Farina - William Creek: Oodnadatta Track

The night had been wonderful. I woke as the first person on the camp site again, not difficult due to there only being three of us. The whole night over I had left the flaps of the tent open. Basically the tent was only a deterrent against night crawlers. If they weren't about I could have just slept on the ground with the blow up mattress. After a breakfast consisting of porridge and (the newly auquiered) tea I packed up all the gear and said good bye to the other travellers who had gotten up in that time. It turned out they were heading along the Oodnadatta track, too. Only they planned to go the whole length until Marla, whereas I was turning of in Williams Creek. Set of and had my last glimpse of tarmac road a few kilometres prior to reaching Marree. After that all is gravel or worse. Fuelled up completely again in Marree, prices now having reached 1,90$. The car had only used up ten litres of fuel since Leigh Creek, so I didn't have to pay horrendous. Asked if the track was passable again, just to be sure and the lady at the till said “no problem”. She just warned me about a hole “somewhere after the planes”. Her husband had apparently been doing a check run and his Ute had become airborne. Considering I am in a Subaru Forester I was going to be extra careful.

And then I set of along the Oodnadatta track, with warning signs all over the entrance making sure we had all the necessity (okay, I didn't have a second jack). I was felling rather reassured, knowing that there was a Ute following me a few dozen of kilometres behind (the couple from the camp site in Farina). All along the way I was mostly alone. Occasionally a bus, truck or four wheel drive would pass, but otherwise it was only me, fast open desolate terrain and tons of flies. Seriously?! Where do those bloody things keep hiding and what the heck do they feed off. Passed by near endless terrain of desert, but still surprisingly with some flora nearly on every patch. Sometimes if there was sand on the road I, and anybody else I met, would kick up a rather good sand cloud behind us. The shrubs on the side of the road were caked in yellow dust. The few times I did get out of the car I was greeted with a wall of heat and a few second later the armada of flies that waits everywhere. Spotted the occasional lizard dash across the road, but hopefully didn't squash any. Over my head a giant grey cloud was settling. That can be good and bad news. Good: I have some protection against the sun in the driest state of the driest continent on the world. Bad: If that thing rains and turns the ground to sludge I am stuck a hundred kilometres from the nearest civilisation. Luckily it was travelling the opposite direction to me and didn't release it's hold on to my head. 

After a few crunches on the bottom of my car, due to ground clearance not being quite enough the road bettered up for some time. Passed and had a look at some old planes stood up next to each other and various other sculptures set up in the desert. And after that the warned hole. Also a sign had been put up, so I didn't have any issue with passing through. You could still see how a vehicle travelling to fast would take off. Somewhere around there the couple from the camp site overtook me, so I now had no “safety” backup from behind. Meh, carried on as always and the sky had turned blue again. Ergo, a lot of heat, so AC was switched on to full (and was just enough to keep me cool). Passed the crossing that turned of to Roxby Downs and shortly after got my first glimpse of Lake Eyre. Only the small part of Lake Eyre, the southern section. Still, after I got a few pictures I was just about to set off again when this large lizard is just sitting in the road. Camera out, picture, window down, picture, zoom in, picture, get out, picture, walk closer, picture, walk even close, gone. Thing would be about 30-40cm long, smaller version of the Galapagos Komodo Dragon.

Carried on and passed a concrete bridge crossing a creek with a water hole in it, a rarity around here. Around there also a large bird (1,2m guess) that looked like a heron but had webbed feet. Further on there was a turn off with a four kilometre drive to “The Bubbler”, a spring using the GAB to supply water in this harsh terrain. As I probably won't be along here ever again I took that extra length and nearly got shaken to bits. I found out along the Oodnadatta track that if you travel at the right speed you just fly over corrugation. Loose traction too, but that isn't much of a problem on a straight road with no one coming the other way.

