“Until the Lion learns how to write,
every story will glorify the Hunter”
Trip Map
“The Explorer Way” – Opal and Underground Living. Days 6&7
At 8:58am, we set out from our camp site, heading to Coober Pedy. I took a look at my fuel gauge and realized that the Explorer had became thirstier, it was now gulping 16.1 litres of fuel for every 100kms I covered. The only solution was to adjust my driving but I couldn’t do this, I had to drive in accordance with the road condition which was terrible. We headed northwards on the Gosses Road and in as little as 10kms, joined the Stuart Highway, ahead of Glendambo. Turning left, in a North Westerly direction, we were now on the Stuart Highway. Behind us was the South Australian government warning to users of the Kingoonya detour to be aware of the risk they were taking. We had successfully overcome this with our vehicles bearing the tell-tale signs, all covered in thick red dusts. [Contd]
Resources for the trip
2. Permits to drive through Indigenous Lands:
A. Laverton to Northern Territory
Previous Postings……
The Great Eastern Highway. Day 1 [17th Sept]
It had taken several months in planning and D-day is today. We have had three (3) trip meetings, looking at the plans and evaluating different options to make the trip successful. Planning itself has taken a little over three months. Australia is huge and our plans needed to ensure the safety of all the trip members and the equipment we are travelling with while providing us with a great adventure. We needed to ensure that the major attractions were open to visitors, hence the choice of the spring time for the trip. [Contd]
Skippy, live to die another day. Day 2 [18th Sept]
We departed Camp as agreed by 7am, the troop was on its way. This was a great improvement compared to our starting time the previous day. The plan was to spend the night at Eucla. Greg, the other Greg, must have fallen in love with the sound of his voice over the radio and kept us all entertained. There was no boring time with him .With him driving behind me, I was very comfortable and feared no foe.[Contd]
Nothing smoky in Smoky Bay at last. Days 3 & 4 [19th & 20th Sept]
The night had been freezing cold. Probably due to the southern ocean being just a few kilometers to our south and the cold currents from Antarctica must have been blown over land at night causing the cold temperature that we experienced. [Contd]
Finally the Outback. Day 5 [21st Sept]
I did not wake up early the next morning, 21st September, the sun was already high in the sky. It was International Day of Peace. As I came out of my swag, Batman was dressed in the most colourful jacket that I had ever seen. It was reminiscent of Joseph’s Coat of many colours. Give it to Greg, he was fully prepared for this trip, he looked great. Kristina followed suit with her faultless dressing to mimic Elvis Presley. She was stunning with her red glasses, long trouser and colourful dress. We had planned on driving 650kms to the Woomera campground. A chance meeting with a couple of folks, recently come all the way down from Coober Pedy made us to jilt that plan. There is a short cut that we could take between Smoky Bay and Coober Pedy and avoid the long route to Port Augusta. We reviewed the road using the Hema maps. Heading north from Smoky Bay, we would take a diversion eastwards to Wirrulla and then head through the remote Australian outback cutting close to the Lake Everard Homestead, a cattle station of some sort. We would continue on gravel through Kokatha and come out at Kingoonya from where we planned to join the Stuart Highway heading North Westwards to Coober Pedy. [Contd]