We woke up with a strong sw wind blowing. It was a slower start but were still on the road by 9 am. Today was a fairly easy dive with 2/3 of it on the bitumen! First real long stretch of bitumen since mount isa. We realised we were at the Sturt Highway when we saw the lines of caravans streaming passed in front of us. It was a short drive up the highway until our turnoff to Elsey NP. We arrived at our camp for lunch then took it easy for the early afternoon. Later we went into town then up to bitter springs for a swim. These are the less commercialised of the springs and it was relaxing float down the stream for 300m or so. The water was a pleasant 34deg so it felt cool when you hopped out of the water. The water is a brilliant clear blue with a slight sulphur smell to it. The kids loved it. We ended up swimming upstream and back down again and all felt much relaxed Elsey campground is relatively quiet except for the braying of the donkeys in the distance! I can here the water of the Roper flowing over the rocks from here so it should be fairly peaceful.