Day 16 – 18 Aug

And so the adventure tapers off to its bitter-sweet end and each of us take away something personal from the experience. No doubt some food for thought which will be drawn upon in quiet times of rumination. And as the immediacy of our adventure fades in its vividness and becomes a blur as time passes, there will remain certain moments, feelings and experiences that will crystallize and help to shape our thinking and emotions and become part of who we are forever. I have taken away from the experience a new respect and appreciation for this land and its people. I have been amazed by its ruggedness but also its beauty, serenity and nurturing qualities. You have to respect this land out here because we can be walking on the precipice of disaster and it should never be taken for granted. And so, to my new found friends and fellow journeymen, I say ‘Good bye and Farewell, may our paths soon cross again’. Thanks for sharing the experience, it’s been real……..

Day 15 – 17 Aug

The Marree School went well and we bid adieu to our new friends and headed off to Leigh Creek about 120km away. We arrived on time at 12:30 with nothing much of interest in between apart from a lovely rest stop at Copley where indulged in a real coffee and a really nice meat pie. We completed the work at 3:30pm and then were back on the road. This time though we headed into the Flinders ranges and the landscape changed quite significantly to rocky mountain sides, trees (green, live ones) and a beautiful winding mountain road. Suddenly there were kangaroos, wallabies and emus everywhere! After taking a few hundred (exaggerationJ) shots of these I said to George that he had organized everything well in terms of the wildlife except that I hadn’t seen an Echidna yet. About a minute later as we rounded a bend there was an Echidna obliviously making its way across the track. We pulled over immediately and spent the next 20 minutes doing a photo shoot .The Echidna was very cooperative. We continued on through the mountains, dodging the odd kangaroo with a death-wish and arrived at Hawker around dinner time. The local served up a beautiful scotch fillet and the rest of the boys decided on the local surf-and-turf variant. The last night on the road for us and I am looking forward to getting back to civilization, a shave, shower, and some fresh seafood.

Day 14 – 16 Aug

We made it in adequate time last night to beat the storm which finally rolled into
Marree at about 10:30pm. David and George decided to bunk early and Bren and I
waited up for the deluge. We had to share the 3 drops that fell between us but the
lightening was spectacular.
We've had a quiet day today as we're all missing home and loved ones I think. The temparature
had dropped quite a bit today and the wind was up. We drove around Marree (3 times) and
drove out onto the Birdsville Track for about 300m. The town is now , like most of the towns
on the track, very quiet and feels almost abandoned. There are a couple of old engines sitting
on unused railway sidings but not much else. The other thing that Marree is famous for
of course is the Marree Man (google it) but this can only be seen from the air. Tomorrow
morning its back to work and we have a big day tomorrow as we complete Marree in the
morning then head 120km south to Leigh creek. Thats the last of the schools for us.

Day 13 – 15 Aug

William creek also happens to be quite a significant centre for flight tours
over lake Eyre and we were surprised by the number of small planes on the airfield
and the amount of tourists that go through here. Back on the Oodnadatta track again
today and still no sign of wildlife. I'm beginning to think that there's more
kangaroos in Canberra than there are out here in the outback. We visited Anna Creek Station
which is the largest cattle station in Australia and had a quick look around before getting back onto the track.
As I've mentioned before the landscape is very dry, dusty and flat as far as the eye can see. But, surprisingly,
there are a couple of spots with natural springs that come up from the artesian basin.
We stopped to have a look at the spa at Cooper Springs and had a quick dip (as you do) and
the water was quite warm although very minerally (I think thats a word). We also had a look
at mound springs which is where the water bubbles up through the desert and over the
milinnia forms a mound of silicate type rock and sand which has its own ecology. Its
described as an island water in a sea of desert. We stopped at a lookout to Lake Eyre but
of course there was no water here and the last time it had water was sometime in late 1980's.
The beautiful sunset though was worth seeing and the clouds looked a bit stormy.
Our intention today was to take a slow trip and camp under the stars somewhere along the
track. We picked a spot about 80km from Marree
and proceeded to dissassemble a couple of dead trees for fire wood. Much to our
disappointment though the clouds in the distance seemed to travel quite fast in our
direction with a few lightening streaks thrown in for good measure. Sanity (and dedication
to duty) prevailing, we decided not to risk staying out in the open on rather soft
desert sand and made a hasty exit and headed post-haste to Marree.

