Coober Pedy 2

After starting this yesterday evening I couldn't relax into writing the story as I usually do so I slept on it in 4 star luxury in the Desert Cave Motel after a good dinner. Yesterday morning I woke up hot in the camper and shortly heard the patter of raindrops on the roof. Bob woke too and we listened for a while hoping it wouldn't get heavier. Then there was a roll of thunder and it was action stations. Calling to Maria and Roland to pack we were dismantled and on the road in 15  minutes.The first 100 kms were easy enough driving through the dark watching the sheet lightning across the horizon. 50 kms out of CP we came onto roadworks where they were creating drains and mounding up the centre of the road. 30 kms out we found the wet surface where the rain had started . We could see the lights of CP but it took us an hour to make it into town. At times we were only managing 5 kms /hour and Bob was struggling to hold us on the road. Maria and Roland were also having difficulty but stayed just ahead of us in case we didn't make it. When we finally reached the sealed road we had to stop and scrape some of the mud off with a spade before going into town. This was when we realised that the mud was so thick around and behind the trailer wheels that the wheels had stopped turning. While we were there the rep from SA Main Roads came out and after a chat said he would phone Port Augusta Office and tell them to close the road. The local Telstra worker also stopped and after similar discussion said he would go back and drive up the Hway to Marla instead of proceeding. Thus we watched in amazement as a couple of seniors in a Qld 4WD went straight past us and onto the dirt. They vanished over the rise but we listened in some amusement as we heard the changing engine notes and eventual sound of their return. They stopped and the woman said plaintively "we were sliding all over the road". I just  said  "I would have thought seeing us might have given you a clue" and I walked away back to scraping mud.
The MRD man said CP had had 20 mls of rain but others around town maintained it was much more.
We went on into town and were eventually directed to the Desert Cave for breakfast by a fellow tourist. It was as good as he said and after phoning one other motel which was fully booked decided to hang the expense and check in here.
We spent the next 3 hours removing the wheels from the trailer to scrape the thick gooey clay out from there and the rest of the car and camper. Fortunately the town does have a public wash down area. We had to shovel the mud off their bitumen into a nearby garden. We spent the rest of the day being tourists, visiting a lookout and underground mine and then doing our laundry. There was a good cafe/restaurant across the road and we were served enormous meals at a reasonable price. It was early to bed as were were all a bit tired after our early start and vigorous activity.