Marree and Lake Eyre
After a sigh of relief at hitting the bitumen again, we made our way north from Paranchila to Leigh Creek and stopped there to get the leaky tyre fixed (yes, we got another puncture on a Sunday but couldn't do anything about it until we got out of the national park). Leigh Creek and Copley are pretty towns and shortly after that we saw the coal mine from the road. Then it was onto unsealed road again after Lyndhurst and no other stops until we made it to Marree late in the afternoon. Another sigh! We had made it in good time to the camp spot beside the pub, ready for our scenic flight over Lake Eyre the next day. Unfortunately, Kent came down with a massive headache (probably from all the bumps in the road!) So we had some tea, used the camp showers and had a quiet evening. We slept in the next morning but then had a walk around the town and Bec talked to a few people who were there in a tour group from Adelaide. All the older ladies dotted on Callen too and he was happy to give them a wave and a smile. We drove for a little bit along the Birdsville Track and stopped on the side of the road to check out the geology again (lots of red dirt and gypsum!) In the afternoon, we met our pilot Josh who took us (yes, just us in the plane!) on our Lake Eyre flight... it was awesome!!! We flew over Lake Eyre South, the southern end of Lake Eyre North where at 3500 feet in the air, salt pans still spread from horizon to horizon and we were told that we could only see perhaps the southern third of the lake. Unbelievable! It was amazing to see the vastness of the lake and the changing colours of the landscape from salt, to mud, to green channel to red sand. Those things can only really be appreciated from the air, and it was made more spectacular by seeing it late in the afternoon with the shadows stretching across the hills at sunset. We also flew over the Dog Fence too! Apparently all those sights were just too much for Callen who after eating 2 biscuits and a fruit bar while we were still parked on the runway, promptly fell asleep after take off and didn't wake until coming down again 1.5 hours later!
We had a good meal at the Marree Hotel to celebrate our stay there (they were very busy with at least 3 groups staying overnight) and have left with some great memories.