Friday 15th June, 2012
Stuart Highway North of
Coober Pedy SA
![The mornings camp in the blue bush country]()
The mornings camp in the blue bush country
We got a good start on our northward travels this morning and had the cruise control set early. A quick comfort break at
Pimba and then on towards
Coober Pedy. On deciding upon a driver swap some distance north of
Pimba, I pulled over onto the road verge and managed to damage a tyre on a sharp
rock. The damage has resulted in a very slow leak from the tyre that required me to keep an eye on it during the course of the day.
![Camp on the plains north of Coober Pedy]()
Camp on the plains north of Coober Pedy
We arrived in
Coober Pedy in the early afternoon and the short stay allowed us to top up the tanks and get rid of some last minute financial chores via internet banking (my haven't times changed!). We were on a mission and keen to get on with it.
In the late afternoon we found ourselves driving into some threatening clouds with thunder heads and rain squalls visible on the horizon. It was shaping up to be a wet night when without warning, the cloud formations began to break up. It appears we were fortunate enough to have driven out from under the patch of inclement weather about 50 km north of Coober. Given the early start, it was decided to locate a
campsite and set up with a bit of daylight to spare. It wasn’t long before we identified a couple of minor side tracks that were marked on the 250K maps and headed in to investigate.
![Camp on the plains north of Coober Pedy]()
Camp on the plains north of Coober Pedy
The track to the west of the highway provided the best opportunities with a
campsite being located a kilometre or two off the highway in a small, bowl like area sheltered by very low rocky bluffs. The desiccated condition of the local flora was sound proof that little rain had fallen in this neck of the woods. It appeared to have suffered terribly from the prolonged dry conditions. We used the Mog to drag some of the larger pieces of dead timber over towards the
camp. I located the slow leak in the back tyre and managed to get a plug into it. After that there was nothing for it but to explore the surrounding country on foot,
cook a bit of dinner and relax by the fire spending more time getting to know our travel companions.