Marree Day 2

The flight over Lake Eyre yesterday was fantastic and I only felt a little bit guilty about leaving Bob on the ground. The fact that the nurse had said he was not well enough to fly and he certainly looked too sick eased my concience. We paid for the 2 hour flight right up over the North Lake in a "hang the expense we will only do this once mood" and it was well worth it. The South Lake and the southern part of the North Lake have water in them from the rainfall over the past five weeks but the northern part of the main lake have floodwaters coming in from the Cooper Creek, the Warburton River and a couple of others with names I can't remember just now. So it was up in this northern area that we saw quite a few black swans and flocks of pelicans. Maria couldn't get over the fact that the area of the lake system is larger than Switzerland. We flew 150 kms up the length of the lake and it is 65 kms wide. The pilot was very informative telling us  the names of the inlets and rivers as we flew over them. We flew in at 2500 metres but he dropped down to 500 metres when we were over the area most likely to see birdlife. Then we came home at 3500 metres to get a broader perspective and also to avoid  another plane in the area  I suspect. He also took us over a very beautiful creek system adjacent to the lake on the bordering station which he said was his favourite area. It was beautiful with the system forming a delta of meandering creeks. Lush and green among red sand dunes.
We cooked dinner in the camp kitchen of the caravan park with Maria and Roland doing the honours.  It is a well set up kitchen and we took our own table and chairs over to get the corner most protected from the wicked little wind that blows around here.
This morning we encouraged Maria and Roland to go on to Birdsville without us. Although the antibiotics are starting to work for Bob he is not well enough to drive on sealed roads let alone these ones. Tomorrow if he is well enough we may follow but I think we will be waiting here for them to come back in three days to give hime a chance to really get over this infection. Innaminka is completely flood bound so that part of the plan must be abandoned anyway. From here we will go down to the Flinders Ranges National Park.
The weather is cloudy here so it is no hardship for Bob to curl up under a blanket and sleep. Today we will move into the "donger" that Maria and Roland had and he will be more comfortable still. Besides it means we can plug in the Engel and recharge all the batteries. That is the update for today. I  will probably walk down to the Telcentre to chat and compare notes while Bob sleeps.

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.

Another Muddy Day

After a leisurely breakfast and repacking the vehicles we established that the road to our next destination was open again. We had considered staying in Coober Pedy another day but Maria and Roland were keen to move on and the history of the past five weeks in this area was that we could risk another lot of rain if we delayed. Most unusually the roads in the area have been closed for a couple of days in each of the previous five weeks due to this exceptionally wet season. William  Creek the roadhouse we were heading for has had 13 inches compared to it' s usual 4 inches.
While topping up our water supply we watched a stream of eager beavers who seemed to have just heard the road was open head off out of town. We were content to go slowly and it was to our advantage as they established tracks through the muddy patches which we could follow and which limited the difficulty of getting through and the load of mud we took on. Even so all our hard work yesterdey to clean up the Cruiser and the camper was undone very soon. This was no where near as bad as yesterday though. The first part of the road out to William Creek was the wettest and the latter part presented no real challenge as it was mostly over higher ground. Amazingly we met two parties of motorcyclists. Three were going into CP and two were going our way. We spoke to the two at William Creek while we were eating our icecreams. They had actually started at William Creek that morning hoping to make CP but they only had semi off road bikes and the tyres just weren't managing the conditions so they would be staying in William Creek for another night.
We set off again and the road wasn't too bad once we were down the road a bit. We were back on the Oodnadatta track and soon began seeing evidence of the old Ghan railway. We went into the old telegraph station at Strangeways which was quite facinating. It had been quite a settlement and there are substantial ruins. This had included a Police Station, a Chappel and staff quarters. There was the later addition of dry stone wall stock yards when it became part of Anna Plains Station. The telegraph station had been built within a cluster of mound springs. This is where a fracture in the underlying rock allows artesian water to be pushed out to the surface. However the heavy mineralisation of the water deposits sediments which build up around the pool over time forming a mound. They were at least six feet above the surrounding landscape. The ones which were still active had a very pretty green crown of vegetation and we found signs that a small animal had been digging into the top of one to get to the water.
Our next stop was the Beresford Siding where we found almost intact ruins of the staff quarters , and a huge water tower and loading facility.
It had obviously been used as a camp site but was quite clean. As it was that time of day we set ourselves up for a very comfortable camp. We are well back from the road and there was planty of wood for a fire so while Maria cooked dinner I made some bread in the camp oven. The loaf looks
good but the proof will come at lunch time today.

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.

