So the deal was to meet at the Service station across the road from our accomodations at 8.00 am. All good. visors polished from the bugs. Fired the big twins up and we rumbled out of Port Augusta. Have been through here many times and it is one of those places you just have to go through and be done with it. It doesn't offer much charm, everything is spread out and it doesn't boast many good food places. However it is a necessary stop when heading across the west. Our first destination was port Pirie where we took a bit of time to have breakfast at maccas unfortunately. But considering the fact we ate at roadhouses nearly all the way, this was something different. Still tasted like crap but quick and easy. Now we had planned a little different route some days ago which we put into the GPS. We were supposed to head left at Port Wakefield to Balaklava then down through Gawler towards Nairne and skip driving through the Adelaide City. However like all good GPS things went pear shaped at Wakefiled and suddenly it went ffrom 170 ks to 249 ks. The bloody GPS had us going North from Balaklava so we simply gave up and headed back towards Mallala and ended up on the highway again at Two Wells. So we ended doing what we planned not to and went right through the guts of the city. As I had the only GPS John and Shirl had to stay behind and not get lost at a set of lights. This happened on our Canning trip the last year and cars were going everywhere whilst I tried to redirect them by phone. Fortunately we got through unscathed and headed out the highway through the tunnels. I was tracking along the highway when a Solo (Motorbike cop) came up alongside me and told me to pick up the speed a bit. I was doing 90 in a 110 zone but I wanted to make sure I didn't lose John. Strange though to be told by the coppers to speed up. I felt like punching it down two gears and let the boxer twin run free. Anyway we found our way to Nairner without any dramas and were greated by Webby who I had worked in East Timor with 10 years ago. Webby is a SAPOL Sgt based at Mt Barker. Have kept in touch with him over the years and he graciously offered the three of us an overnight stay. We soon settled in with a fistful of carona (with fruit) and met Webby's partner Di and their two labs and birds. Webby has a great outdoor entertainment area and many more beers had to be consumed to ensure we appreciated its full potential. We then were treated to some perfectly cooked steak and salad before adjourning to Di's apparently unchristened bar. The virginity of the bar was soon a thing of the past as we went through a mass of Webby's redwine collection. Shirl graciously disappeared early and Johny also went to bed some time later. The more we sat there the more red was drunk. Finally the opportunity was seized to get to bed when Webby fell asleep at the bar. I dreaded the feeling I was going to have in the morning. However this was a great night to have on our last on this trip. Special thanks to Webby, Di the dogs and the birds for a great night's entertainment. Special mention for their Major Mitchell Cockatoo who continually rang his bell as soon as the sun came up. Right outside my bedroom window.