We left home at precisely 12:31 on Sunday July 1 and by 1:20pm we had stopped. The planning for today had changed plenty of times thanks to the boys soccer schedules. Dylan was playing the furthest away he possibly could from home in Ethelton, near Pt Adelaide with a 12 midday kickoff. Thankfully we had plenty of people willing to drop him off so we had arranged to meet at a central point for the exchange.
Then, we were off. Well, until 30 minutes later when I started hearing the murmurs from my darling front seat passenger about needing a toilet stop. Being the caring understanding type of man everyone wishes they could have in their life, I told her she would have to hold on at least until our usual stop in Dublin. (About an hour away 😎)
Then we were off. This time I knew we were going to make it at least an hour before I was going to be asked to stop.
There was no real set plan for tonight’s destination. I had mused at the thought of stopping somewhere near Pt Germein, however we had passed by and made it to Pt Augusta by about 5:30, so we pushed on to look for s rest stop on the side of the road.
We turned into a rest stop about 60Km North of Pt Augusta at a place called Ranges View where there were about 12 other vans. It was now dark and freezing but we found a good spot to set up.
There was a drop toilet up the other end of the rest area that was clean but smellier than any of us cared to experience. We had bought ourselves a little Thetford Port-A-Loo some years back, but never used it (not that I am ever going to be allowed to use it......). Thanks to the appeal of the seat over a hole we were offered, this got broken in over night by the girls, whilst us 3 boys made sure we were sound asleep and the snoring was loud enough to drown out all those potty noises that none of ever need to be hearing. (Nor seeing...)
We awoke to an amazing sunrise. Well the kids did anyway. I was up just after 7:15 which is that awkward time in the morning where it is too light to step outside the van in my boxers and Ugg boots to pee in the scrub land thanks to the other campers who are also up and about contemplating the same thing. It is also that time when everyone is going to the drop toilet and stirring up last nights sandwiches whilst the bugs zoom around precariously close to exposed bits that are never supposed to be made available to such disgusting critters.
The kids went for a walk across the vast expanse of scrub. I have this weird sensation of it being the same type of fields in American Werewolfe in London, and watching them walk off and disappear behind hills that I didn’t even know were there, was a bit of a moment.
Breakfast was toast and vegemite, as we admired our surroundings in a brisk 3 degrees.
We packed up and hit the road with the next stop at Glendambo for an early lunch. Then off to a stop about 100km short of Coober Pedy where the Port-A-Loo was once again broken out.
It was also here that I let go, and got in the passenger seat with Tracy driving the rest of the way. It’s not that I don’t trust her driving..... I just like to drive. And be in control. And not be put in a situation where I might have to tell someone how to do something...( ok, you all know that last bit is a lie, but it looked good as I was writing it. )
We made it safely to Coober Pedy, getting there at about 4pm. It becomes an extremely long day for some reason, despite Google Maps trying to convince us it is only 4 hours 45 apart. My calculations say we left at 9am and got here at 4, making it closer to 7 hours.
As we rolled into Coober Pedy, there were about 30 vans lined up at the Big 4.... which we were NOT staying at. We went into town where I had booked in at The Oasis. The lady at the counter just laughed and said “ I hope they booked in”, knowing that most probably hadn’t.
The sites here are a little squeezy, and we had one of the 10 sites with water, which I paid an extra $9 for. It is a super quiet park at night, with great big gates and fencing all around it to keep the locals out and to keep us safe. The amenities are reasonably new, with the showers requiring 20c for every 3 minutes of hot water needed. I reckon if my shower had actually been hot, I would have been willing to feed in the $2 of 20c coons I had.... but they were clever enough to reduce the temperature to just above outright cold so that nobody chose to stay in any longer than necessary.
Tomorrow we go exploring. Starting at the visitor information centre and then heading off into the streets to see what this town has to offer.