Day 12 – 14 Aug

We were kinda glad to get out of the house at Oodnadatta this morning as we're all convinced
that something has died in the water tank. Needless to say there was no drinking or bathing
happening here (fortunately we don't have to visit any schools today)! Anyway, alls good
in the wilderness and its just another experience. Did not see much wildlife on the track
today just the odd kestrel and a few cows. About 70 km into the trip we heard a huge bang
and discovered the rear window of the Landcruiser had shattered. We must have caught a
rock from one of the 'Bush Bash' cars that sped past us in the other direction. It was time
again for Bren to play bush mechanic and two rolls of duct tape later we were ready to role.
We stopped at a place called Agebuckina bridge which was part of the old Ghan that used
to run parrallel to the Oodnadatta track. A wreck of Fred's old FB holden is still there
where Fred tried to cross the tracks when the creek was flooded and didn't make it very far
before being cleaned up by a train. We arrived at William Creak, a small 'town' with a pub
and caravan park. We set the swags up under the roof of the BBQ area and headed over to the
pub for dinner. We met a couple of young blokes up from Roxby Downs for the weekend (miners)
and luckily for use one of them could sing and play the guitar and we were treated to a
private show (Think Jack Black of the bush). Tomorrow we continue on the Oodnadatta track
out to Marree.

Day 11 – 13 Aug

We woke up this morning to find that we had lost a dust cap on one of the trailer wheels probably coming through the rough part of the track out from Kenmore Park. We couldn’t proceed until we got a new one as the trailer wheel will seize up once the dust gets in there. Our choices were to try and buy one from the local servo, find one at the wreckers or…… play Bush Mechanics. Mr ingenuity, Bren, decided to have a go and managed to fashion a reasonable dust cap out of the bottom of a water bottle, duct tape and zip ties. Not a bad effort really! Been wandering what happens to all those burned out car wrecks (and we’ve seen probably in excess of 200), we spotted this 3 trailer truck just before leaving Marla. Seems that someone does actually collect them every now and then. On our way to the other side of the Stuart Hwy to Oodnadatta now. The landscape is decidedly different with a lot more of a desert look. Very dry pale instead of red sand. We got the keys to the local govt house here in Oodnadatta and so everyone has their own room (and bed) again. I have really gotten used to the swag and opted for that instead. Oodnadatta is very deserted. The old Ghan used to run through here in its heyday but now its just dry and dusty with a few old railway carriages lying around. There are not many street lights out here and no moon tonight which makes for an exceptional night sky. Tomorrow is a travel day for us as we need to make our way out to Marree which is about 400km from here. We will probably take an easy trip with a few stops in between and may yet spend our first night sleeping under the stars.

Day 10 – 12 Aug

You never know when you may need a helping hand out here… I didn’t quite get the departure checklist right at Murputja and left one of our laptops at the school. Kenmore park is about 400km from Murputja and getting the laptop back meant that we would need to back track (an 800km round trip) and this would cause significant slippage in the schedule (PM speak). I decided to press my luck and call the cops out at Murputja to see if they were heading our way. Fortunately, Rob, the duty Sergeant, was scheduled to run a court session out at Ernabella, which was only 35km from where we were and he kindly offered to bring the laptop out for me. The work at Kenmore Park went well. All of the community (including the kids) was at a funeral and Sorry Camp down in Yatala and so the school was empty except for the teachers. We finished up at Kenmore Park and headed east for 300km and out of the APY lands and back onto the Stuart Hwy to Marla. We got accommodation at the Marla road house as we did several days ago and had a nice relaxing wind down. Back to civilization of sorts with a bit of TV and a public phone. The 3G even works here…

Day 9 – 11 Aug

The Murputja School was very pleasant. It serviced two neighboring communities and so there is no settlement here except for the police and teachers housing. Having finished up here, we decided to take the low track back to Amata (having taken the high track on the way in) and the road was fine. I woke this morning feeling a bit emotional about what we have seen in the communities so far but won’t get on my soap box with any socio-political commentary as this is definitely not the forum for it – a good dose of Midnight Oil on the iPod for a couple of hours soon brought me back. We stopped at an old cattle station for a cup of billy tea. George’s fire got a bit out of control but we managed to settle it down and get the billy on. We stopped at Ernabella for lunch and supplies and had a really nice hamburger from the local takeaway (yeah I was surprised too!). We met Peter , the Community Elder and had a bit of chat with him – ooah. We thought that our Ernabella donkey was very special but came across a whole herd of them on the way out. We arrived at Kenmore Park in plenty of time for a BBQ and then settled into the school hall. Bren was really pleased as he decided to sleep on the gym mat. Kenmore Park is the last of the schools that we’re visiting on the APY lands.

