And We're Bound for South Australia!

22nd June 2013

Well we took our time this morning as we had planned to catch up with Sandra at around 10am before she started work, that and the fact that it had got down to 0.1 degree overnight, meant we weren't in a rush to head away from the heater anyway, so it worked out very well.

Checking out the Emus at Erldunda with Nana San

Once we had thawed out, we spent the morning with Sandra having a coffee and chatting some more before saying our goodbyes. We went up and saw the Emus which were on the property and the girls also had their photos taken with a large echidna and frilled  neck lizard float which was pretty quirky. The girls were also treated to some gifts from Sandra which was very kind.

Told you they were quirky?

We got on the road just after 11.30am, bound for the South Australian border which was only 90kms away. When we got to the border we stopped for a photo and had planned to have lunch there, however the flies were that bad that we took the photo and had to quickly jump back in the car so we weren't carried away.

At the SA Border before the flies tried to carry us away!

So after eating lunch in the car we continued on our way. This morning we had made a slight change of plans and decided to head toward Oodnadatta and the iconic Pink Roadhouse and after a little research decided that the best way to go was through an area known as the Painted Desert and again it was a great call.

We drove on the highway seeing very little for 200kms apart from burnt our car bodies along the side of the road. I kid you not we would have seen about 15 in different spots along the Hwy. We drove until Cadney Roadhouse, where we stopped for fuel before turning onto the Painted Desert Road, enroute to Oodnadata.

Camping near Painted Desert SA

We drive for about 40kms on what was a pretty good dirt road until about 5pm when we decided to pull up for the night. We found a beautiful area with small ranges around us, set up collected some fire wood and then climbed one of the hills where we sat and watched a the sunset which was great as the colours changed on the ranges around us. After dinner we sat around the fire, reminisced about some of the highlights of our trip, had a good laugh & toasted marshmallows before turning in for the night.

Sunset in the SA Desert

The girls enjoying the fire under the moon