Just a few photos

 

Day 9- We ended back at William Creek

 After a casual pickup and a walk,we headed back out to the Oodnadatta track. once again it was an ordeal, but I drove better this time around and we arrived at the main road with minimal damage. However we were low on water and high on sewerage,so we decided to backtrack to WC and tidy up a bit. Our original intention was to head down the track towards the Flinders. We camped across from the pub, had a shower and went out for dinner. We all had a lovely evening. Hopefully tomorrow we can make Brachina Gorge in the flinders. We have 4 days to get the kids to Broken Hill to meet their flight home. 

You don’t see this every day- woke early to an amazing sight

 I decided to. Sleep in my swag last night as the weather is mild and the moon only 2 days from full. At 5.30 got up and went down to the lake with my camera. It was a cold wait but I was treated to a spectacular moon set. Actually two as it set above and then below the cloud bank. I then walked across the peninsula and waited for sunrise and managed to get it too.  

Above the cloud

Below the cloud

 

As I took photos with my Nikon, I held the iPhone between my knees and took a time lapse. It turned out ok considering 

Then the sunrise 

 

Not a drone, just a tall ladder

Drones are not allowed here. Of course 20 flights a day passing over at 500 ft is Ok ?

Day 8- Take a breath

 After 7 days of travel it was time for a rest day. That’s something that has never come easy to me. We woke to cloud cover and a cool/cold easterly. We rugged up ( no fires allowed) and have spent the day exploring the lake. The geology is fascinating, all the better to have our own geologist on board. This afternoon we all had a nap/rest. Late arvo is upon us and the light is beautiful. The campground is virtually deserted,and we will risk a fire tonight. Lisa has caught the head cold from Ash and Oshie and feeling abit miserable. William has opened a shop in the back of B100 and selling our provisions. Our food storage area he affectionately calls Woolworths. Actually he is not far wrong. Lisa has an incredibly well stocked pantry. No surprise

National parks would like to ensure nobody has any kind of enjoyable experience here. 

From my drone ( also illegal in national park?

View from the Tree house

👍Wills Pleasure Palace at Lake Eyre

 

Day 7- William Creek to Lake Eyre

 Even though it was only 60 odd kms from William Creek to Halligans Bay on Lake Eyre, it wasn’t exactly an easy drive. The corrugations made the Gibb River Rd seem like a doddle. It’s always tricky to find the sweet speed on corrugated roads. I decided to leave my tyre pressures as normal and see how it went. I might try dropping them on the way back. The corregations were so extreme that I kept losing my brake pedal. It’s pretty disconcerting to break for a massive bull dust hole only to have your foot go straight to the floor. The truck and trailer arrived with only a few minor issues to attend to. I took the advice of a wikicamp review and turned into the overflow camping area at the national parks campground. We headed for the farthest corner and secured a fantastic private spot. They only allow 20 vehicles to book. Our view is spectacular, especially from the tree house.

William Creek 1979

Purport today was telling us about the history of William creek , in particular how the aviation thing got started. He mentioned that they used to land on the Oodnadatta track and park in front of the pub. He couldn't believe it when I pulled out my phone and showed him this photo from 1979. Of course he wasn't even born and telling stories that had been passed down 

Lake Eyre Flight Experience

Our flight over the lake was breathtaking. Photos cannot do it justice. The scale of the lake and the country surrounding it was quite incredible. I'm not sure if I enjoyed flying over Anna Station more or less than the actual lake. We flew over the campsite that I am writing this post from at 500 feet. Our pilot was awesome and I was lucky to be picked as his copilot. 

Regards,

Mike Coates
Mikecoatesy@gmail.com
0418650318

Sunset Over Lake Eyre

 

Day 6 - To William Creek via the Boreline Track

 Today was only 260kms but it took nearly 4 hours of hard driving. The Boreline track runs from the Olympic Dam mine site and runs up to Meet the Oodnadatta track. We fuelled and watered at Roxby Downs, and with 320 litres of Diesel, 220 litres of water and more bananas, we headed north. The road was pretty good by outback standards but as usual could catch you out at a moment’s notice. A bull dust hole or a series of massive corrugations. Will was so happy to see some Emu’s. There was very little traffic. We passed lake eyre south which was looking pretty full, and arrived at William Creek by3pm. Against all my feelings about camp grounds we have set up in one opposite the pub. Our flight over lake eyre is at 9.30 so we had little choice but to stay here. Despite the other humans we have a great private spot as far from everyone as physically possible.

