The race to the pump was on! This morning the station manager was going to start pumping the diesel at 8am. To be sure that we’d get what we needed we lined up at the pump at around 7.40am. We weren’t the only ones with that idea but there was plenty of fuel for everyone’s requirements. After leaving Mt Dare we headed south toward Dalhousie Springs where we were contemplating staying the night. It was only 70km odd away but it took us a fair while to get there as the road was pretty ordinary. Dalhousie Springs turned out to be brilliant. The spring itself is around the size of at least three Olympic sized pools and it is heated naturally from the Artesian Basin. We all got in and had a paddle around for a ... read more

We have had a big day. We continued from our camp spot down to Lake Eyre North – the big one! The road was terrible. Around 60km with some of the worst corrugations around. We arrived to see that the lake was a fair way out. In fact it was too far for us to walk to however we did have a look around the sea shore and the sand was mixed with some sort of graphite to make it black and slippery. Paddy and Phil set up an infrared camera to have a look at the wildlife that is floating about. We sat around and saw that there were rabbits, foxes and even a dingo wandering close to our camp. After we drove back out we got to William Creek Hotel to fuel up on ... read more

After our wander up the hill, we headed back up the road to Hawker, where we topped up the tanks, most of us phoned our better halves and we headed toward Wilpena Pound, which is in the Flinders Ranges NP. Wow! The meteor story was true. Any photos we took cannot do justice the sheer size of the crater that was caused back in the day. If you are ever up this way you should take the time to check this place. Not only is it a beautiful and bushy spot but the story of the people that tried to run cattle, sheep and then grow grain, is amazing. I managed to pick up some good shots of some of the wildlife, including various birds and a slightly friendly emu, but it really is a place ... read more

I’m away. Again. For real this time. Had the last shower I’ll get for three weeks & was ready to go by 7.30am odd. Got the call from Phil at Port Melbourne to be greeted by the news of the first mechanical failure – his name is Neil. Well not really. Neil was the one that had a tyre blow out at bloody Campbell Town. Only an hour and a bit from his front door! We pulled into Goodyear at Taylors Lakes and he had a new tyre put on and then we were off up the Calder. Talk about bloody frost! The further we got up the road the mistier and frostier it was. Were we going the wrong way? After a while we stopped off for a latte (roll your eyes here) and decided ... read more

4 weeks from today & I’ll be sitting back enjoying a beer or red with sis, Chris & Tobes. The trip will be underway. I accidentally dropped into Camping World today on the way home from the dog park. As luck would have it (you know how luck happens in three’s), I fell over, my wallet fell pen and I accidentally purchased some gear for a make-shift awning. And to cap of the three bits of luck I was having, I then accidentally got talking to the blokes in the shop about 4WDriving and they gave me some great tips n places to go South and West of Canberra. Hopefully I’ll have time to test out the new tyres/wheels on one of these tracks in the next few weeks. The guys in the shop were great ... read more