 Due to curves leading to the Bubbler I had to go slower (there was a speed limit sign of 40km/h too, but who is going to check out here) and it was just that amount where it is painful to go to fast (and bad for the car, too). So I crawled there at a snails pace, but was rewarded with seeing life in the otherwise desolate salt dessert. After enjoying the silence and spotting a few twisters make their way across the desert I was off again. The road had deteriorated compared to before and I hoped that my car would get me to Williams Creek before braking a diff or something. Along there the terrain started turning to red, with a few red small sand dunes lining the shores of red salt lakes. As always, there is still vegetation clinging to the spots here somewhere. Surprisingly a lot where green, too. Carried along and twisted around hills and drove through flood ways which where (luckily) empty. After five hours of driving I reached Williams Creek where I stopped for the night and went in to the bar to get a cool drink. Nothing against water, but warm water in 30-40°C isn't that refreshing. Met a girl from Ireland behind the bar, who was working her days out here in the middle of no where. Wondered how you get out here to find a job without your own vehicle, but she mentioned she had some connections.

Just talking to the locals I found out there is a flight from here around the scenery, Lake Eyre and the largest station in the world, Anna Creek Station. As said before, probably never going to be here again (did ask if there where any job possibility for coming back later, but sadly no) and decided to go along in the morning. After that to the camp site (with showers) and to write the blog.
Track at GPSies.

Port Augusta - Farina: Flinders Ranges

Was the first person awake today morning. No surprise at 6 o'clock in the morning. Me and tents/sleeping bags just don't seem to get along. I had a restful night, but I can't seem to sleep in (yet). That'll probably change after I have slept in it for a while.

Anyway, after packing up my gear and marking a few camp points in the GPS, I said my goodbyes and left to go shopping again. Talking to the others yesterday and seeing what they had I found I was lacking in certain things (tea for example). So first stop was the cheap two dollar shop to get things like an extra bucket to do the washing, cutlery, etc. After that I fuelled up completely and went to Woolworths to do all my grocery shopping for the long trip into expensive terrain.

 Then I was of into the Flinders Range. Not a lot to say about a lot of travelling. Hot weather and mountains left and right with shrubs and gumtrees in the creeks. Until to a town called Quorn the road was rather busy, with trucks and vehicles. Lots of twists and curves between the mountains and a railway line criss crossing the road now and again. After Quorn the road got empty, only a vehicle every five minutes or longer. Lots of animal body's lying beside the road, from kangaroos, to wombats and wedge tails. Some fresh body's where covered in wedge tails which took of as soon as you come along. Basically a massive bird of prey (2m wingspan) and if they don't take of fast enough when a truck comes they go splat.

Reached a town called Hawker after a lot of straight driving and got on to the B83 road, also known as the Outback Highway. Drove for a few hours, with the mountains more to the right and Lake Torrens somewhere in the distance. Only way I really saw the lake was because distant hills looked like UFOs floating of the ground due to the heat on the lake. Reached Leigh Creek after another period of driving and went to the fuel station to fuel up. Only used a third of a tank, but I wanted to check that the Oodnadatta Track was still accessible. I don't want to travel 400 km up just to turn round, drive all the way back down to Port Augusta and then take the Stuart Highway up to Alice Springs. The internet page of the government proclaimed it to be all right, but a local person would know a lot better how things are. As all was well and the next time it was supposed to rain was on Tuesday I carried on. When it rains the track becomes pretty much impassable, even for serious 4WD. I read a blog of a 6WD Land Cruiser getting stuck.

After Leigh Creek the road turned in to a gravel road, which it will most likely remain most of the time. Passed a few other Outback travellers and ended up at a place called Farina, where they have a camp site with facilities. A nice thing out here after a day of sweating, even with AC on. After a shower the flies has disappeared as well for the night and after cooking some dinner I just sat back and did some star gazing. No light pollution what so ever. I nearly fell asleep in the chair due to a warm breeze passing through, the flies gone and the birds all asleep.

Track of the day at GPSies.  

