Fair well to Alice Springs for 2022

Well the time has finally come to farewell Alice Springs for 2022! I had this funny feeling before we left Fish Creek that I wouldn't be able to drag Bill away but in the end, I think I was the one who kept finding 'one more job' before we go. That meant the last week was filled with catering jobs, photographing items for the museums new website, helping clean an office as well as reception duties. And a quick trip to the Bush Tucker Market and a farewell dinner at the golf club with Nick, Aggie, Wally and Lee-Anne. No wonder we didn't leave until 10am on Thursday the 20th. 

Before we left Bill moved over 90 vehicles and lined them up, helped find keys and whatever else was asked of him. Oh, and he also made a few adaptions to the white truck - he raised the seat, but on the test run realised the seat was so high he couldn't wear his hat for fear of bumping his head - and that little button on top of caps really hurt when you hit your head! So, he lowered the seat slightly, and added a higher up the accelerator throttle, in the hope that his legs don't ache after long drives. So far it is proving successful.

I also found a use for the old towels we've carried - I pop them under my feet so that my feet can reach the floor now the seat has been raised or once we reached south of Port Augusta they were used to stop the drips coming through the seal in the door. 

I seem to have a love hate relationship with our old truck - I love how much joy it brings Bill, especially when a bloke stops Bill, like today outside the supermarket in Port Augusta, to tell the stories of when he drove a 'beauty like that - used to take horses to market in it mate', I know those moments give Bill real joy. And a hate relationship when I get bored during a long drive and wish I could hear the radio! But over all, apart from a few moments (hours) between Kulgera and Port Augusta when the old girl thought about running hot and she had the mechanics mind whirling and problem solving, she's done us proud. In the end, after a few slight alterations all that we really needed was the outside ambient temperature to drop and all was good. 

We had a short trip on day one of our run home as we once again tried our luck on Ernest Giles Road - a corrugated road a few hundred kilometres south of Alice Springs, not recommended for caravans. But only 9kms down there is a meteorite site I've been keen to see. We'd planned to have lunch there but we were a little early for that but after looking at me and asking "Do you want to go down there?" Bill headed onto it. When I asked Bill if this was a good idea or not and he said, "No, probably not," I chickened out and said, "Let's turn back", but it was too late, the damage was done. As we hung the Uie, I could see we had a broken window in the caravan, just above our bed. So, I held our breath until we got to Kulgera where a very kind man at the pub/takeaway/servo/caravan park didn't have any duct tape for sale but gave us a couple of rolls of packing tape so we could tape the remaining pieces of glass together. It was after Bill had finished this repair that he noticed the fridges weren't running so he needed to examine the Anderson plug. At that point we decided to pay for a night at the caravan park giving Bill plenty of time to sort things out while the van was plugged into power. It also gave us time to check out the wildlife! 
I sat in the shade happily reading a book and after only a short while the fridge issue was sorted and Bill joined me so we sat together watching the wildlife and listening to music. 

The next day we drove slightly longer and made our way to Coober Pedy - I'd heard of Riba's Underground Camping so off to there we went. I had a quick chat with Lola to show her the TV room which was a cave. And although we didn't opt to sleep underground it was interesting wandering through the under ground sleeping options. We then enjoyed an hour and a half (which turned into a 2 hour ) mine tour with the owner of the place who also mines. 

Their arid garden is full of colour at the moment - with lots of cacti in flower! 

Last night we ended our day at Port Augusta, back where we spent 7 days in lockdown last year. Once again the wind blew and the rain fell but luckily the van and window remain water proof ! 

Today we had a leisurely drive down to Gawler where we will spend three nights allowing us to catch up with mates we met in 2015 at Alice Springs. After that we will head for home - but slowly this time as we have accommodation lined up from the 1st of November and with rain forecast for the next week and public holiday traffic to deal with we have decided to keep taking things slow! But as I have a date with Lola at 11am on the 2nd November I'm sure we will be back in South Gippsland by then.