Tuesday 14 August 2012 - Last night we free camped again at Kernot Ranges. 100 km now back to Erlunda to refuel and then head south. I'm not sure what I was expecting when we crossed the border into South Australia but I know I was very surprised to see even less than was in NT - a whole lot of nothing!! We free camped at Agnes Creek which was a lovely big area, had a fire and just chilled out. Agnes Creek is 93km south of the border and 85km north of Marla.

Wednesday 15 August 2012 - Refuelled at Marla - there were signs for the last 2 days - "Travellers Rest Marla" - made out it was going to be Nirvana. Boy did they oversell that! I was really looking forward to a nice coffee :( 236 km to Coober Pedy now. Still nothing out there. We are now travelling parallel to the railway - unfortunately The Ghan didn't travel on the same day. Now Coober Pedy - what can be said about this little town?? It is quite an unusual town - Lonely Planet says: "an absolute one off: a desolute human aberration amid the blistering arid plains". About 30km before the town they start to appear ..... great big piles of dirt - all different colours and sizes. Looks like something from Masterchef - all tee-pees of spices. They anticipate there is over 1 million holes in the area and there are plenty of signs warning you not to walk backwards and watch where you are going. Had a beer in the underground pub (which was a highlight for me - quite amazing), topped up at the supermarket with supplies and then to the caravan park for overnight. There are no free camps in Coober Pedy. There is an underground house open for sightseeing which we are visiting before we head out of town in the morning. Then it's time to hit the Oodnadatta Track.