Tickera - Port Augusta

Woke up the same time in the morning as Mike (older guy with the caravan). Whilst he went out in their kayak they had brought along searching for crabs I cast out the fishing line to see if I got lucky.

Whilst the line was out I made myself some breakfast, consisting of porridge with water. Packed up my gear next to that and by the time Mike came in I was ready to go. He had only seen two small crabs so left them. A local came along in his Ute with his dog on the back and only had a small fish and no crabs to show for the morning catch, so we didn't feel to bad about getting nothing.

Set of after saying good byes and headed along dirt trails to Port Broughton. A very hot day and as soon as you get out you are swarmed by persistent flies. Only way to loose them is to start driving and put your windows down until all of them are sucked out. Passed a lot of ruins of old farm houses that became obsolete when the farms started growing bigger.

Driving towards Port Pirie a mountain range came in to view with a large amount of windmills settled on top. Drove along that for a while and eventually reached Port Pirie and had to go shopping. The past couple of test runs camping, I found out that my bivi tent condensates so much that I wake up wet and damp in the morning and my sleeping bag is about 30cm to short. I thought they had a standard length for sleeping bags, but it seems that is not the case. So I went in to an outdoor shop and purchased a small two man tent and a sleeping bag that fit (actually got in to it in the shop to make sure). After getting rid of that money I bought a salad in Woolworths and had my lunch before carrying along the busy main road to Port Augusta. As I am sticking to 80km/h to save fuel (I'm not in a rush anyway) I get overtaken by everything. Cars, Utes and massive Road Trains. The last ones aren't fun when they overtake you, but I have survived until now. I wanted to turn of and sleep in a camping spot near Hancocks Lockout, but there was a fence going straight through the track, so I abandoned that thought. 

Further on to Port Augusta then and I found a free camp site just on the entrance to the town. There was another guy there already (Australia bloke) who has travelled around everywhere in his van. It's his home and he has done a lot to it and even has a dog with him. Shortly after a French guy showed up and needed some tools fixing his oil filter. And after him a German couple appeared (Silvio a. Lisa) on their way to Adelaide from Perth. Germans, Germans everywhere. They had a set up to be jealous of (solar panel, fridge, mattress beds, diesel, big roof rack,...). But after hearing they had to pay over 6000$ to get it on to the road and there is some issue with their fuel (50litres on 300km, something is wrong) I am still happy with my Forester. Has taken me everywhere I want to go till now and is good on fuel.

So pitched the new tent for the night and lets see how things go.

Track at GPSies.

Adelaide - Tickera

Bloody, fu**ing flies. Next town I am getting a head net or what they call them. Sitting here at the beach in the Tickera camp site and got dozens of the things flying around annoying me. Even in the wind the things keep coming back.

So anyway, left Adelaide today and bought 50 litres of water, ready for the Outback, should I need it. Also two extra fuel tanks filled to the brim with cheap fuel from Adelaide. And then the driving started. Navigated through Adelaide first and got out of the other end after an hour or so. The amount of cars decreased rather a lot out there, especially once I got of the main main road (there are a few minor main roads as well). The cars decreased, the trucks increased. It also went from more Mediterranean landscape to desert looking. There are still trees, bushes and crop farms, but there is barren land coming out, too. Drove through a town called Dublin (wrong continent, weather is to good). Somewhere near to there I got a view of my first road train. REALLY long trucks, this one was only a small one if I understood things right. Three trailers behind it, all of them fuel tanks. Probably need them to drive itself. 

After driving through Port Wakefield I stuck the GoPro on to the roof and am atempting a time lapse of the journey to Tickera. Will see how that turns out. After leaving the minor main road I drove the rest of the way to Tickera, and just before the camp site got on to gravel road. Drove in to the camp site, set up my tent, took a picture of a lizard crawling past, all the while being chased by dozens of flies. Set up the camping stool right in the wind to ward them of. There are less, but still a good ten harassing me.

