Weidenbach's biography title, Rock Star, fits him perfectly: he was a literal geologist who lived with the rule-breaking, boundary-pushing energy of a celebrity.
Rock Star: The story of Reg Sprigg — an outback legend
'The Ediacaran Man' Trailer
'The Ediacaran Man' is the story of one of Australia's unsung scientific heroes.
Geologist Reg Sprigg discovered that period in time about 500 million years ago when single cell life went multi-cellular, and he did it in a remote and arid region of South Australia.
For years he fought against great odds to prove his work to be correct.
This documentary is the story of Sprigg's life and his amazing discoveries.
It is based on the book 'Rock Star: The story of Reg Sprigg - an outback legend' by Kristin Weidenbach.
We drove from Coober Pedy to William Creek and flew to Birdsville across Lake Eyre. There had been some concern that recent rain might have left the Oodnadatta Track impassable, but APT head office gave us the goahead, and apart from a few deep puddles we made it fine.
4WDs in William Creek
William Creek pub
Several small planes needed to fly 22 people acoss Lake Eyre
Another chance to act as co-pilot, in a Cessna 210
Pelican Island on Lake Eyre
Coopers Creek flowing into the north of Lake Eyre
Warburton River
Four young pilots to fly us from Birdsville back to William Creek, over the Channel Country and then Lake Eyre. We were very fortunate that the Lake was relatively full, and the country was very green. Such things occur rarely. See the ABC video below, shot on 26 Jun 2026.
The drive along the Oodnadatta Track did not exactly go to plan. We got bogged in a deep spot. Barefoot passengers failed to push the coach out, and we were rescued after about three hours by an SES/Fire-truck.
