After a great night at Dave and Barbs on the Darling River at Wentworth we were keen to get on the road….but had to take a couple of quick pics of our lovely hosts and their beautiful home and houseboat!

We hopped in the cars optomistic as ever……and guess what! The Ram was flat again 😂Dave brought out his car “defibrillator “20170404_07441920170404_074927.jpg but to no avail….it was up to Branch and the good ole’ Prado ably assisted by Trev and his jumper leads and we were soon leaving Wentworth making a beeline for Streaky Bay. We crossed over into SA only stopping at the inspection point… After a quick stop at Renmark for a new battery for the Ram we continued on …..

The scenary on the way across South Australia was ever changing…mallee scrub, rolling pastures, acres of saltbush, vineyatds, fruit orchards and tiny towns…

We had a brief lunch stop at Spalding a small town founded in the 1860s and then hit the road hoping to be in Streaky Bay before dark.

The landscape changed to rolling pasture as we journeyed towards Port Augusta.20170404_135142

A quick stop for fuel and water at Port Augusta which was an interesting mix of industry desolation and a riverside town and then off again.20170404_153052

Just as we though we were making good time the vehicle convoy pictured below with police escort loomed up in front about 10 kms out of Kimba. The piece of equipment being transported was as wide as the entire road and the police ahead were stopping oncoming traffic on the shoulder so the convoy could pass. We had to sit behind till we got to Kimba and yes it turned off so we could speed up again!!20170404_171544Kimba is apparently half way across Australia and is the home of the big galah. We shot a couple of pics out the window but noticed our convoy behind had stopped for Rosie to get a couple of pics.20170404_17225120170404_172341

Thankful we had lost the massive convoy we headed west again….and not too much later…dejavu! Another massive convoy identical to the one before 😲….and then we realised it was the same vehicle that had had to bypass the town centre….and the photo shoot had basilled us 😉 As always Branch was there to remind us that disaster and doom are not our focus…..20170404_175317

So as the sun sinks slowly in the west we are still travelling at 60 – 80 kph behind the biggest rig… and Streaky Bay is a tantalizing 134k away…20170404_183744

Moments later they had to finally have a toilet stop….Praise God we are on our way again!!20170404_184952

…..finally arrived at the free camp at Palumbie beach only to find it full 😣…18k later we arrived at Haslam frww campground at 830pm…tired but pleased we have made up the time and back on track.