After a short while another couple of older people appeared in their car and camping trailer. Went up to them after they had set up and had a fun evening talking and laughing about different things. They even gave me a fly net for around the head for free, so now as many of them can come as they want to. Looks ridiculous, thought. Tried a bit of fishing when the tide had come a bit further in, but again no luck. 

Track of the trip at GPSies. 

Adelaide

Spent the last couple of days enjoying a mattress in Adelaide and meeting other backpackers. Germans where slowly taking over the dormitory were I was staying, an English guy left and a German one came.

All in all Adelaide has been my favourite city so far, it's not as large as Dubai, not as touristy as Sydney and the road system is way better than in Adelaide. The first day was spent with looking around the city and organising a kite boarding lesson. No luck with kite boarding as the wind was wrong and to strong, so to dangerous for first timers. I had a look around the Central Market, which is supposed to be the bigges indor market or something like that. Went and had a look at the kite boarding school, but it was closed (as expected) and then walked along the beach back to the hostel, which took a while. Back at the hostel I did a ton of updates which have been pending for quite some time, to all of my electronic devices. After that I went to a windscreen fixer in South Adelaide to get a crack in the windscreen fixed, before it gets bigger and more expensive. Cars are expensive to keep.

In the evening I then went out with the German couple and the Canadian to view a fire show.

Next day I got the windscreen fixed, as I had come a bit to late the day before. Also bought most of the stuff I had wanted to get in Adelaide, including an emergency GPS beacon if something should happen way of the track. Hope to not use it, as I'm sure no one wants to. In the meantime the kite boarding teacher had rung up and said that the wind surprisingly had got better and that if I want to still take part he will have a course in the afternoon. So after a small lunch I set out to the West Beach to meet up with him. Taking part in the course was another English guy who had just moved to Australia with his wife and child and the teacher turned out to be from Denmark and his wife from Holland. So all Europeans in the course. 

The course has to be taken in three lessons, so it is a rather costly thing. The first lesson you just learn control over the kite and that thing has a lot of power (seven meter kite). Just learning how to steer the thing took a good part of an hour. So standing on land we got the thing up eventually and kept it in an area of space called the “Neutral Zone” were it is up but has no power. After getting that moderately done we went in to the water without a board and just let the kite go in to the “Power Zone” and let it drag us through the water. Was a heap of fun, but I can understand that it takes ages to master. We hadn't even got a board on our feet yet and it was difficult concentrating on the kite and just walking. At the end of that day back to the hostel and some dinner for the last night.  

Coorong National Park - Adelaide

This night was really lovely compared to the others. Slept like a log with the sound of waves crashing just a few metres away from the car. Woke up in the morning because one of the cars was packing up and left early and then the other two and me started getting ready for leaving. The flies were and are a constant menace in Australia. They just don't give up, they have a whole new level of annoying. After packing and saying goodbye to the other guys I managed to get back to the camp site and put the pressure in my tires up again.

And then it was back to driving and driving and driving. From the Coorong National Park to Meningie along the ocean inlets filled with the smell of the sea. I noticed a stone had cracked my windscreen, so that'll be a repair I'll need doing before reaching the Outback. Had some breakfast at the bakers in Meningie and carried on along Lake Albert. Passed some pinkish salt lakes (or whatever they are) on the way to the city area of Adelaide and somehow got around to getting near to the city. Lots of driving involved and there is a fairly large mountain range to get over. I think going downhill the last 38km I could have just switched the motor off and rolled. They even had emergency brake strips for trucks and I saw one trudging up the other side. Coming in to the city I took Mum's Lonely Planet book aside for some reading on where to stay. After finding the first one fully booked I risked ringing up one which they said should normally be booked way in advance. The Glenelg Beach Hostel is right next to the sea, only a few minutes walk away and I got a dorm accommodation for cheap as compared to probably most other stuff here.

Then a wonderful shower, which was well needed after the last few days in a National Park. Sat down to write the first bit of the blog and met the rest of my room mates.

