6 days in SA………..

 We left Alice Springs and drove on hoping we would make it to Marla and get through the border without any issues.  We did and stopped soon after at the Wintinna Rest Area.  Along the way we stopped a few times to exercise and I was taken with this quirky artwork at Erldunda Roadhouse.

The next day we set off early and stopped for our first break at Cadney Park Homestead.  We had a coffee and a loo break before continuing on to Coober Pedy.  This morning the wind was very strong and by the time we reached Coober Pedy it seemed like gale force.  Just opening the car door was a challenge to hold it safely.  We did some shopping here and had lunch but with the wind showing no signs of abating we decided to stay here as it was difficult to drive in it.

We woke early the next morning to the sound of rain on the roof.  It was only light and dried as it landed but at least it kept the sand from swirling in the wind.  It lasted about an hour and the wind had abated so we decided to head off early too.  We stopped at Glendambo for lunch and continued on to camp for the night just past Pimba at the Island Lagoon Rest Area.  A great view of the island in the salt lake at sunset.

The wind was back and the forecast was for 5 deg overnight so it wasn’t long before the heater was on.  It was a little hard to believe that the overnights had been 17 deg just a few days ago.  The wind was gone the next morning but boy was it cold.  We put the heater on until after breakfast and soon after left to drive to Port Augusta.  Along the way we stopped for a break and found this interesting artwork here.

The Kokatha Country artwork has a work across the top of each panel.  It says One People, One Country, One Dreamtime.  If only it were that simple!  We had been going to stop overnight at Port Augusta but as we drove in we heard that there had been Covid cases recorded there so we just stopped for fuel and drove straight through.  We didn’t want anything to prevent us from crossing into Victoria without quarantine.

We stopped for lunch at Orroroo and then drove on to Peterborough where we booked into the caravan park for the night.  There was no sun here and it was freezing so we plugged in for the night to make sure we had sufficient battery to continue on tomorrow.  Plenty of diesel though kept the heater going as it dropped to 1 deg that night.

It was a chilly start to the next day but the heater went on before we got up so it wasn’t too bad.  It was Father’s Day and David rang early to talk to Bill, Gareth called a little later in the day.  We left at 10am and drove on to Burra, then Morgan where we had lunch beside the Murray River.  

Renmark was our next stop where we camped beside the river.  Still freezing but not as bad as last night and the next morning the heater went on until after breakfast when we left again to cross our final border of this trip.  Once again armed with a border pass we were able to cross with no issues and no quarantine requirements.

It’s been a long drive but at last we are back in our home state.

until next time………