We were up at 6.30am (28 degrees) and woke to a gorgeous sunrise together with the sound of thunder and lightning up North but coming our way! We packed up quickly and set off at 7.30am, hoping to outrun the weather! The raindrops were just starting to fall as we headed south for Coober Pedy!
We had to pull over half an hour later because the damn transmission light came on again grrrrr! After a few minutes it went off but we decided to change the fuse anyway and see if that helped. The engine was still really cool, so we were pretty sure if was a malfunctioning computer by now.
We hit Coober Pedy at 9.30am just as we past a group of wild Emus looking typically confused! We refueled whilst marveling at all the thousands of mounds of gravel in the Opal fields all around the town. A group of indigenous women tried to sell us some pretty coloured stones, but we politely declined.
2 minutes south of town, we turned east onto William Creek Road and onto the start of the dirt at last! Oodnadatta Track 155km ahead! We decided not to let the tyres down because the road was in really good condition and we had our new honkin great 16 inch Cooper Discoveries!
We immediately noticed a massive improvement over the corrugations at a fair speed of 60kph, because of our new beaut Ironman suspension. The Triton basically just floated over them like a dream!
We soon entered the prohibited area around Woomera where you must stay on the track in case of unexploded ordinance from the weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s. The Army still use the area for training.
The whole landscape certainly looked barren and deserted - just the sort of place the Mythbusters guys would love!
The temp was cooler than yesterday's 41 degrees at just 34 as we rumbled steadily towards William Creek doing an average of 65kph on the rock hard packed earth. It had not long been graded - thanks S.A!
The road wound through endless desert dunes and the temp had now gone up to 38 degrees, but there was strong evidence of flooding all around. In the wet the whole area would be like an inland sea.
We could see a huge cloud and rainfall directly ahead of us, in the distance, potentially over Lake Eyre - which only has water in it about once every 20 years! Yup, looks like we're bringing the long awaited rains yet again! We are the Rainmakers!!
No sign of the transmission light since we'd changed the fuse, despite the higher ambient temperature.
There was not one single other vehicle the whole way to William Creek and only one set of fairly recent tracks. We were wondering if they were all going to stare at us crazy travelers, out here at this time of year!!
We reached William Creek at 11am, refueled and had a break before the 80km to Coward Springs.
We then set off for Coward Springs, towards the ever increasing storm clouds. It was quite eerie at 1.30pm with the sky blacker than midnight.
The road was pretty good to start with and we barreled along at 60kph. About halfway along we noticed puddles...and it was then that the Triton and the van started to sink into what looked like gravel, but was actually rich, orange mud. It instantly caked over the wheels and all up the front and underside of the van, about 6 inches thick.
The Triton was in 4WD but even with that and the big Cooper tyres, it started sliding all over the place and the van started fish tailing in the most horrendous way. Laura slowed to a stop and Steve took over.
There was only 20km to go, but it took nearly an hour as we sided and slid all over the road at about 20kph. Splashing through mud, puddles and then actual flood water flowing across the road.
We were in the middle of the desert, in summer and instead of it being completely dry and 40 degrees, it was 26 degrees and monsoon inc! What was going on?!
By the time we reached Coward Springs we had really had enough but were rewarded with the most amazing bush campsite we had ever seen. It was so green and beautiful and full of historic relics from the old Ghan railway. It also had a permanent Artesian spring! Amazing!
The owners weren't even there but were allowing us to stay so Steve pruned the bushes around the entrance to the spa to help them out a bit.
The place is unique and beautiful. We rated it the best bush campground we have have been to. We were the only ones there too, so it made us feel really special. It's actually for sale but at $650k it's a bit out of our price range!
We set up, wandered around, soaking up the amazing history of the place and then had spaghetti bolognese for dinner.
As we ate, the temp dropped steadily until it was about 26 degrees, and then the heavens opened and it began to absolutely pour with rain. We couldn't believe it! Everybody warned us about coming to central Australia at this time of year because of the searing heat and bone dry weather hahaha!!
It rained and rained and rained. It was really cold too! We snuggled up in our sleeping bags and slept to the sounds of the desert rain. It was beautiful but at the same time we were wondering if we were going to be flooded in and not able to leave for a week!
Another amazing sunset and we were out like lights.
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