Currently in one room with two English guys (of which one has lived in Australia for eleven years), a German couple and a Canadian. Went out in the evening to have some dinner and then went to watch a fire with the German couple and the Canadian. Had a really good ice cream (haven't had one for months) and then went back to go to bed.

Some of the others got up at night to watch a Rugby match, but I slept right through.

Carpenter Rocks - Coorong National Park: AWD Learning

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain came down in torrents. And there were wolves on the mountain.

Naa, more along the line: It was a dark and stormy night. The condensation dripped from the bivi tent in torrents. And there were Roos on the hill.

The night was pretty chilly and windy, considering all things, and I woke up about five times just due to being cold. My sleeping bag is just a bit to short for me, so I'll see how I end up with it. After packing everything up I made a mental checklist of what I needed and continued on to the next large town with a supermarket. Being Australia that can be quiet a distance away. I drove through an area named the German Flat and wondered as to how that got it's name. Once I got there, I saw why. Dozens of windmills, all plastered along the coastline.

I reached a town called Millicent and did my shopping in Woolworths. Bought a heap of Baked Beans and other canned stuff. Also some fire lighters and an apple for breakfast.Got a road map of Australia, with a few off-road tracks shown in it, too. After re-fuelling I drove towards Beachport. On the way there I saw some indications that you can drive on the beaches, but only with 4WD. As my car has got power to all wheels I thought I'd just give it a go and a few moments later I was cruising along the beach instead of the main road. A few minutes later I was bogged in deep sand with the tide coming in just a few metres away. Shitshitshitshitshit.

Let down the tire pressure to about 20PSI and wouldn't come out. Dug out the wheels, wouldn't come free. At about that time a local surfer who had seen me came along and helped to get it out. In the end we dropped the pressure down to about 10PSI and dug out even more sand than before. Reversed out at high speed, did a U-turn and drove the surfer back to his car. If he hadn't had to go to a basketball game of his kid I would have brought him a beer. After saying many thanks and getting the tire pressure back up I carried on along the main road to Beachport and had a brilliant scenic drive along the coastline. Stopped at a rock called the Post Office Rock and had a climb around it. Carried on towards Robe after that and the temperatures were rising. Considering Robe is a beach resort town it was surprisingly empty on the roads getting there, even if it was the weekend. Hot and empty I was happy to have lots of water with me. In Robe I had lunch at a bakery and enjoyed a cool drink before heading of to Kingston SE. Once again empty road. Driving at 80km/h I only met a few people on the Princes highway. Went to a beach somewhere between vineyards and had a swim. Tons of cobwebs were coming in somewhere from out at sea with baby spiders on them, so I got back to the car as soon as I could. Carrying on along the highway it was the same as before: long, hot and empty. The Outback is even more desolate, thought. After checking in on a free camp site near some stones sticking out of the water called the Granites, and finding out it was all concrete so I couldn't pitch a tent I carried on to the next camp site in the Coorong National Park. The 32 mile camp site was no where to be found, not on the internet and not at the actual place it was supposed to be. Only a beach acces road which I had a go at and failed to get up the last ramp of sand. Getting there I met two emus, a stubby locking lizard and a deer hoped out five metres in front of the car. The deer surprised me, would have thought of kangaroos, but not deer. 

After getting back on the main highway I carried on to the next camp site, labelled 42 mile camp. After failing to book online and them not taking the phone to pay the fee I just went in and put up my tent. I am not going to be driving in the dark unless it is absolutely necessary. Walked 1,8km to the beach with the fishing gear on the back, hoping for some free dinner. The beach was filled with fishermen and a family of them (Grandad, Son, Grandson) invited me over for a beer. Had a good dinner, fun chat and some exitment when a massive something hooked up on one of the lines in the middle of the night (which broke the line in the end). In the end one of the guys drove me back and we packed up my stuff and I followed him back. It's different when you have someone with a 4WD and a tow rope with you than being on your own. Built up my camp near theirs and had a few more beers and a stingray on the line before heading of to bed with the ocean just a bit away.

Total Distance: 518km