Leaving Arkaringa Station and The Painted Desert, forgive us for looking forward to reaching bitumen road again. It had only been 4 days on unsealed roads, but it felt like a lot more. Still, we did have a bit to go before meeting bitumen about 35 kms out of Coober Pedy. We followed the road south, out through Arkaringa Station and Mount Barry Station which eventually intersected with Kemp Road, turned west and on to Coober Pedy. These roads were really good until we met a pair of graders working their magic and as a team in the same direction we were going. We gingerly skirted around them and then the road turned challenging again, back to those damned rocks. It was slow going and the lighting at the time made definition of the road surface ... read more

During last evening we discussed our next moves. We were about 90km north of William Creek and 110 south of Oodnadatta. Do we abandon our attempts to get to The Painted Desert this trip and head back to William Creek and then across to Coober Pedy, knowing the road conditions as they were? Or, do we keep heading north to Oodnadatta and then sus things out and either go across to Coober Pedy directly or head through The Painted Desert? Two things helped us with the decision and both can be attributed to the good Samaritans from the day before. The first was that due to their repair of the puncture, we still had a spare tyre. The other was that ‘Dad’, with his extensive outback experience told us that we were virtually halfway along the ... read more

Leaving Farina we knew there would not be much more time on the bitumen. After Maree we would be on the Oodnadatta Track and no more bitumen for a while. The drive to Maree was pretty uneventful. The CoVid border check point at the start of rhe Birdsville Track just as you entered Maree was evident. Looked like a pretty boring deployment as we haven’t run into many travellers coming from that direction. However, we were barely on to the gravel when an oncoming 4x4 chucked a rock at us and we had a star shaped chip in the wind screen high up in the middle of the drivers view. We heard the ping. It wasn’t until Joan said, “Is that a chip?” that Greg even realised it had happened. We knew a crack was imminent. ... read more

Next stop was Merna Mora Station. We had camped here many years ago in their campground near the main road. It was pretty primitive. This time we decided to go further in where there was obviously a higher standard of site. Not only was there power, but also water. We were in seventh Heaven! We had thought that after Peterborough we would probably not have a water connection again until we got to Whyalla. Any shower is a good shower but camping showers rate pretty lowly. This was a delightful location. 12 powered sites to connect to, chooks to entertain you, a campfire (with wood supplied) to share with others, happy friendly campers … including some of those lost CoVid refugees hanging around until it is safe to return home interstate or looking for a new ... read more

We were wrong in our last Blog when we said Hawker was the coldest place on Earth, It’s not. Peterborough is! Before we got away though, we had another drama. Monday night as we prepared the van for a morning departure Greg was ferrying items from the 4x4 and Joan was inside packing away, when Greg announced the door handle had broken off. Really! Lucky Joan was inside because there was no way we could get into the van without that handle. This also meant we couldn’t leave on our trip until this was fixed. It also meant we couldn’t close the door unless someone was inside. Tuesday morning Greg was up, and back down to Adelaide to source a caravan door handle. By 11.15 he was back with said item, had installed it thanks to ... read more

Entering Farina this trip was so different to last time. Last time it was a buzzing place with people everywhere, The Underground Bakery was operating and the volunteer rebuilding program was in full swing for its annual winter program. It was hard to find a park in the main street and the campground was overflowing. All the premium sites were taken so many like us camped amongst the bushes. This time the Bakery doors were closed and there were no cars in the street. Even the camp ground was pretty much deserted. We only realised this trip just how big and beautiful the campground is. What is usually the volunteer’s campground was open to the public although the 240v power was not available. The grounds are superbly clean and well organised. There are fire rings and ... read more