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Day 29 - 22nd May 2010
Not much to tell about the drive home although Marg and Rob were entertained by two truckies on their UHF radios discussing a range of things, most of which I wouldn't put on this blog! The best bit was when they had to follow the heavy vehicle route through town and ended up behind me for the second time. They were NOT happy and used a not so nice word to describe the 'sheila in the Toyota, going 90klms an hour'. Lots of 'fs' in there. Very funny.
Over the mountains and into Sydney to a very wet Saturday night. Would like to say it was good to be home. Hmmmmmmmmm!

Menindee Lakes To The Parting

Day 28 - 21st May 2010

Woke to a lovely sunrise and the lake looking as stunning as when the sun set. Beautiful reflections and colours. A cool morning and Rob got a great fire going for the last campfire breakfast. Nothing better than toast over the coals and tea from the boiled billy. We are going to miss our relaxed lifestyle. The last breaking of camp and on the road toward Wilcannia. It was a dirt road with a few sections of bulldust. Just what the cars wanted - dry dust as opposed to mud! We followed the Darling River on its southern side to the highway - bitumen - (what's that?),  that then took us to Cobar. Lunched in a rest area along the way and arrived Cobar to be stopped by the breathaliser. Lucky for Jan and John, the policeman who pulled them over was a bush mechanic and helped them change a petrol filter on the side of the road. He was a real character and entertained us while he did most of the work! Afternoon tea in Cobar and then to Nyngan for the night. Had the luxury of a Motel room.

Broken Hill To Menindee Lakes

Day 27 – 20^th May 2010

J&J spent most of the night on the ground but survived it ok. We packed up and did a little bit of tourist stuff in Broken Hill. Managed to find Country Target and Marg got a jacket for the cold nights! Ha only 2 left. Ooo that’s sad. Headed out to Menindee Lakes which are south east of Broken Hill and very rarely have any water in them. But right now they are full and the Darling River is flowing and it is just beautiful. We lunched by the Darling and collected firewood and went looking for a campsight for the night. Found a nice one on the banks of Pamamaroo Lake. A lovely relaxed afternoon reading and setting up camp and making damper. The sunset was spectacular, possibly the best yet and possibly the most photos taken so far. Boy, the culling process will be time consuming , but fun. Rob has a great fire going, probably the last of the trip. Steak and sausages for dinner and of course – damper. Fingers crossed! This is the perfect spot for our last camp. Hoping it gets cold enough for Marg’s new jacket.

Dingly Dell To Broken Hill

Day 26 – 19^th May 2010

Not the best night for J & J as their air bed decided to spring a leak! Up early and a very cool morning. No, make that ‘cold’. The last of our Ghan firewood to toast over and on the road. Said goodbye to Dingly Dell and drove down through the Flinders, past Wilpena and out onto the main road. They are the most stunning mountains. Headed south and then east through Hawker, Orroroo and Petersborough. Beautiful clouds in the sky this morn so lots of piccies again. Morning tea at a café in Orroroo, nice cakes but shit coffee says John. Back on bitumen so an easy drive. Everywhere we stopped, Rob left a little of the Outback, scraping some of the tonne of mud off the car. It is still looking orange. Staying in a caravan park in Broken Hill and had the BEST shower of the trip. J & J still having trouble with a leaking airbed, so should be a fun night for them. It is very close quarters here but we have fun neighbours from Victoria.

Alberrie Creek To Dingly Dell

Day 25 - 18th May 2010

Our tents were extremely wet this morning but we had to pack them up wet as we wanted an early start.  Hit the track and headed south, south east towards Marree then into the Flinders Ranges hoping to see water in some of the creeks and rivers. We passed through Farina, Lyndhurst, Copley, Leigh Creek and Parachilna but all the rivers were dry. Took the scenic route through Glass Gorge towards Blinman  (a pretty little town) and found a camping site – Dingly Dell which we called home for the night.  Sat around soaking up the cold air until Rob lit the fire and we thawed out a little before eating our meal. I think it will be an early night tonight as the wood isn’t going to last long. Had a visit from a contract shooter who was out culling feral animals. We were a little concerned when we saw the lights and heard the shots, but he reassured us he wouldn’t shoot us! Reports of frost in the morning are not a welcoming thought, but the stars are out and a glorious night sky.

William Creek - Lake Eyre - Alberrie Creek

Day 24-17^th May 2010

Our tents were covered in dew this morning it was a very cold night. No need to get an early start as we had an 11 0’clock flight over Lake Eyre. After weighing in and paying we boarded a Cessna for a 1 hour flight over North Lake Eyre. We headed toward Halligan Bay and ABC Bay. The view of the lake was magnificient. The colour of the water varied from light brown to a deeper brown to pink. At times you could see the bottom as it was very shallow in places, the deepest part of the lake is about 2metres. We saw a few small flocks of pelicans, cormorants and gulls. At the moment the Lake is 60 % full and more water is slowly making its way down from Cooper Creek and other rivers further north. We flew over a small part of  Anna Creek station ( an immense property owned by the Kidmans , it is about the size of Ireland) before landing back at William Creek. 