We got a  spot close to the airstrip 😂

Day 5 - The new arrivals

 Well it was a horrible night. Even though we got on the southern  side of the Point we still copped a hammering from the 60kph northerly wind. I was up and down all night. We packed up early without breakfast and crawled our way out of the bush track we had snuck down the night before. We decided to drive back to the point Lowey facility as we knew where there was a tap that we could top off our water before the kids join. While we were there we headed down the road to yesterday’s dive site as they had a coffee van. It was closed but the owner was sitting by a fire so he opened up for us and made coffee and ham and cheese toasties. Then we headed to town to Whyalla to get supplies for the next 7 days until we get to Leigh creek. We decided to go to a landscape yard and buy some wood. I feel bad about roadside collecting. We bought  bulker bag of yellow box from Wolgan and ther wasn’t enough left for the trip. They let us refill our bulker bag and weighed our truck before and after to determine how much we got. It was super interesting the find out the whole rig with food people and water is about 8.3 tonnes. 

We went to the airport and picked the kids up and hit the road. 359 kms to andanooka opal town near Olympic Dam. We camped off the road in the red sand. Will is beside himself. Even saw his first emu. We played “ old man emu” to celebrate. Lisa cooked a lovely ravioli dinner with garlic bread and Henchke Kineton. The kids moved into the camper and Lisa and I have moved into the tree house

. 

Day 4 - Who would believe it

 So we packed up camp to move to a more protected place because the Northerly Winds were horrendous. We crossed over to Point Lowry from Fitzgerald Bay. We decided to visit the lighthouse. We drove past a dirt road with a sign that said” event in progress “ and decided to drive down for a look. It was an area of the bay where the Giant Cuttlefish meet up every year to mate. Apparently people come from all over the world to see them. There was a temporary dive shop set up. We hired some gear and went to see what all the fuss was about. 11 degree water requires 7mm wet suits and inner suits, hooded vests and thermal gloves. Lisa also hired a heated vest. It was bloody cold. We only managed a 39 minute bottom time but it was amazing. 

After a warm shower in the camper we headed off to find a protected camp for the night. Our spot looks straight across the bay to the Whyalla Steel Works. 

Diving with the Giant Cuttlefish in Spencer Gulf SA

 

Giant Cuttlefish Diving Adventure

 

View from my swag this morning

Day 3 - Spencer Gulf 501Kms

A long but enjoyable day, we spent about 5-1/2 hours on the road. The country was spectacular as always. We found a magnificent spot on Spencer Gulf just north of Whyalla ( thanks to WikiCamps ). Tomorrow we will do some exploring and get organised for the arrival of Ash and Ooshie on Monday.

Day 2 - off to Broken Hill 475 Kms

After a cool start at a free camp near Cobar we headed for Willcania. The weather was shite. The truck is going gangbusters. Averaged better than 18 LPH. The rain cleared by mid arvo and it actually got to 16 degrees.

We found an excellent bush camp about 6 kms north of broken hill. It’s a wonderful high point looking west. The sunset was spectacular.

The old and the new

 

Nice combo of Red and Brown mud on B100

Day 1 550Kms to Cobar NSW

well day one was pretty uneventful after a cold and wet start oh I forgot muddy we headed for Mudgee to Lisa‘s favourite coffee and French pastry shop and then across round the back of Dubbo all the way to Cobar. The last hour was a bit of a Drag. The truck is going awesome and the new chip is delivering great fuel economy at 17 L per hundred kilometres. We have a lovely camp in Cobar by the reservoir. Our hip camp reservation was cancelled last minute due to some rain last night.

Our first trip to Central Australia

Our First day out in 1978

Packing up

 

It’s official, Lake Eyre is Full

Lake Eyre is now at capacity

It’s been a while

Tomorrow we are heading to Central Australia. The plan is to visit Lake Eyre and hopefully see it full of water. We have been preparing for the trip for the last couple of months. That is my favourite part. This will be the first run for B100 ( our new Iveco Desert Tourer) we are towing a small hybrid camper as our slide on us still not built. We will be travelling with Ash and Will. They are flying to Whyalla and we pick them up in 5 days. We will then drive up to William Creek for a joy flight over the lake.

Last weekend we had a test camp it was minus 4 overnight . Here is the rig all set up