Day 17- Barkly Homestead Roadhouse Today was a dirt road kinda day. We determinedly slept in until 8:30 when the heat and sound of flies became too much for us. Last night we tested out our tent fan - it was an overwhelming success but the charge doesn't last all night so the early mornings will continue. Thank goodness for our tarp/makeshift tent - it protected us from all four drops of rain last night! After having a look around Whistleduck Creek we packed in...

Day 16 - Thursday Well today is the day, time to leave the comfort and splendour of Alice Springs and the Schaber Rd Homestead and hit the road again! We packed up in good time and had a farewell coffee with mum and dad at Star of Alice, enjoying the light rain as it fell around us. Then we turned the car North on the Stuart Highway, headed for The Devil's Marbles (Karlu Karlu). The clouds hung ominously overhead cloaking us in light rain from Alice to Wauchop...

A lay day in Alice where Jed and I managed to start our day with a sleep in - happy days! Milly spent the morning marking Yr 10 essays while Jed cleaned the car and rigged the UHF. We headed into town to pick up a few odds and sods, including a fan - stay tuned to see whether this ends up being a camping win or dead weight. Then it was home for the arvo and more marking and relaxing. Once Mum and Dad arrived home we prepped dinner and pottered around in the garde...

After listening to the audio book of the Martian for duration of our trip so far, today it got the better of us and we had to go see the movie at the Alice Springs Cinema! Great way to hide from the heat in the middle of the day also. After now seeing the movie and listening to the audiobook I highly recommend both! The audiobook was better but it also was a lot longer so had more opportunity to include a lot more detail to build the story!

Back to Meg and Bruce's to refresh once again and refuel and repack and plan the next leg of our journey across into Nth Qld! Today we caught up with Dahlia, Xanda, Katie and Beanz for lunch at Juicy Rump (Cas), the food was good and the company outstanding! We enjoyed a slow lunch together, Milly was thrilled when Jed returned from the bar with a double Shaw and Smith Sav Blanc!! However, she did have to resort to ice cubes to keep the nectar of the gods refre...