Travelling through inland Australia: Day 16 Coober Pedy to Erldunda

4 June

Happy Birthday Will

At last some warm weather. When we left Coober Pedy it clear and sunny and quite mild. The day warmed up as we drove along and by the time we reached Erldunda it was 24 degrees. For the first time in many days we were able to sit outside the 'van this afternoon and enjoy some fresh air. it was the first time I have been able to take off my fleece and sit around in a T shirt.

It was a long drive today but we made it in good time. There was one highlight. Just after we had left Coober Pedy and were well into the desert country, we came to a police blockade and I was breath tested! I cannot get over the fact that you can come across an RBT stop this far out in the mulga. But then, random really means random, doesn't it.

It was another great drive today right through the South Australian desert country. Once again, we enjoyed the subtle variations in the country we passed through. Certainly, there were long stretches of flat, featureless desert country covered only by sparse vegetation. However, this gave way to undulating country with wide, meandering, dry watercourses that still supported a relatively abundant cover of 2 metre tall mulga scrub and low bushes. This then gave way to more desert landscape. And so the circle continued.

In some places we came across large areas of gibber desert. So called because of the sharp small stones and rocks that cover its surface. These little stones provided so much suffering to the men and horses in the four expeditions made by Johh McDouall Stuart in his attempt to find a north south route across Australia from Adelaide and Darwin. I have been reading about these expeditions in a book by Ernestine Hill called, simply, The Northern Territory, given to me by a friend. It is helping me understand and appreciate this country, as I drive along Stuart's route, and the efforts of the men who made it accessible to the rest of the world

I should point out that desert does not mean deserted. Large-scale pastoral activity goes on right through this area. The vegetation may look sparse and of no earthly use. However, it is very nutritious for cattle. Because of the sparse nature of the vegetation, the cattle stations have to be very large. All day we were driving across stations that seemingly were as big as Belgium. It took us at least an hour to drive across one of them.

We got to Erldunda after a 6 hour drive that included a long stop for morning tea at a place called Marla, about 220 kms north of Coober Pedy.

Erldunda is a real oasis in the desert. The caravan park is small but very nicely set up. It is situated behind a roadhouse that provides fuel, meals and a tavern. We are giving the tavern a miss, perhaps next time.

There is no TV this far out in the Never Never. So I think tonight we will read our books and have an early night. Tomorrow is Yulara and Uluru.

We encountered this road train at Marla, all 54 metres of it. The driver was saying that this rig consumes fuel at the rate of 1 litre every 850 metres. No wonder his tanks hold 4000 litres. Those are the tanks under his prime mover which is located out of sight at the front of the first trailer, not the tanks you can see here. He had not stopped here to deliver fuel, he had come to fill up. It took him a while. This is one of the few road trains we have seen so far on this trip. A few have passed us travelling in the opposite direction but not one has come up behind us. Maybe things will change tomorrow