Day 10: Tues 22 Dec: Woomera to Lake Bonney 547km

We woke to a beautiful cool morning of 22 degrees. It had been really cold overnight but we were all warm in our sleeping bags. 

We did our usual routine and left at 7.30am, stopping briefly at a mailbox so Laura could post some eBay parcels! Yep she brought her eBay shop with her!  Sunshine hurt her paw so we cleaned and bandaged it. It wasn't too bad so hopefully it would heal up ok. 

Dan and Steve took a walk around Woomera Rocket Park which was fascinating too see just how much Ausytralua was involved in launching its own satellites and was part of the "space race" in the 1960s. It's still the biggest rocket launching site in the world. These days Woomera is a ghost town with hundreds of boarded up houses. Back in its heyday it had a thriving population, bowling alley, restaurants etc. Spooky. 

We headed out onto the highway and immediately came across a family of Emus with three chicks who wanted to cross the road!  We stopped but the truck coming the other way just blasted his horn at them and they scuttled out of the way just in time!  

The drive was uneventful  it warmed up to 28 degrees with a bit of a headwind. The landscape was looking less and less like desert and more savannah-like as we got closer to the coast. There were several huge salt flats in the area too. 

It's worth noting at this point that the transmission light had not come on since we changed the fuse, so very likely it was the fuse all along. Which is good :)

We arrived into Port Augusta at 10.30am with the Southern Flinders Ranges to our left and refueled for $1.30 a litre. As we drove out over the two bridges we could see the ocean in the near distance and the landscape changed completely into sheep country; greener rolling hills and vast fields of farmed crops. We had truly left the desert now which was more than a little sad despite our recent episode!

We wound our way through the golden sunny countryside. Past farms, sound and country towns. The prettiest would have to be Oorooroo and Peterborough with its heritage Steam Train memorabilia. 

As we went through the Yarcowie Whyte area we noticed wind farms and windmills everywhere on the ridges to the east of the plain we were driving through. This part of the Barrier Highway follows the old stock route. Speaking of stock, the cattle and sheep in this area look particularly plump and glossy. No skinny Brahmans around here.

We stopped in Burra, about 160km North West of Renmark, for a bit of a break.  It's a very nice little town with bags of history and beautifully maintained. 

Heading along the Goyder Hwy, about 90km before Renmark, the scenery became very sandy until suddenly over a ridge and we descended into an area full of olive groves, citrus orchards and vineyards! Quite bizarre! Out in the middle of the SA outback, a little piece of Tuscany!  There were even almond plantations a little further along.

We decided to free camp at Lake Bonney. What a super place. Right by the pristine lake with a beach and easy parking right along the shoreline. Love it :)

There was a beautiful sunset over the lake as we turned in for the night.