DAY12

DAY 12

2^nd July

The condensation on the inside of our swags had frozen. It was a chilly night. After breakfast it was another pack up, then in to Oodnadatta, ”The Pink Roadhouse” for the last opportunity to fill up fuel and water before crossing the Simpson. $2.15 per litre for petrol!! An “Old Ghan Railway” town Oodnadatta is known as the driest and hottest town in Australia!

 Nice and mild today though. Once loaded it was N.W. travelling to Dalhousie Springs. We were all looking forward to a good soak!! We stopped along the road to load up with some firewood. Back on the road there were lots of corrugations, but the road wasn’t too bad otherwise. Along the road we came across another party of travellers that were heading west. A couple of them were also towing T-Vans- it was Kim and Jim that did the photography course at the zoo with Mum and I. What a small world. A quick conversation with them via radio only. They had a good run across the desert, only stuck briefly on one dune. After a quick stop to check out Dalhousie Homestead ruins, we finally made it to Dalhousie Springs.

We couldn’t wait to get our swimmers in our swimmers and have a nice long soak in the spring, 38 degrees of warmth. The kids did lots of swimming. They all got out with very, very red faces. The little 3cm long fish unique to the spring enjoyed nibbling on our legs and bodies if we stayed still long enough. Chelsea loved floating around in the water.

After a quick bite to eat we headed on into the Simpson Desert. We counted 44 sand dunes then turned off the track to set up camp for a couple of nights. We were two sand dunes east of Purni Bore, the accidental lake formed when an oil dredge found bore water instead of oil. Kites circled above us, and we watched the sun set with pink and purple colours over the dunes. The moon near full was shining above us. A campfire was appreciated once again ready for a chilly night. Jack, Cheryl and Col saw a big asteroid that they insisted entered the atmosphere.