Dawn broke over the claypan and we emerged from the vans ready for another day on dirt…. Glen and Dave decided to leave early to get a head start as they planned to travel slowly to preserve the vans and Dave wanted to get to William Creek to get his tyre replaced quickly.

They set off and we had breaky then were on our way as well. The road was still punishing and we said a prayer hoping to get to William Creek then Coober Pedy unscathed.

We were not far down the road when Gordie came over the CB saying he could see a water trail from our van – sure enough the other drainage tap from the second water tank had now snapped off and Branch and Gordie plugged the hole while Trev made some quick repairs. We were underway in no time and made it to William Creek at the same time as Glen and Dave.

The place was a hive of activity with vans and utes everywhere. The fuel line was long so we joined it and waited while Rose and Dave took their tyre to be repaired. Initially the bloke thought it had just come off the rim but on closer inspection a puncture was found which he easily repaired – they do a roaring trade at William Creek with tyre repairs – they were queued up in that shop as well!

While Gordie was waiting to get fuel, he managed to hit his head on the drivers door and cut it open – and started to grow a second nose! Branch was asleep and missed all the action but I managed to scrounge a bandaid from the depths of my handbag and stuck it on to stop blood dripping into his eye – no need for stitches thankfully!

Gordie went in to pay for his fuel and a blonde woman came over and tried to swap her Nissan for his Titan – she had extreme ute envy and when Gordie came back even hopped into the driver’s seat!

We all went inside the pub after fuelling up and had coffee – the pub was full of old relics and even a gecko managed to find its way to our table much to Rosie’s delight.

After coffee we hopped back into the cars and started on our way again. Not too much further to go (166Kms) to Coober Pedy but it seemed like an eternity. Turning right onto William Creek road off the Oodnadatta track we optimistically thought the road was better. Trev put the drone up for a quick video of our convoy and then we headed on to Coober Pedy planning to stop halfway for lunch. Kerry and Gordon were in front with the task of finding a suitable lunch stop.

Our radio was still playing up which was causing much frustration and Branch was no help as he was still sleeping after the major overtime he had worked yesterday. The desert was a beautiful contrast to the blue sky as we drove along – the road was a bit of an improvement on the Oodnadatta track but at times there were large corrugations and deep ruts so care had to be taken.

Kerrie picked a great spot for lunch in a dry creek bed. Glen and Dave arrived not long after that and we all opened the vans to check the damage!!

The Hackies has a broken table leg but the fridge had not really moved again. Dave and Rosie’s microwave had completely fallen out – Branch awoke from his slumber and was over in an instant keen to assist but it was useless – the microwave was trashed!! Kerrie had milk all over the floor from the fridge and Trev had lost an Anderson plug!

The scenery was picturesque with the trees, clouds and arid ground all blending in together…

but it looked like the Ranger had seen better days!!

We pushed on and finally arrived back on the tar at about 330pm. Dave only had 12kms of fuel left as he was too cheapskate to fill up at William Creek – almost a disastrous decision so after filling up with fuel and pumping up our tyres we pulled in to the Oasis Caravan Park and set up – thankful again to have made it safely albeit with some repairs required to Coober Pedy!

Rose and Dave got to the cleanup instantly – the windex was out giving the Snowy a spit and polish!