We left Adelaide on a cold, rainy Friday night about 8 pm and decided to drive all night and get as far north as we could. We spent our first night driving through Port Augusta and then on to Coober Pedy by late afternoon. We camped at the underground camp ground and went for a short tour around town. We then decided to find out which was the best route to take north. Many travellers had told us there was water in Lake Eyre and worth a fly over, so we headed for William Creek. We had wanted to go via the Painted Desert, but the road was closed due to flood waters and recent rain. When we arrived in William Creek we found that the flights were booked out for days, so we took the 4WD track to Halligans Bay and saw water, a once in a lifetime event!
Our next trek was back to William Creek and north along the Oodnadatta Track. We left William Creek about 6 pm and arrived at Oodnadatta at approx 11 pm. It would have been sooner, however we got bogged in a particularly muddy part of the track about 10 kms south of Oodnadatta. Unfortunately car troubles struck again and we found that we couldn’t engage 4WD. After much swearing by Doug, we ventured into the mud and luckily found a tree that was capable of withstanding the winch and we winched ourselves out sideways. The troopy and trailer were up to the running boards with mud and half of Doug’s leg as well.
We decided that we would have to get back onto bitumen (with no 4WD) however, that meant following the Oodnadatta Track all the way through to Marla. While most of the track was great to travel on, there were some very muddy patches that were quite treacherous and you could feel the mud pulling you every which way. And Sue hit a kangaroo! But not just a kangaroo, a mummy one with a joey in her pouch. After much tears and angst, Doug was able to get the joey out and since it was quite large we felt confident it would be able to survive on its own.
Continuing along the track we reached Marla at 4 am, and headed for the Northern Territory border. We pulled up for a 2 hour sleep and then took to the road again to reach Alice Springs on Monday morning. We had mail there for collection and rocked into town only to find it was a Public Holiday. So we are happily camped in a caravan park, constantly pulling mud off the troopy, the trailer and shoes. Meanwhile Doug has tried every mechanic in town to fix the 4WD for the rest of the trip. Even though everyone in town is busy for weeks (great for them, not for us!), we were able to get it fixed and are on our way tomorrow. It looks like we will take the Sandover Hwy to Mt Isa, continue on to Normanton and follow the Savannah Way or Gulf road around to Darwin. Well that’s the plan at least!
1. Map of Oodnadatta Track.
2. Doug at Lake Eyre
3. Dead fish at Lake Eyre
4. Salt crust and muddy footprints at Lake Eyre
5. Swirling mud patterns in Lake Eyre Mud
6. Bogged on Oodnadatta Track
7. Winch tree in background
8. Troopy after a wash
9. Muddy trailer
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