Day 25 - Marree to William Creek

Glad to leave that Park also, that is 2 in a row that were shit. New day fresh start, had a chat to Tony & Paula who are going in our direction and their Daughter and Son in Law own the property surrounding 80 Mile Beach in WA, so we are probably going to run into them a lot.

Had only driven for 15 minutes and there was a Van pulled over so we stopped to check they were ok...no they weren't. They had slashed a tyre on their brand new car and didn't have the correct equipment to change the tyre, really bad set up for the spare. Anyway, we helped them change it and then chatted for an hour an a half, lovely couple, Chris and Judy from Streaky Bay in Eyre Peninsular.

On our way again, stopped at a Lookout over Lake Eyre, couldn't see a great deal other than salt but further out there was water from the rain in Qld which has flown all the way down here. The couple that had broken down had done a Flight over the Lake, had a swim at Dalhousie Springs, landed at Mt Dare Station and had lunch at Oodnadatta Pub, a full days adventure for $1400 each.

Drove to Coward Springs which was an Oasis in the middle of no-where, $3 ea to enter, looked at the Spring which was a Spa big enough for 2 people, checked out the little Museum (built from Sandstone - could feel the temp difference when you entered...so cool) they grow date palms and sell all sorts of food, Date Ice cream, Date scones, Chocolate Coated Dates, Date Slice etc etc. We didn't have a dip as it was occupied but bought some Date stuff.

The landscape was really flat except for the occasional mound rising from a paddock and then the sand dunes started, just like when we crossed the Simpson Desert. The only animals we saw were four Cows being rounded up by a Gyrocopter and two lads on motor bikes.

When we arrived at William Creek we found a caravan park and a pub, checked in next to Tony and Paula. They were on their way to fly over Lake Eyre for $400, they loved it and took some great photo's.

Unfortunately they didn't fare so well travelling on the Oodnadatta Track - their freezer door opened and all the food spread everywhere, plus the front of the fridge broke, a draw got stuck and they couldn't put back or remove.

We had a couple of issues also, 2 of the plugs from Van to car broke off and dragged along, only cables left, lucky Wayne was prepared with spare plugs and the knowhow to fix. The kettle fell apart, the plug in the sink unscrewed itself and part is missing in the tank somewhere, couple of the buttons on the draws fell off. Not too bad with the corrugation, our dust system worked a treat, no dust at all in the Van.

Pauline and I sat chatting while the boys removed the draw in Tony's van, then Wayne and I went to the Pub for dinner, it was packed, standing room only in the bar. Really interesting country pub, heaps of history. Had to wait for a table so found a spare corner and sat in the bar to have a drink. In walks Charles Wooley from 60 Minutes and his film crew. It is a big deal that there is water in the Lake, it only filled up last Thursday and has already started to evaporate so wont last long.

Nice meal, back to park for shower.Læs mere