Day 8 – 10 Aug

The principle of the Pip school was schedule to have an interview for her job this morning and so we rearranged the schedule slightly and headed down to Watarru in the morning to do that first and then back to Pip in he afternoon to complete the work there. We left the trailer at Pip which made the trip down to Watarru a little bit quicker. Watarru is a lovely place with only about 10 students at the school. There were originally two Aboriginal family groups at Watarru but due to a feud, 1 of the families has recently moved to Amata. On the way back to Pip we stopped at a manual water bore and had a go at the pump. We also caught site of the local wreckers, but interestingly, the locals have found a really good use for old car bonnets – they use them as make-shift road signs! And so we say goodbye to the outer lands and Pip in particular which is just an absolutely beautiful part of the world, and head out to Murputja. We spotted an eagle that had caught a dog for lunch but I won’t put that picture up here. Upon arriving at Murputja, we were lucky enough to get whole house to ourselves and almost a room each. We visited the local police barracks and said hello to the cops we met on the way in (you never know when you may need a helping hand out here!).

Day 7 – 9 Aug

Its quite pleasant here at Pip and the landscape is truly impressive. We took the opportunity to catch up on some laundry, reading and rest in the morning. The weather has been quite warm up here around 28 degrees. This afternoon we drove out to the Surveyor General’s Corner where the borders of the three states meet and had some mucking around with photos – In the photo with Bren, David and I, we are actually each in a different state at the same time. More and more camels……. This evening we drove a short distance out of town to catch the sunset.

Day 6 – 8 Aug

On our way to Pipalyatjara today we came across a couple of wild dingoes and they were kind enough to stop and let us take a photo. We also saw many herds of camels on this leg, which was quite a suprise. And of coaurse there there were lots of wrecked cars. Pip is a beatiful and serene part of the country and is surprisingl clean and welcoming. It is surround by three hills which wil look spledid at sunset and sunrise. Will have to take some photos before we leave. I have contacted the school priniciple and we'll be bunking out in the CDC centre again tonight. Looking forward to some down time.

Day 5 – 7 Aug

We worked until late last night and submitted our documentation via email whilst we had a mobile broadband connection and had an early start this morning. Our friend the donkey had managed to track us to the school and followed us around as we worked. We completed the work at Ernabella and then headed out to Amata. There were two tracks leading from Ernabella to Amata and we were advised to take the high road due to the hazardous conditions of the lower track. The high road took us just over the boarder into the Northern Territory by about 5km and then after about 20 minutes, back down into South Australia and in to Amata. We haven’t seen as many wrecks as we did earlier but got caught behind a long road train hauling bull-dozers, graders and trucks. How do you overtake a large road train on a dirt track? You wait for the truck driver to spot you through the dust cloud and then get a call from him on the radio telling you that he’ll move over for you. I finally spotted an old bull camel for Kieran and this time we stopped and he wandered around long enough for me get a photo. We are now at Amata and have completed the work here. The principle has given us permission to spend the night in the pre-school building which has access to a kitchen, toilets and showers. There has been an outdoor church event across the way that has been going on for about 4 hours with lots of music. Its been interesting listening to some familiar songs sung in Pitjantjatjara. We have set up our swags in the classroom now and I think everyone is looking forward to a bit of a sleep in tomorrow morning before we head off on our 200+km trip out to our furthest destination – Pipalyatjara. Pip (as the locals call it) is located about 25km from the point where the boarders of SA, NT and WA meet. We are looking forward to having a look around that area.

Day 4 - 6 Aug

Today we completed the work a Mimili after spending the night in our swags on the back porch of one of the school buildings. We then headed further north-west to Fregon. About 10kms out of Mimili we spotted a herd of camels wandering near the road side but they quickly retreated before we could take a photo. The Aboriginal communities are very basic although most of the locals seem friendly. There are surprisingly quite a lot of service personnel such as builders & other visitors to these communities. We met folks from Questacon at Mimili and Fregon who were travelling through the APY lands to teach the young kids. No doubt we’ll catch up with them at some of our next stops. We are now at Ernabella and managed to obtain accommodation at the local TAFE building. Our accommodation tonight is almost 5-star relative to yesterday and we’ll be able to have a shower and freshen up for our long day tomorrow. I decided to give George a break tonight and cooked dinner for the boys as they furiously worked on completed their documentation. I have told them to have it all completed tonight as we probably will not get another internet connection now until mid-next week. George had had enough of stray dogs for awhile I think and tonight he has befriended a stray donkey. They donkey startled us shortly after dinner by trying to rummage around in our trailer but he turned out to be fairly friendly. Tonight it’s up late for us and then an early start in the morning and off to Amata to start the work there by lunch time. Not sure whether we’ll be sleeping inside or outside tomorrow night.

