DAY 11

DAY 11

1^st July

Chez and I got up before sunrise and headed out onto the lake. Fiona soon joined us. We took a tonne of photos and watched the big orange ball rising up over the lake. We spent an hour in what felt like a freezer, brrr... Hope the photos are okay.

We decided we didn’t need to stay here another night so we packed up after breakfast and headed back out towards William Creek, and then north up the Oodnadatta Track towards the Painted Desert. The track follows the Old Ghan Railway which closed in 1980. Several spots along the way contained ruins such as Algebuckina Ruins. We stopped at a few of these ruins for a look and some photos. The kids enjoyed playing and exploring. We also had a look at Algebuckina Bridge, which was the longest bridge on the Old Ghan Railway.

Just before Oodnadatta we took a left turn out towards the Painted Desert. We got to see some of the Moon Desert but didn’t have enough daylight left to get right into the lookouts at Painted Desert. I was disappointed but we turned back up the road towards Hookey’s Waterhole, part of the Neale River System, to set up camp for the night. This is the only permanent waterhole in the area, and was full of bird life and some lovely trees.

Peter must really have been targeted with some sort of bad luck curse...as they shut a door the back window of their car shattered!! Poor Pete and Anthea L Bruce and Col went in to Oodnadatta and bought some plastic and duck tape for a temporary window. We set up camp and were soon joined by a few other campers. One lot had just been across the Simpson Desert East to West, so it was interesting hearing his stories. We had happy hour followed by dinner around the camp fire. A clear, cold night ahead of us.