Well a few things happened last night..... Firstly, we'd been warned about the mozzie plague by the girl at the Pink Roadhouse the day before so brought a can of bushmans in preparation. OMG!!! Could not believe how many were swarming around after sunset. Went to the loo before bed and was attacked so bad, couldn't believe at this moment l had to do the biggest wee too. Was covered in them and whilst trying to concentrate on doing my business l was swatting all these bloody mozzies!! Secondly, was having the best sleep when all of a sudden Marty and l were awoken with this big thud at the front of the van at around 4:30am. We both s*** ourselves and thought it might have been an animal or something out there. Marty took the torch and went out to check things out. False alarm though, was just the jockey wheel that slipped a bit... All this before bloody daylight!!! And these were provably the most exciting things that happened today as well.
After waking up and watching an amazing bright burnt orange sunrise we got ourselves organized to head off. Can't believe how many mozzies were around, there were stacks just sitting on the caravan awning waiting to pounce on us!! Like the routine of putting deodorant on in the morning, the bushmans insect repellant goes on too!!
The track from Oodnadatta to Marla was just over 200kms and it was such a good dirt road, smooth and less rocky, and freshly grated too. Anyway, we drove non stop, except for one or two wee stops and made it too Marla Roadhouse by lunchtime. Was quite deflating seeing the bitumen and no dirt anymore. We had done it though, conquered the Oodnadatta track!!! Successfully l might add, no major catastrophes, and have seen some amazing landscapes, history and Australian wild life.
After lunch, the usual peanut butter sanga's, we continued up the bitumen on the Stuart Highway towards the SA/NT border. It just didn't feel the same traveling at 90-100km/hr and not having to dodge any big dips or hear a rock fling up on the guards every now and then. But oh well, on we went, arriving at the border at around 2:30pm, now our seventh state that we've been in on our trip!!! We were gonna camp there but a couple told us there was a brown snake over by the water tank, even though we didn't see it we still thought best not to stay. Instead we headed 20km up the road to Kulgera and dropped into the roadhouse/pub/caravan park!! It was $20 for a powered site so we thought that was pretty cheap, may as well and could have a shower too. After setting up we did a few hours of school and since we had power l thougt l should cook up apricot chicken for tomorrow nights tea. As tonight, we were going out!! Sounds thrilling but we just moseyed over in our shorts and thongs to the pub for tea. Girls were very excited, been a while since we'd has take out. Marty and l had the most awesome hamburgers with the lot whilst the girls enjoyed nuggets and chips. The pub was pretty cool with its quirkiness of displays, that being animal traps, aero planes made out of beer cans, snake skins and heaps of photos from the past. Outside there was a tree with heaps of old shoes tied to it, pretty cool. The kids enjoyed a ride on their bikes and then we hit the hay after a nice hot shower....
The Oodnadatta track exceeded my expectations with its history, beauty and rugged country. It's not just a dirt road, it's a huge part if our history with the dog fence, the old Ghan railway and the cattle stations. So glad we ventured out and saw it and met some characters along the way. One last factual insight about the Oodnadatta track for you all, did you know that there has not been one fatality recorded from a vehicle accident since the road was opened to the public. Unbelievable hey.......
Tomorrow we hit the dirt for one last time before we get to Alice Springs. We're heading to the center of Australia and up past Finke, should be fun!!!
Bell Xxx