We had some delicious pies (emu, lamb and mint) back at the William Creek pub before continuing on our Oodnadatta Track journey. Our aim was to get to Farina for the night but the road was slow going in places and a few stops along the way to see some ruins and South Lake Eyre (where there was water) slowed us down and we pulled in at a rest stop about 60 km outside of Marree. for the night. Another great fire and a delicious meal of korma chicken balls and rice ended another fantastic day.

Painted Desert To Oodnadatta To William Creek

Day 23 -16^th May 2010.

Sunshine, blue sky and a great sunrise. The cat was very unpopular as it bounced around all night ringing the bloody bell on its collar. Water dripped near John all night and the tarps flapped in the wind. He didn’t sleep well! Packed up and drove back to the Painted Desert and walked up the top of some of the mesas and buttes. It is an extraordinary place. Beautiful colours and formations of unusual rock, pyreritic sediments – opal, coal and jasper. Lots more pics.

The road back into Oodnadatta got a bit slippery close to town and we arrived to find a huge gathering at The Pink Roadhouse. We soon found out the reason for all the people - that they had closed the road to Williams Creek! We opted for an Oodnadatta Burger with the lot and a chat with some locals on road conditions and what to do in the case of road closures. The consensus was that they were going home anyway! So we followed some and headed off south. Didn’t take long to figure out why they closed the road. There were some really slippery, muddy, boggy spots and lots of creek crossings to navigate. It was 4X4 all the way. The biggest crossing was about 750mm deep and about 150 metres wide. Very exciting

Made it to William Creek about 5pm and set up camp and had cold showers and off to the pub for a gourmet meal (really). Lots of people in the pub and loads of atmosphere. Met some interesting people including the owners of the pub. Minn was the chef and Brian was the bartender come entertainer. A great night and a cosy fire. Home to the freezing tents.

Dalhousie Springs To The Painted Desert

Day 22 – 15^th May 2010.

Woke to our first cloudy day! Rob has been predicting rain since day 2 but we may get it today. A nice fire for toasting and packed up camp and down to the springs for another soak and a chat with our new friend Stuart, better known as ‘have-a-chat’. He knew it all.

We drove south on a rough track, via Bloods Creek to The Oodnadatta Track, which turned out to be like a bitumen highway. Arrived Oodnadatta around 3.00 in time to see ' potato picking up' relay at the Oodnadatta races. Looked like lots of fun. We also got the pitter pat of rain! We headed west to The Painted Desert – an example of badlands or breakaway topography. Quite spectacular. On the road in we collected a tonne of mud on the sides of the car. It looked like the rain may be set in, with lightning in the distance. Arrived Karalinga Homestead to find no-one home! Probably at the races. Take that back, the cat was here and took an immediate liking to us. As the rain got heavier, we decided to camp under the campground lean-to kitchen. It made quite a cosy little camp spot. Very close quarters! Quite a few laughs were had as the roof started to leak and soaked J & J’s tent and bedding.

The sign in Oodnadatta said it was the hottest and driest place in Australia. We are freezing cold and soaking wet! Someone was heard to say ‘People our age go to Fiji for holidays’. Not us intrepid camping adventurers!

Lulled to sleep by the rain on the tin roof.

Dunes To Dalhousie Springs

Day 21 – 14^th May 2010.

Wonga Corner (almost) to Dalhousie Springs.

Headed east again for a short while and then turned south at Wonga Corner and drove along between the dunes for about 13km and turned east again along the WAA Line to Georges Junction where we turned left and headed North up the Colston Track till we met The French Line again. Did some more great 4X4 and were lucky enough to see a couple of herds of camels and a very confident dingo. There were loads of birds and several gheckos along the track. We were quite bumped out by the end of the day but made it back to Dalhousie Springs and fell into the springs to relax before dinner. Another great fire and relaxing night.

Mt Dare To A Desert Dune

Day 20 – 13^th May 2010.

Mt Dare to Wonga Corner (almost)

The road got rough! Drove from Mt Dare to Dalhousie Springs, which was an oasis in the desert. The water was about 36 degrees and just beautiful. Had a little soak and some lunch and then off into the Simpson. Yaaay, the reason for coming. There was some stunning scenery as we headed east. Followed The French Line, passed Purnie Bore and started getting into real some dunes. It was a lot of fun and some serious 4X4 driving. Found a nice camp spot between a couple of dunes and set up camp. Drinks on the sand dune and watched the sunset. Stunning. Loads more pics. A cold night, a great fire and delicious dinner courtesy of Jan.

Chambers Pillar To Mt Dare

Day 19 – 12^th May 2010.

Chambers Pillar To Mt Dare

Watched the sunrise on the Pillar. It was a truly beautiful place.

On the way back to Maryvale we visited the art centre at Titjikala. There were some really beautiful artworks. The community itself was a bit sad and an abundance of dogs of all shapes and sizes.

We joined the Ghan Heritage Trail which actually followed the old rail tracks, with old railway sleeper spikes littered all the way. We stopped at some of the rail sidings and water tank stops and read the history of The Ghan. That road followed the Alice Springs to Finke Desert Race Track.

More spectacular scenery and we arrived at Mt Dare in time for an evening drink. Also in time to get eaten alive by mosquitoes.  Set up camp in a great hurry and up to the hotel for a very average dinner. The highlight of the evening was watching all the recoveries from the desert on tv – made us feel really confident!!!!  There were some great photos and some good advice from the bartender.