Homes OZ Adventure: Day 76: Coober Pedy to S.A./N.T. Border Rest Area.

Saturday 08/09/2012 Day 76: Coober Pedy to S.A./N.T. Border Rest Area.

Finally a still night, it was very cool when we woke up. We packed up quickly and off to Kostas Olympic Opal Store to get a Coober Pedy sticker, but we were too early! Never mind next time. We picked up a few supplies at the IGA and then off up the Stuart Hwy. We passed many thousand mullock heaps from Opal Mining. It was sad for Les leaving Coober Pedy – he loves the Mining Towns. We drove steadily without a headwind for a change. At 20km south of Marla we had a detour because of a car accident from 03:00 this morning. We drove along a red, rough, sandy track on the western side of the Railway Line. After 50 minutes we finally got back onto the bitumen. We topped fuel up at $1.92, pit-stop & driver change at the Marla Roadhouse. Amanda took over driving and we passed a Dingo bitch walking along the hwy. We passed some new wildflowers we had not seen before. We arrived at the rest area and there were 2 vans here already. They were using the water here to clean their vans off the red dirt from the detour. We parked in one of the 6 drive through bays here on bitumen. The kids had a school afternoon. Amanda spotted the bluest wren we have ever seen but he was hard to catch with the camera. We jumped back & forth across the border. Amanda & Les had an inter-state kiss, Amanda in S.A. & Les in N.T. The kids are still doing homework after dinner. They have started enjoying reading on their laptops before they go to bed. We installed Kindle for PC and have managed to have had enough Internet coverage to top the books up. Ryan is enjoying the Hunger Games Trilogy & Amy is enjoying Fire Within.

Daily Stats: Distance: 394km, Duration: 5hrs30min, Weather: Sunny, slight Breeze & Mild.

Oasis Caravan Park Indoor Swimming Pool inside a Water Tank