Day 3 – 5 Aug

Today we travelled from Marla to Mintabie for an early start and our first taste of a bush track. Mintabie was fairly tame and quiet. On the way back to Marla we came across a truck load of camels at the fuel stop. This photo is for my son Kieran – I will try and get some photos of them in the wild which we hope to see as we head further inland. The driver of the truck informed us that the camels were for consumption and not transport. The dirt track out to Indulkana was in fairly good condition but the number abandoned and burned out cars along the track was increasing. We finished work at Indulkana and stopped for a quick lunch in the middle of nowhere and then headed further inland to Mimili. The track was now a bit more rugged and the number of wrecks was around 50+. We got stopped by a couple of bush cops inquiring as to our business on APY lands. (They assumed we where lost tourists)- Our permits are being processed at the moment so they let us on our way. We arrived at Mimili late afternoon and got permission from the school to set up camp on the back porch of one the school buildings. Beautiful views of the local terrain with lots of ochre dirt and unusual rock out crops. There seems to be an amazing number of dogs in the communities and this evening George has managed to befriend about 8 of the little mutts. They look fairly under nourished so we shared some of our dinner with them. Seems this was not quite enough for them though and they managed to sneak in and ravage our fruit cake. Ah well, no dessert tonight. Its about 9.45pm and the locals seem to be having a get together across the way. The sound of the Pitjanjatjara tongue can be heard echoing intermittently all around. Not sure what tongue George is snoring in but I’m sure it will keep the dogs at bay. Finishing u the work here in the morning and then heading out to Fregon and Ernabella.

Day 2 – 4th Aug

Left Woomera this morning and headed out to Coober Pedy. Drove past the now defunct Woomera Detention Centre which was a pretty eerie place. The Population at Woomera during its hayday with the weapons testing and detention centre in full swing was about 6,000 it is now 400 (404 including us). The landscape coming into Coober Pedywas littered with with Mullock Heaps (mounds of excavated sand left over after opal mining). Arrived at Coober Pedy a little after our scheduled time but got stuck into it straight away. The school was remarkably busy as was the town (at least compared to Woomera). The drive from Coober Pedy to Marla was quite pleasant albeit one of the straighest roads I’ve ever seen. We drove through/across the fence line of the the longest fence in the world (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo_Fence). Marla is about 250km north of Coober Pedy which means that by the time we finished our work we had to do the last 50kms after sunset. Not an advisable option if you can you can avoid it. We nearly had an up close and personal interaction with some stray cattle on the side of the road but thankfully they just stood there and watched us go by. We saw 1 burned out wreck and a couple of abandoned cars on the side of the road. Marla is our setoff point now as we head into the the Aborignal lands where there are no paved roads, hotels, or mobile phone reception. The next 8 days and 1500km of our trip will be on dirt tracks and sand dunes where we will be sleeping in swags under stars and cooking what we catch (only kidding – George has a stash of food under the trailer). Will try and blog if I can from the communities that we head into but can’t promise anything. If I’m not able to update this blog we, we will be back in Marla on Wed, 12 Aug and will update then.

Day 1 - 3 Aug

Well its been a hectic day. Up at 4.30am and arrived in Adelaide at 7.30am local time. We met at a pre-arranged hotel carpark for a meet and greet Left-right: Bren, our driver George, David and myself - we seem to all hit it off pretty well. We headed off from Adelaide and stopped off at Port Augusta (a very scenic town) and finaly arrived in Woomerra around 5pm. A pleasant trip with lots of interesting banter and words of wisdom from George. It was interesting to find out that if you drove past a herd of emus and managed to grab one by the scruff of the neck that you need to make sure the rear end of the emu is facing away from the car as they tend to lose control of their bowels quite easily - lets hope we don't need to test this theory. We saw quite a few emus along the way but they were thankfully out of grabbing range! George turns out to be quite the cook with the very sumptious stew that he cooked up for dinner - he said that it could be Camel stew but we all thought it tasted like chicken. An early start tomorrow as we head off to Coober Pedy and our first real days work.

T -2 Days
In Melbourne now. Pick up the kids in about 7 hours. Spoke to Brendan and George (Our Tour Guide - Check out - http://www.outbacktours.net.au/) about 3 times tonight on the way down. All sorted now - George will pick me up at the airport at 8am on Monday and we'll then meet the two contractors at the CSG offices in Adelaide and head off from there. Will sign off now until Monday...

Planning complete

And so it begins. All the last minute planning almost complete. A couple minor issues for Brendan (Our esteemed Project Manager) to sort out. Here's the trip route - 4,000 kms by road.

Coundown - T - 3 days.
Lots of prep work today. Getting the laptops ready, wireless comms (hope we can find a signal), all the paperwork, stationery, t-shirts. Need to finish the packing tonight.

now its all go go go...

Countdown T-4 days