Day Eighty Five - Coober Pedy to Adelaide
September 29th, 2013

The wind had a chill to it as we packed up the single skin tent and headed in to the kitchen for some Nutella on toast. It's clear that we're venturing further south, but there's a long drive ahead to the coast.

We set off for Port Augusta, and debated when the road train path would end. We are used to them by now, but our bonnet has an unfortunate habit of popping open as they whoosh past us in the opposite direction. Stationary, this wouldn't be an issue. At 110kph, it is something of an inconvenience and gives me a jump. It involves us pulling over on the hard shoulder pretty sharpish so Elly can jump out and slam it back in to place. Anyway, we think they should stop once we hit Adelaide.

The landscape is definitely more green, and we remarked on the 'feeling' of civilisation growing ever stronger. We're both chomping at the bit to get out of the outback!

We passed through a couple of small towns, known for their nuclear fallout and old rockets lying around after government tests. A bit eerie to say the least, especially with the added sand storms blowing ahead and tumbleweeds bobbing across the path - we pushed on quickly.

The original plan was to stay the night in Port Augusta, but we found little there and made good time, so bit the bullet and pressed on. We made it to Adelaide before sun down, and after a tense half hour of navigating on Elly's archaic iphone 3G (seriously, they don't even make them anymore) as my battery had died, we pulled into the Discovery Campground in Port Adelaide just before closing at 6. $30 a night unpowered, we set up tent and headed down to the water. It's so pretty, and Elly is back in his element being an ocean dweller. We popped into IGA, and came back to eat. Unfortunately, it's school hols, and wouldn't you believe it, there's a lacrosse camp here. I love kids, but 16 teenage boys are not the easiest to ignore in a crowded camp kitchen. Never mind, we're so happy to have survived the outback, not even spotty adolescents can ruin our mood!