Well God definitely gave us a miracle in me being able to travel! Up until the day we left I had been bed-ridden for 3 weeks with terrible nausea (being 9 weeks pregnant and all). However, on the Monday morning we left I felt better and even managed to travel 7 hours north to the Flinders Ranges without vomiting (despite a few close calls!). This is truely a miracle as just days prior, driving in the car for no longer than 5 minute was enough to make me vomit. Praise God, he has once again heard our prayers!
As previously mentioned, we were meeting my sister Danielle and her hubby Shaun there. We even somehow managed to pick up a stray friend of Shaun's along the way, who also camped with us that night...
The first night we camped at Rawnsley Park Station just near Wilpena Pound (Flinders Ranges). It was quite chilly and someone had their shoes too close to the fire! You know its not good when the soles of your shoes are steaming and too hot to touch... "Nothing a bucket of cold water can't fix" he says...
Checking out some local Aboriginal Rock art at the Sacred Canyon... they were just circles (which means waterhole). Disappointed.
The boys returned to camp later that day proud as punch, as they had climbed Olsens Bagge Lookout in record time... meanwhile Danielle and I had fallen asleep in our camp chairs in the sun... Mmmm
Keeping warm around the camp fire as the temperature starts to drop...
And the temperature kept dropping! We don't know what it got down to the night but when we got up the next morning it was -1 degrees and the camper was covered in ice!!
After a couple of nights at Rawnsley Park we continued north through the Flinders Ranges. I have to say the Flinders is my favourite mountain range in Australia to date - beautiful!
We set up camp that night in the Parachilna Gorge. While the boys disappeared to go exploring in the gorge, Danielle and I creatively tried to break some sticks for our fire...
Meanwhile, the boys discovered a cave that had some interesting 'Aboriginal' art... Too bad it looked more like skippy the boxing kangaroo than anything actually authentic.
We continued our scenic drive the next morning and came across some wildlife...
The dust was horrendous...
Just outside Copley, we amazingly passed on the road Alan (who Geoff and I had stayed with for 3 weeks in Victor Harbour. A photo of Alan and Shirley below). Alan suggested we go to the local cafe at Copley as we must try their Quondon pies! Apparently, Quondon is a red, desert fruit. Geoff says they tasted sweet like apple/rubarb. Alan also generously bought us some Quondon Steak Sauce and dessert sauce which we all later tried, and found it really nice. Too bad about the unfortunate name the fruit beholds.
After our quondon experience with Alan, we pulled into a local coal mine. They had an old dragline there for public display so we all climbed aboard and Geoff was quick to jump in the drivers seat. Just as Geoff was getting out of the seat, suddenly it seemed like the old dragline machine roared to life! There was an almighty crash, and the whole machine started to shake and vibrate. We all feared for our lives, at least for a few seconds until we figured out what had happened. As we drove into the mine, there was a sign that said "Blasting today at 3.45pm". We had all forgotten this sign, and lo and behold they certainly did blast, and not very far away from us!
We had a tip along the way that you could camp for free behind the pub at Marree, so that's exactly what we did! We even shouted ourselves a buffet dinner at the pub which could be more likened to dining at a retirement village. Some photos from Marree below...
On the road again, this time making our way to Lake Eyre on the Oodnadatta track which follows the old Ghan railway line.
Strange things you find along the way
Geoff checking he still maintains his 4WD'ing capabilities... Yep he still has it. Look at the front left wheel totally off the ground!
We discovered Shaun likes to practice his balance every chance he gets...
The bird was real.
Some salt flats...
Yes boys. Salt is very salty.
Collecting firewood along the way. No, there are no trees. Yes, the old Ghan railroad was our only option.
A random warm spring called the bubbler in the middle of nowhere. It naturally bubbled like a spa bath.
We were all so excited to see our first viewing of wild camels. We were all disappointed though when 5 minutes down the road, we spotted the Camel Safari Truck, missing its camels.
You can imagine my surprise when we pull into a camp ground called Coward Springs (in the middle of nowhere which was a surprise in itself), to find a natural spring spa bath. It was glorious after not showering for a few days and feeling quite dusty! The boys definitely made the most of it...
The boys getting creative with the camera when there safari exploration of the surrounding desert proved boring and uneventful.
There is an excellent reason why Danielle is armed with a golfing weapon. Two words: Mouse Plague.
The next morning along the dirt road we found this which the boys just HAD to climb...
William Creek. A strange pub with rare beef patty burgers, and selling petrol for $2.20L.
We decided to drive 60kms off the main dirt road to see North Lake Eyre for ourselves and camp there for a day or two. It was the roughest road we have travelled to date due to the intense corrogations...
Finally with teeth still chattering in our heads, we caught sight of the infamous Lake Eyre.
...and it was stinky hole, lined with dead birds and copious amounts of dead fish.
We ditched our plans to camp there, and headed back along the rough road. Shaun decided to make his own path, but found himself in a slight pickle. It was hilarious to watch.
After setting up camp at William Creek we assessed the damage to our camper from the rough road. We were pleasantly surprised when all our eggs were still intact. Unfortunately the butter and peanut butter got better acquainted...
That night in William Creek I think we will all remember for quite some time. If we thought the mice were bad the last couple of nights, tonight was crazy. Danielle retreated to her tent by 7pm, even though they were crawling up the walls and on the roof. Meanwhile, Shaun stomped on one running around his feet while drying up. Geoff kicked one from here to kingdom come and I constantly stamped my feet on the ground to keep them away from my feet and chair.
The next morning Danielle and Shaun treated themselves to a flight over Lake Eyre for a better view...
You can see the salt water around the edge and the fresh water in the middle... The salt water can be up to 8x saltier than the ocean. I guess thats why there is so many dead fish around the edges.
As the sun rises the mice disappear and are replaced with flies. Although we look ridiculous, these fly nets were greatly appreciated. We discovered though eating lunch is a bit of a problem! We both ended up eating in the car. Geoff, being the country lad that he is, ignored them and even possibly ate a fly along with his 2 minute noodles.
The dog (dingo) fence is the largest fence in the world. It stretches for about 5300kms to keep dingos away from sheep farms. We crossed it just outside of Coober Pedy.
While driving up the road in Coober Pedy we noticed a tyre randomly rolling up the road behind a car. We flashed them but they kept driving. It had obviously been on their roof rack and fell off. Geoff decided to head down the road and try and find them. He did, and they were very grateful...
Half of Coober Seedy.. er.. I mean Coober Pedy lives underground due to the extreme temperature in summer. A couple of the churches are also underground and a bunch of shops. It is a strange, weird town. Imagine mounds of dirt piles with a front door and lots of dust. It's run down, with very colourful locals who all seem to have had opal fever (as it is the Opal capital of the world). This is the main street...
In an opal mine...
A view of Coober Pedy from a lookout (aka dirt mound).
And our home until tomorrow morning...
Tomorrow we plan to drive 750kms north west to Ayers Rock.
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