Dust, dirt and dramas!!!!

16 to 18th July, Wilpena Sound to Oondnadatta Once we'd all decided to carry on together we departed the Wilpena Pound campground and set of don a breathtaking and truly beautiful drive through the gorges Dlinders Ranges. Our travels took us through small towns like Leigh Springs and Marree which has one of the 100yr+ pubs  so we thought it would be rude not to stop for a cold refreshment and soak u the atmosphere... as you do. So many of these towns consist of nothing but the pub and Marree is certainly no different, it's deserted but there's ruminants of the old Detention Centre that was going to be used to process illegal immigrants some time ago. Our destination for that day was a small campground called Coward Springs, so from Marree we joined the dirty, dusty and rough Oodnadatta Track. Red dirt, blue sky and low shrubby landscape makes for speculation scenery through this area. As we approached a view of Lake Eyre South we pulled over to take in the amazing sunset but we inadvertently stopped beside an old aboriginal guy with guitar and his dog who was set up in the absolute middle of nowhere playing beautiful music and singing. He has lived his whole life in Maree and was born west of where we had stopped in the desert, he comes out to play to the landscape every morning and every night and his voice bough tears to our eyes....we couldn't have scripted it better....here we were in the middle of nowhere, with amazing live music, watching an incredible sunset......we all needed to pinch ourselves! The trade off for stopping for the show was that we still had quite a ways to got to get to Coward Springs that night so we pushed on into the dusk and early evening and set up camp by spotlight that night. It was another frozen night so we don't tend to stay up late as its much cozier in our trusty sleeping bags. Wednesday 18th July: Bron and I have been trying to keep up (some) running while we're away so the next morning we hit the dust and clocked up a leisurely 12km back along the track, it's funny running out there with the dust, dingos and camels...pretty surreal actually. Once back we needed to pack up, jump in the springs (which is a sandy little hole thats not very warm but kids had a wash just the same) and then hunt down William Creek by 1:30 for our flights over Lake Eyre then on to Oodnadatta for the night. Our flights over the lake were amazing......small 8seater planes, skittish take offs and landings but the view over the lake was incredible. The basin at its lowest point is 15m below sea level (the lowest point in Oz) and when full it holds 8 times the volume of Sydney Harbour!!! It was only 20% full at this time (it was 80% full in March 2012) so there wasn't much bird life however the water that was there had a beautiful pink tinge that's created by algal blooms. It's an incredible natural formation and a must see for sure. So...after landing safely (a little sideways but safely) we headed for the odd little town of Oodnadatta which has just about everything painted pink!! Not much happening around there and a dodgy little campground to say the least, Pa and Ray went soft and booked into a cabin but I must admit hat it was nice to cook and clean up under fluro lights and he kids got a small shot of TV too??? Thursday 19th July: Oodnadatta to Mt Dare The following morning we picked up the Easties new tyre, fill up the tanks at $2:21ltr (it's better if you just cover the bowser and hand over your card without asking any questions!!), checked and rechecked that everyone's tyres had been let down to the recommended pressures and we were headed north toward Mt Dare which was the last stop for fuel and (limited) supplies before we were to head into the Simpson Desert. The track between Oodnadatta and Mt Dare was terrible, rough, corrugated, rocky and just unpleasant but we arrived at Mt Dare Station for lunch, a beer (or soft drink), fuel and our desert passes. Once everything was ready we were off into the desert with our aim to reach Dalhousie Springs campground by late afternoon. However fate through up another hurdle and the initial road into Dalhousie was like a moonscape, it was rocky and rutted terribly.....unfortunately I took my eyes off he track for a second, hit a rock, totaled one new tyre and ruptured the wall of another so that's where our Simpson Desert crossing ended among some cursing, frustrated jumping up & down and a lot of head shaking. The only option the Teudtys had was to turn around and limp back to Mt Dare where we could reassess the situation and make some hard decisions. The Easties decided they would head back with us while we all convinced Pa and Ray (aka Putz and Moron from the movie 'Grumpy Old Men') to keep heading through the desert. We said our goodbyes, wished them luck, put our tail between our legs and putted back to relative civilization. The Mt Dare pub welcomed us back, cooked us a meal, we had a hot shower and some sleep before thinking about what to do next..... Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July: Mt Dare to (almost the Simpson Desert) Alice Springs A massive flock of those crazy birds (Galahs) made sure there was no sleep-in that morning so we all got up and decided that we were best off heading fro Alice Springs where I could get tyres and we could still get to see Uluru, Kings Canyon, Palm Valley and the Olga's while Bron and Giorgia still had time with us before they fly home on the 30th July. So we headed up into the Northern Territory through the small aboriginal community of Finke, across through Kulgera , back onto the bitumen (for the first time in ages) and made a bee-line for Alice. It was our time to be soft now as we checked into a couple of cabins for a few nights while we got all the chores done and organized our repairs. The kids had a ball here, made some new friends, Mitch took on the pancake eating contest at the Big 4 van park but fell just short, the jumping pillow will never be the same again after tribes of kids took on each other in a fight to the death of 'Force-Em-Backs' and I found some tyres but they couldn't be fitted until Monday morning. The Easties decided that they'd move on on Sunday and headed out to Palm Valley where we will meet up on Monday (tomorrow). I've now spent the day doing trailer maintenance, dust proofing, washing and repacking ready to hit the road again tomorrow. Kids being kids though.....they convinced me to take them out for dinner and a movie like we were on a date so we hit the Outback Steakhouse (great choice for Pete the Vego!) and a showing of Ice Age 4.....now that we are all recivilised I think we're ready to get back out there again so stay tuned........