Oodnadatta

As we left our camping spot this morning we discovered that we had been camped on the banks of Agnes Creek. This morning the weather was weird, cloudy and thick mist which didn't clear until we were well down the road at 10am. It was a straight forward run from there to Marla Roadhouse. When we arrived Maria and I went searching for the Post Office. This proved to be the receptionist of the motel part of the business. It was 1030am and she said she hadn't actually opened for business but since we had stamps already we could just post them into the mail box outside. At this stage Maria was standing staring at the traditional red post box very suspiciously. Her concern was that there were only blank spaces where the usual collection time should have been displayed. I told her that the "post mistress"  had assured me that this was where they should go. I didn't add that I hadn't thought to ask how often the box was cleared. Maria was also expecting a community of some description. Instead there is just an enormous roadhouse, motel complex. This is the busiest roadhouse we have seen, even more than Ularu. From Marla we left the highway to head East to Oodnadatta. We had heard various reports about the condition of the road and there were some pretty big bog patches but we could go around them quite easily. The countryside had huge expanses of gibber plains but they have obviously had good rains and where things could grow they were looking green and healthy. We saw a few other vehicles but the road was pretty quiet.
We stopped for lunch by one of the creeks and then mosied on into Oodnadatta. As we approached the town there were interestng mesa hills with various coloured soil. Here we visited the famous "Pink Roadhouse" which is very pink including having a pink Volvo parked out the front. We checked out the caravan park and decided that we would much rather  "bush camp" somewhere down the road. The local Police man pulled up just then so we asked about the road to Coober Pedy and whether there were camping spots along the road. He told us the road was OK and there was plenty of camping adjacent to the creeks but to be careful because the ground around some of them would still be a bit soft. Read boggy. After a beer at the pub and a chat with the barman who told us the number of tourists was down because there had been a lot of rain we shook the mud off our mudgards and set off.
We stopped not far out of town at Newey's Creek where there is a lovely permanent waterhole. Then headed down the road with the plan to drive for about half an hour and then look for somewhere to camp. This didn't look too promising initially as there are huge explanses of red gibber plains. We came across a vehicle parked on the side of the road just past an expansive pool of water. As we got closer the woman waved frantically indicating we should stop. We then realised that her two companions were busy retrieving plastic boards for extracting the vehicle from a bog beside the road. The poor things had decided to go around the water not realising that they were driving into the creek and were immediately up to their axles in mud. They recommended that we go straight through the middle of the water but in 4WD and we had no trouble. They were tourists from NSW and they will be a while getting the mud off themselves let alone their vehicle?
We found a suitable camping spot not long after and set up for the night. This is the first evening that we sat around in shirt sleeves until after the sun went down. We are further south tonight and the cloud and heavy mist of this morning is behind us. Hopefully the weather will stay clear. Coober Pedy tomorrow.

100 kms short of Marla

Yesterday was bitumen all the way. We used our overnight stay in Ularu to sort domestic details such as washing and shopping. The caravan park was very noisy thanks to some young bloods on an "Red Centre" car rally. All in a good cause but an early morning alarm of air horns was not our ideal of a dawn chorus. Never the less it had Bob up .showering and using the washing machine early so it wasn't all bad.
The drive out to the Stuart Highway was very pretty and again green thanks to the good rains. The traffic was light but steady. The only entertainment was the sight of 20 seater buses pulled over onto the shoulder with their young and obviously international passengers out scavenging for fire wood. It seems that the tour operators have special dispensation to have camp fires in their area of the park.
We also came across a badly damaged small car on the side of the road which had it's front completely smashed up. Just past it was a dead cow, the other victim of the confrontation. Apart from that there has been very little road kill along the way. Our itinerary goal was Marla (traditional name Marla Bore) but as the day wore on with the thought that the "Red Centre" boys were ahead of us we started looking for an alternative. So here we are camped on the bank of a dry river bed with a few other like minded campers scattered around. It has obviously been a traditional over night stop because the station owner has left a large area before erecting a fence about a kilometre in from the road. It is clean, peaceful and beautiful with the river gums providing just enough firewood for our own determined scavenging.
Today Oodnadatta is only about 300 kms on so hopefully we will be early enough to claim an attractive camping spot again.

65kms past Warburton

Today we left out Pines campsite by 8-30am having packed up and had breakfast due to Bob's diligence in building up the fire and making the first round of tea and coffee by 6am. The first stop was Tjukyrlia Roadhouse where we bought fuel and had a coffee. The couple operating the roadhouse for the Aboriginal Community were friendly people who brought us up to speed with all the local events. Last weekend they had 60 mls of rain which was about the 3rd descent fall they have had in recent weeks. It explained the couple of wrecks we saw either side of the roadhouse. This is a lake area so the road is vulnerable to flooding. There were still damp patches but in the main the road was good due to significant upgrading since we drove across it the last time.
They warned us that Warburton was not a choice stop over as even the fenced caravan park was being subjected to frequent episodes of theft from tourists.
We also had a chat to a man who was cycling  (push bike) with a mate from Perth to Alice Springs. We had seen the wheel tracks as we were approaching the roadhouse and assumed that they were probably Japanese. Hence we were surprised to find that they were Aussies and at least in their 60's. They ride about 100 kms per day on the sealed road and manage about 80 kms on this unsealed road, except when there is a head wind as there was today. They left Perth a month ago. They were having a break at the roadhouse to effect some repairs to a gear cable.
I forgot to mention our own damage yesterday. While we were driving through the road works there was a pretty loud bang but we didn't notice anything for a while. Then we saw that a stone must have deflected up off the camper and broken one of our rear windows. It is now wearing some very piraticle gaffer tape to ensure that it doesn't disintergrate on us.
We have seen bush turkeys, dingos and 9 dead camels on the road today. The camels came to grief at the hands of someone with a gun which was a rather sad sight.
We managed to drive into Warburton 15 minutes before they were due to close at 3pm given that it was Sunday. This was just time enough to fill up with diesal and have a quick shower. We were on the road again and searching for a campsite promptly because we really need to have found somewhere by 4-30 since the sun goes down at 5-30 out here. We were lucky to find a nice private borrow pit with swimming pool thanks to the recent rain. Soon had the fire going and sat around sipping Italian champagne because it is Maria and Rolands 29th wedding anniversary.
Life on the road is tough!