Another brisk morning with 5C on waking up at sunrise around 7am. There was a bit of moisture around which was probably from mist rather than rain showers. It was a reasonable spot during the night with a few trucks heading through.
Before packing up and hitting the road, I sent the drone up to have a look around. There is not much out here apart from low scrub and the Stuart Highway.
The amount of traffic heading south was amazing with the majority returning home after the Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs. My travel waving fingers were getting a workout, needing to alternate between hands to have a rest. (Travel waving is an Aussie thing where you lift a finger to “wave” to a fellow traveller coming towards you.)
Not far north from where I had camped, there was a few kilometres of fog then some dust from a mining operation before back to blue skies.
A quick stop in Coober Pedy for a couple of geocaches, refuelling and the obligatory photo at the Coober Pedy truck before the return of cloud and even some more showers.
Arriving at Marla, it was like Rundle Street in Adelaide with traffic and people everywhere. Judging from the motorbikes, off-road buggies it was obvious they were all returning from Finke. There was no point grabbing a bite to eat as there was a large queue in the Marla Café.
From Marla to the Border the traffic heading from the north was again non-stop. I ended up stopping at a pullover and made a toasted bacon and cheese sandwich for lunch. The battery in the Taj would not run the inverter (looks like a new battery coming in Alice Springs).
Camping for tonight was to be at Stuarts Well Roadhouse. I have driven past here many times and event stopped here but never camped here. The sun had just set when I arrived but I had booked ahead so there was a powered site for me.
The guy behind the counter greeted me then said, “You don’t remember me do you?” He was right, I didn’t. It was a Burnside CFS Member, David Baker, I have met in years gone past, who is now Assistant Manager for the Roadhouse for something different.
I didn’t feel like cooking, so it was into the roadhouse for a mushroom chicken schnitzel and a Jim Beam.
Distance for the day was 771 kms. Fuel costs were $2.21 per litre.
