a 1600km (return) detour to Coober Pedy

Leaving Watarrka National Park, we packed up and got onto the road fairly early as we were taking the world's longest detour of over 800kms south to Coober Pedy. Although it seems more sensible to visit Coober Pedy later in the trip as we swing around the bottom of the country, by then it will be summer and Coober Pedy reaches insane temperatures of 45 to over 50 degrees!! Not an option!

Ella was thrilled to see lots of horses as we drove down Luritja Road towards the Lasseter Highway again. They were enjoying a frolic in the cool morning air, and we avoided hitting any of them! We stopped for morning tea at the Lasseter Highway junction and were all excited to find a bottle of Gran's pickles to enliven our Saos and cheese! Thanks Gran! A ferocious cross wind sprang up as we travelled East, so strong that we were drifting around the road a bit, which was not fun. Especially as the road trains approached and passed!

We celebrated our first morning of no fights at all with Spinner iceblocks (which the kids had been coveting) at Erldunda, where we rejoined the Stuart Highway. The drive towards South Australia was through fairly unremarkable flat country.  Crossing into South Australia was the highlight of the day!

The skies darkened as we drove south and at 3:05 p.m. we used the windscreen wipers for the first time on this trip! They were turned off again at 3:07, as it was just a light sprinkle! The winds did not stop, and it was an uncomfortable drive passing lots of road trains until we decided we'd had enough, and stopped at a layby. We were about 200kms as the crow flies from Ground Zero of the 1950s British Atomic Tests at Maralinga. As we started to set up, a freight train passed and the kids were so excited that the driver waved and blared the horn at them! We cooked up a vegetable curry with all the vegetables we were not allowed to take any further into South Australia, and tried to play some music before dark. It was pretty miserable with the wind swirling around throwing red grit and dust into our faces, drinks and dinner. We had to retreat into the caravan on dark, where we spent an uncomfortable night, being buffeted repeatedly until we wondered if we would turn over. The mouse plague was evident outside - the wind didn't bother them at all as they spent the night chewing our floor mats.

We had no problems getting up early as we were all keen to get out of the wind and the red dust. The sunrise was one of the most beautiful we have seen, with vivid colours bleeding away into a pale, pearly, early morning light. Unfortunately the strong wind also followed us the last 200kms to Coober Pedy, although the landscape as we approached cheered us up. The opal mining slag heaps were everywhere - an amazing sight!

Stay tuned ...