As you leave Coober the piles of dirt from opal mines gradually begin to decrease and the landscape returns to an undisturbed flat, red, arid vista. It’s an uneventful travel day today as we push north, hoping to make Alice Springs the following day.
We’ve arranged to meet the Durston family at the Agnes Creek Rest Area tonight but it’s just easier to travel at our own pace, stopping for breaks, lunch and firewood collection when it suits.
A long day driving, we pull in almost at the exact same time and find a perfect spot with a fire pit to share. The kids explode from the car and have a little play before setting up around the fire to compare and write journals together. They are just the loveliest young people and together just seem to bring out the best in each other. It’s wonderful seeing them so energised and enjoying the company so much.
Eventually, with dinner done and kids to bed, the parents get a chance to chill and socialise by the fire. The nights have been very cold since Marree, it’s beanie, scarf and warm woollens weather and the fires are cosy to huddle by. After a long drive and all agreeing to a bit of social fatigue it was early to bed for all bar me. The moon is full, the solitude was welcome and the coals and flame were the perfect company to catch up on a few blog posts. Time on your own is golden, there is not much of it and somehow I find it very hard to create.
The cold nights are also making it a challenge, for everyone, to get up in the morning. The van is pretty well insulated and sleeping with socks, warm pj’s, scarf, beanie, two blankets and a doona it’s cosy. No one wants to be the first up to put the diesel heater on. But boy that thing works great and was a super inclusion by Ken. Give it a minute and we are toasty warm and can consider getting up.
Lulu is still waking during the night and early mornings so with the cold and disturbed sleep I find myself struggling to get going in the morning. Throw in the time it takes to cook breakfast, do the dishes and clean up, get the day’s schooling done and finally packed away and prepare for a day’s travel, we are often a late getaway. The Durstons got away at a reasonable time, our departure was a little closer to lunchtime.
It was a good morning though and while the girls schooled as the sun warmed things up Lulu got familiar with the red dirt. Getting on the road today had an air of excitement to it. Firstly we were going to pull in again wherever the Durstons pulled up and we’d be crossing the border from South Australia into the Northern Territory. Neither Ken nor I have ever been in the Northern Territory and there are many wonderful sights to explore. However, the one thing we are not looking forward to is being in croc country again.
Once on the road we only have a quick stop at the border to get the picture and stretch the legs, but with our late start need to push on to get to Alice tonight. Mel has sent me the details and we pull in right next to them at the showgrounds. Perfect!