Simpson Sojourn 2011: Day 14. Friday October 14th. Coober Pedy to a heading somewhere south. Port Augusta...maybe, maybe not.

Friday October 14^th. COOBER PEDY to a heading somewhere south. Port Augusta...maybe, maybe not.

With a few miles to put under the belt the next day, we planned for some who hadn’t seen much of CP to do some shopping/looking around while the rest of us packed up. As it turned out we were all up and about early and everyone was ready to leave about 8.45. Dad and I sorted fuel, air for tyres and supermarket shopping, while Stef and Steve showered and the rest of the crew went for a wander around CP.

Dad and I were forced to return to John’s Pizza for a coffee and I did a bit of an update to the blog, the others eventually gathered in dribs and drabs for coffees, gelati’s and milkshakes before we finally hit the road to head south.

Dad's Engel had been turned down, so there were a couple of frozen pepsi's to sort out...oops!!!

About 30kms out of CP, Meg and Stef pulled over and called for a bit of a discussion...one of the key catalysts for our trip was that Milani was keen to SEE Lake Eyre, following the fabulous ABC documentary she'd seen earlier in the year. Here we were heading home down the blacktop and realsised that one of the major aims of the trip was yet to be fulfilled. The option of heading back towards CP and out the road onto the Oodnadatta track towards William Creek and Lake Eyre, was put to the group...Cathy and Mike decided to continue on to Port Augusta, given that it was looking like a hot day and the car was playing up...so we wished them well and saw them continue on down the Stuart Highway. The rest of us did a‘u-ey’ and headed back to take the William Creek turn, on the way we visited the “underground camping’ that we couldn’t find the night before...it looked great and is definitely on the list for another time. Tyres were DEFLATED once more in preparation for the track.

Then into CP for a quick lunch and we finally started the day again, somewhere around 1.00.

that's a bit extreme Steve don't you think...cleaning lights...
especially when your indicators don't work!!

A plane flying into Coober Pedy.

"Beam me up Scotty" Ro in the light of one of the breather holes
at the underground campground.

Looking up a breather tube.

Yep, I reckon the tent would fit very nicely here, no wind, no pegs required.

Milani and the Thunder Dunny

cactus flower in the Gardens of Riba's Underground Campground

more cactii

On the way we detoured in to look at Lake Cadibarrawirracanna - the lake from the song about the "little lake in South Australia"

The sign for Lake Cadibarrawirracanna.

It was unreal to see so much water out her in the middle of nowhere

Milani overlooking the lake.

A banded...something or other bird...we think

Hit William Creek in howling wind ( seems its always windy in WC) we stopped into the pub for a drink and decided to book a couple of rooms for the night.

William Creek car park - blowy as usual (in my experience anyway)

Then off to see and touch Lake Eyre. A very rough road out to the Lake, saw Kerri and I bail out of Ska and into the other vehicles, to save doing any further damage and speed up the trip to the lake which was a bout 60kms of roughish, corrugated and potholed track.

Travelling with Steve and Reve out to the Lake

This was our first view of the Lake - it is out there on teh horizon.

Our first views of the Lake were pretty amazing, despite being almost blown away by the strength of hte wind. We then drove around to Halligan Bay, where we all traipsed out to the water and hat a fun time, paddling in the mud and extremely salty water. We had hoped to camp out here, but thank goodness common sense had prevailed at the pub, despite the drinks we had.

There it is, the shore of Lake Eyre.

Yep Ro, Pretty amazing standing in Lake Eyre.

Here me giving my feet a salt abrasion.

Here we are carefully stepping our way out through the salty mud.

sun over the Lake

Stef getting a shot

It was quite windy and the footing unsure...

There you go Milani, not only a LOOK but a paddle too...
pretty amazing!!!!

Yay, me and my shadow made it...tick paddle in Lake Eyre off the bucket list.

the wind whipped the water into the most amazing patterns.

Sun on all our footsteps in the Lake

We certainly made our mark.

A little salty spot with a strange piece of weed in it..us in the background

Then off for a very quick glance at ABC bay, before heading back to collect Ska.

Hurtling back to William Creek as the sunsets over a lone tree.

the jetstream was turned to gold in the sunset.

Back to our cosy cabins at WC for a quick tea of wraps for some and tinned stew for others, with a few drinks and lots of entertainment from the “hopping mice.” Meg wasn’t so impressed and Milani was very tired, so Reve, Milani and Meg headed off to bed in the girls room, joined later by Kerri and Nicola. The boys room was Stef, Steve, Ro and John.