Day 5 - Almost Beyond South Australia

We spent Wednesday night in the beautiful and quaint town of Burra, SA. While there, our excellent physician from Mildura rang to confirm his suspicions were correct – Dave has a staph (cellulitis) infection in his toe and knee. No wonder it was been so painful. However, the pain and swelling are gradually reducing on antibiotics. I knew things were looking up by Wednesday night when Dave finally decided to pull out his camera – he hadn’t taken a single shot since Murrumbateman!

Since Dave was a little laid up with his bad leg - especially on Tuesday after his little knee operation  - I have been forced to drive the rig more, a crash course in manoeuvring and reversing through various parking lots and caravan parks. Fortunately Dave is very good at directing and both our caravan and marriage are still intact.

Burra (Liz)

Burra (Liz)

Thursday night was spent at a rest stop near Lake Hart, alongside the railway line. The Indian Pacific came through at about 7.30am, much to Dave’s delight (yes, of course he was up doing sunrise shots.)

Dave & Liz at Lake Hart (Dave)

Lake Hart Rest Stop AKA campground (Dave)

Lake Hart (Dave)

Lake Hart Sunrise (Dave)

Today we passed through Coober Pedy, stopping only for lunch and fuel. For our overseas friends – this is pretty much the wild, wild west of Australia, albeit situated much nearer the middle of the country. A hard core mining town in one of the hottest places in Australia, many of the dwellings are built underground to deal with the heat during summer. Digital signs light up on the approach, warning visitors to lock up valuables and not leave anything unsecured under any circumstances. All shops and residences have bars on the window, even the town opp shop. You get the picture. The place is a strange juxtaposition of wealthy miners, many tourists passing through in their large rigs, and the largely underprivileged indigenous population. If you ever want to purchase one of Australia’s famous opals – this is the place to come. It is reasonably safe for people – just not so much for their possessions.

Entrance to Coober Pedy (Dave)

Tonight (Friday), we have made it to Marla, planning the run into Yulara (Ayer’s Rock) tomorrow. Camping sites are booked out, but we should be able to fit into the campground’s overflow paddock. All the cheaper "Field of Lights" event tours are also booked solid, so we had to secure one of the more expensive "A Night at Field of Lights" packages, and Dave will have to endure a fancy gourmet feed - advertised as "A carefully curated 3-course bush tucker inspired buffet menu". We bet the jolly swagman never had such a menu. We are especially  looking forward to the paperbark smoked crocodile frittata (canape) and dukkha seared kangaroo loin on quandong cous cous (main). Dave is a bit suspicious that the warm flourless chocolate and wattleseed slice won't be as good as mudcake. 

We are both still struggling with minor colds, but all else is going reasonably well, Dave’s leg infection notwithstanding (hmm, literally).

Signing off, Liz.