Jeremy and Leana's Wild and Crazy 3200 km Adventure!

Many people, when contemplating a holiday, tend to imagine blue water, relaxing on a beach chair, perhaps with a cocktail in hand...or going on a city tour and taking in the cosmopolitan sights, sounds and cuisine.  Jeremy and I, when faced with a week off, went a decidedly different route.  In fact, we realized that our last three big holidays together have been of a similar nature.  This one was perhaps the most foolish, which could explain why it was also the most fun!

So yes - over 6 days, we drove 700-900 km per day (with one day where we only drove about 200).  Parts of this trek consisted of the Oodnadatta track, which runs from the Flinders Ranges pretty much to the border of Northern Territory.  Here's some Wiki info: 

The Oodnadatta Track, Australia is an unsealed 620 km (385 mi) outback road between Marree and Marla via Oodnadatta in South Australia. Along the way, the track passes the southern lake of the Lake Eyre National Park, and the outback settlements of William Creek and Oodnadatta.
The track follows a traditional Aboriginal trading route. It provides travellers with stunning semi-desert scenery. Along the Track are numerous springs feeding water from the Great Artesian Basin, the most accessible examples being the mound springs found in Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park near Coward Springs. Later, because of the availability of water, the route was chosen for the steam-train powered Central Australian Railway, the original route of The Ghan, also the route taken by the explorer John McDouall Stuart on his third expedition in 1859.^[1] Remnants of the many railway sidings and bridges, the ruins of railway buildings, and Overland Telegraph repeater stations are located along the track - some of the best preserved are the Coward Springs Campground - complete with natural artesian spa and Curdimurka.

Today, the Oodnadatta Track roughly follows the former railway line as far north as Oodnadatta, and then turns to the west, meeting the sealed Stuart Highway at Marla. The road's surface is rough, with plenty of bone-jarring corrugations, especially on the stretch of road between William Creek and Oodnadatta. In dry weather, the track is passable to most vehicles and caravans, but a four wheel drive (4x4) vehicle will provide a more comfortable journey, and will be essential for driving the track during and after rain.

Yes, please note the sentence above which I have bolded.  We figured our trusty Subaru Outback was up for the challenge.  PS - we were the ONLY people we saw during our entire time on the track who did not have a 4x4.  Whoops!  Jeremy aka Mr Survivorman went shopping for some supplies, loaded it up, and off we went.  We were carrying 60 litres of water in the car, in case of emergency.  60 litres!  That's pretty good, right?  I finished work around 1 pm on Tuesday the 4th of June, and went to meet Jeremy in Wallaroo.  From there, we were on our way.  We stopped in Port Augusta for dinner, to try the famous "Pork Augusta" which did not disappoint.  One of our friends was just finishing up a surgery rotation there, so it was nice to stop and have dinner with a friendly face.  We then headed to Quorn where we stopped in at a pub/hotel to rest up for the long journey ahead.

Quorn to Coward Springs: We were a little apprehensive, as it had been quite rainy over the weekend and we certainly would not want to take on the track in our little Subaru if it was open to 4WD only.  However, we reached the beginning of the track and the sign said that it was open to all vehicles - HURRAH!  (Note: there is no way anyone should ever ever ever attempt this in a sedan, hatchback, etc.  "All" vehicles is a bit of a misnomer).  We started out bright and early and arrived at Coward Springs at around 4 pm.  We set up our tent and decided to explore the little museum and then go for a dip in the hot springs.

I would call these springs lukewarm, and as you can see the bathing area was not very big!  While we were blissfully soaking away our troubles, a man came by with his two kids.  We ended up chatting and learned that Phil is a ranger in a remote area near Alice Springs.  Him, his wife (Kylie), and two young kids (Abby and Charlie) were on a three week trip with a group of others across the Simpson desert and then back to Alice Springs.  They invited us to their campfire after dinner, and we met some really fascinating people (a lady with a PhD in archaeology and anthropology who works closely with aboriginal people and also works as an interpreter for some indigenous languages, a senior ranger, etc).  It was good fun and a nice way to kick off our camping experience.

We were up very early in the morning for the next leg of our trip - Coward Springs to Dalhousie Springs.  I was REALLY looking forward to Dalhousie Springs.  The internet does not give much info about this amazing spot, but here's what I found on Wikipedia:

Dalhousie Springs are collection of over 60 natural artesian springs located in Witjira National Park on the western fringe of the Simpson Desert, 180 kilometres northeast of Oodnadatta in northern South Australia. Spring water temperatures range from 38 to 43 degrees C. The water is highly mineralised but drinkable (barely). Dalhousie Springs are a popular starting point for crossing the Simpson Desert eastwards to Birdsville in Queensland (around 600 kilometres).There are a number of unique species of fish that live in the waters around Dalhousie Springs, such as the Dalhousie catfish (Neosilurus gloveri), the Dalhousie hardyhead (Craterocephalus dalhousiensis) and the Dalhousie goby (Chlamydogobius gloveri).

 This is where we noticed that we had lost one of our lights on the car - notice the empty socket with the plug hanging out.  It was most likely when we (bravely?  foolishly?  dangerously?) powered through a deep-ish puddle of water on the track.

The beautiful Dalhousie Springs - looks kinda like a lake, but feels exactly like a hot tub...heavenly!

 We had three swims in the springs - right after we arrived, a moonlight swim (no one else was there in the dark and the campground was pretty busy, so we were a bit surprised), and a morning soak before our next loooong drive.

It really was a beautiful and amazing place.  There were little fish that nibbled on your toes/legs if you kept still - people pay lots of money for that sort of thing in Thailand!

To be continued...