Yulara to Catninga Station Stay SA

Day77 (Oct 1) Yulara to Marla SA.

A lazy start to the day, we filled up the water tank before leaving. Not sure how much we had lost with the broken tap so it's good to get it filled. On the road by 9:30. Put 10lt of diesel in at Erldunda , still a madhouse, then fuelled up 75km south at Kulgera roadhouse where it was 8 cents a lt cheaper.

Stopped at the NT/SA border for lunch and had to eat all the fruit and veggies because you can't take them n to SA. We planned to stop here for the night but it was only 1:30 so we kept driving. 

We checked out a few roadside stops further south but none was particularly inviting so we drove on to Marla. The camping ground is behind the roadhouse and has quite good facilities. The non powered area is grass but you can't put your vehicles on it. Set up so that the kitchen was over the grass, it was quite full by nightfall. 

Saw a group that we'd seen at Home Valley, they're 4 older guys travelling in a couple of 4wds and campers from NSW and they were heading back home via the Oodnadatta Track after an eight week trip. Leftover chow mien for dinner. 

521.8km travelled.

Day78 (Oct 2) Marla SA to Coober Pedy.

Not far to go today so a cooked breakfast before we packed up and set out about 9:45. A few spots of rain but not enough to cause any concern and it was cloudy all day. Checked in to the Opal Inn caravan park about 11:30. Mostly quite small sites but ours was plenty big enough. There was a sign at reception saying the Stuart Highway will be closed today from 2pm until 10pm. The receptionist couldn't tell us much more in regards to what days it would be shut so we'll have to keep trying to find out information.

Went for a walk in town to check out the opals. The first shop we went into, we got given an opal and also a bag of chips, or small bits of opal that looks like rock. I guess it's very competitive, the guy told us there were 20 shops in town. He was really good to talk to and gave us a good insight into what it was like to grow up there. His parents were immigrants from Greece, who'd moved to Sydney initially, then to Coober Pedy 42years ago for 3 months and never left. He made all the jewellery in the shop, which we came to find was a common theme in the shops we went into. Try as he might, he couldn't convince us to buy anything, even with his “generous” discounts of $1!! We eventually bought a pendant for Carol from another place in town. 

Headed back to camp via the bakery where we bought a tasty blueberry muffin each. Leftover salmon rissoles for dinner. 

242.8km travelled.

Day79 (Oct 3) Coober Pedy.

We booked a tour starting at 1pm for today, so this morning we walked into town again and to the Old Timers Mine where we did a self guided tour. Very interesting place showing how the miners operated in the early days. Stopped on the way back to camp at the butchers for some goat meat and the bakery where we bought a pie which had big wraps on Wiki Camps. Have to say, sadly, it didn't live up to the hype.

The tour was with Noble Tours and was great. We went to Umoona which was on of the original mines in town until mining was banned there because of safety fears. It has a museum and a shop, of course, plus Aaron the tour guide took us through a part of the old mine. 

Next up was the Serbian underground church.

Then Faye's House which was built by 3 women over a 10 year period and is a fascinating story. 

Then it was out to The Breakaways a little out of town via the dingo fence which goes all the way to Queensland. 

Finally there was a special treat when Aaron took us onto the opal fields to his claim, really special to be able to drive in there and see how it is all done today. Excellent afternoon and if you are ever in Coober Pedy I can thoroughly recommend Noble's Tours. 

I found Coober Pedy to be a very fascinating place. While physically it is almost totally unattractive, the stories of the people who started the mining and those that are still there today is amazing. Leftover teriyaki beef for dinner. 0Km travelled (driven)

Day80 (Oct 4) Coober Pedy to Kingoonya.

Went into town after breakfast and found Carol a pair of earrings that were a pretty good match for her pendant. We wanted to have a look in Josephine's Gallery but it was shut so we went and fuelled up and Carol did a bit of shopping. Still shut so we went back to camp and packed up the camper and got on the road by 9:45. Carol had found a number to ring about the Stuart Highway closures and we found out it would be closed today from 3pm until 11pm. We were well off it by then, got to the Kingoonya Pub about 12:45. The last 45km or so is a gravel road but apart from a couple of corrugated parts and a couple off wet bits it was no problem. Set up in the caravan park behind the pub, only small but as showers and toilets which were very clean. 

