Marree, Junction of 2 Tracks

Yesterday was smooth running. Still had patches of mud but we just take the cleanest route through following others tracks and scrape the mud off with the spade in the evening. We were  still close to the old Ghan line and stopped in at a couple of sidings. Coward Springs was a beautiful spot and if we had been stopping overnight we would certainly had a "spa" in the warm artesian water. We had a look through the small museum which was well set up. I particularly enjoyed the verbatim stories of the old drovers who used camels in the early days. Also a couple of biologists who told of driving along the Ghan railway track to avoid flooded tracks only to have the Ghan come up behind them. They took off to the side and the Ghan driver stopped the train for a chat.
From there we went on to Curdimurka which John Mcdouall Stuart used as a base for his explorations in 1861 and 1862 because it had reliable water. It had the best preserved site including a Railway "trains cross here "sign which amused us. There was also a long bridge over a large body of water which had ducks, dab chicks and 3 black swans paddling around.
At Alberrie Creek there was some very creative sculptures made from scavenged materials including a dog fashioned from one of the old square tanks with a car suspended  as the head and which nodded with the wind. We were in to Marree quite early but had been watching a large storm which was dumping rain off to the south of us. After discussion with the knowledgeable locals ( not the burnt out woman on the counter) we decided it was best to stay overnight rather than be trapped somewhere up the track.
We selected the better of the two caravan parks and it was a good choice. The manager is very helpful and they have WiFi here which the one attached to the hotel did not. It is fortunate for Bob as well. Overnight his cold developed into a chest infection and he could not have driven today. We have obtained antibiotics from the helpful and competent nurse at the medical centre operated by the Flying Doctor. We made a suitable donation for the service which only cost us $10 for antibiotics, soluble panadol and nasal spray.
This afternoon Maria, Roland and I are going on a flight over Lake Eyre while Bob sleeps. I will tell you all about it later.