Had some lunch and then caught up with some blog stuff and Carol did some work. Flies were the worst we have struck on the whole trip so far I think. Had dinner at the pub, we both had flathead which was very nice and chatted to some of the locals around the fire. There was a cold wind blowing and we both ended up with our thick jackets on. Back to the camper to find a group had set up right next door to us. Thy chatted around the fire until quite late, not that I heard them. 

251.4km travelled.

Day81 (Oct 5) Kingoonya to Catninga Station Stay.

Up with the light and on the road by 8:30. After being told by the locals last night that the road out to the highway was pretty corrugated, we decided to take the road we had come in on. It is only about an extra 50km and probably take about the same time. 

We put 20l of fuel in at the Glendambo Roadhouse which was enough to get us to Port Augusta. Lots of long straight roads and the SA drivers aren't fussed when they pass you, not bothering to wait for a straight and going passed on corners which is a bit concerning. Being school holidays, everyone seems to be in a hurry too of course. Stopped in Port Augusta for fuel and some shopping. Not overly easy to find a park with the camper on but managed to find a place down by the foreshore. Took up a couple of parking bays but thems the breaks. Nice looking foreshore it is too. Headed out of town to our destination, Catninga Station Stay. Found it OK, Carol had an email to say the owners would be away all day but someone would be there to show us where everything was. No-one answered the back door when we rang the bell, so we parked under a tree until a young lady finally appeared. She wasn't too p on where everything was, she sent us back down the road to see the bush camping sites saying it was a 10 minute walk. We walk down a fair way and couldn't see any signs so decided to set up at the back of the house where there was some shade and it was reasonably flat. It's also close to the shower and toilet. The flies were terrible so we decided to put up the screen room for the car awning that we bought before Christmas but hadn't had to use yet. 

The site has a fire pit so we had a fire, it was quite cool and thankfully the flies disappeared about 5. 

Moroccan Goat for dinner. 

418.9km travelled

Day82 & 83(Oct 6&7) Catninga Station Stay.

We had organised to receive a phone call from the Eurobodella Council this afternoon, to discuss what is happening with the new sewage system that is being installed in the village. We didn't venture far away from camp, most of the day was spent updating the blog and planning where we might go next. We thought we might stay at Hahndorf Caravan Park which is not far away from Mt barker where the Pioneer agent is. It's quite dear though and Carol found a farm stay which is 30km away. They only take one van at a time and you have to be self sufficient but it sounds like a nice place. Sent them an email and got a reply to say the 3 nights we want are free so that's good. The call from the council rep was good, he was on site and it was a matter of discussing where the manhole for the pump and the pump controller would go. Not sure when exactly it's going in but it will be good to get rid of the bio-cycle which has given a few problems over the years.

The owner came by as well and it was nice to meet them and have a chat. Bought some fresh eggs but they are out of meat unfortunately. Also got some firewood, the first lot is free and then its $10 a load after that which seems pretty fair. I think what was dropped off plus what we have will be plenty for the next 2 nights. Daylight saving starts tomorrow, its been a while since we had to set our clocks for that. Look forward to taking advantage of it …................... until we're back in Queensland of course!

Penang chicken for dinner.

Sunday we had a cooked breakfast, bacon and fresh eggs yumm. Went for a walk after we cleaned up, there's a hut behind the hills we can see that is used as a base for climbing Mt Brown. We missed the start somehow but found the white markers after back tracking. It was quite a challenging walk, steep in parts but there was some shade to keep us cool. Stopped after 1 1/2 hrs and wiki camps said that the hut was 1.7km further on and we had walked 1.6km from the camp. We had a bite to eat and decided that we'd gone far enough. Retraced our steps back to camp and had lunch. 

While we were sitting there, a whirly-whirly sprung up and went straight through the washing which was drying on the frame. Needless to say some of it looks like it hasn't been washed! Carol had a Nana nap after lunch and I retired to the screen room away from the flies and got up to date with the blog! Sausages for dinner. 0km travelled for the 2 days.