We had breakfast and packed the camper and then decided to have a look around the place. We checked out the museum and on the way back had one last look at the spa. The tour group were just leaving, but there was a young couple still left in the spa.
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| Coward Springs Natural Spa |
These guys were in a ute that was kitted out with bullbar, spotlights and mudflaps. It was the kinda ute you see the country boys driving around in. They were very friendly and revealed the they were doing a quick trip from country Victoria, to Kings Canyon / Ayres Rock and back to Victoria again - in 2 weeks. They were on the return leg and only had a few days to get back.
Once we had finished chatting, we went back to the car and hit the track again.
It was interesting to see the water laying around the place. As I previously mentioned, there had been plenty of summer rain and there was rain through these parts only a couple of weeks before we got here.
William Creek was only about 75 k's down the track, so we figured we would get there just before lunch time. I was looking forward to having lunch and a beer in this iconic desert pub.
Not far down the track from Coward Springs we stopped to take a photo of another small body of water.
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| Water in the desert |
After a bit of a walk around we got back into the car and started to drive off. As we took off, I could hear a noise coming from the camper trailer. I got Pauline to drive forward slowly while I walked along side the camper to check it out. To my horror there was a metallic grinding noise coming form the wheel or axle.
I parked the car and began to take the wheel off to investigate. Once the wheel was off I spun the hub for another listen. After spinning it a few times, I figured we had a stone inside the brake hub that was getting stuck between the hub and the brake shoe - or at least I hoped that was it.
Once the hub was off my thoughts were confirmed. It was the smallest bit of rock that was causing this horrendous noise. I tipped it out and proceeded to put the hub back on. Lucky I had a rubber mat that I could lay out on the ground. The mat was handy to stop the outer wheel bearing from getting dirt in it, and also allowed me to work without getting too dirty.
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| Time for a quick look! |
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| Taking brake hub off Tvan |
A bloke and his son stopped to see if I needed a hand. They were contractors installing sat phones in remote communities.
Wheel back on and we were back on the track.
We arrived in William Creek at about 1:00pm.
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| William Creek Pub |
Pauline and I had some lunch in the pub. It was amazing to be there. I've seen a heap of photos of this pub on the internet and now we're finally there.
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| William Creek Pub |
After lunch we promptly got back out on the track. Oodnadatta was still 200 kilometres away. I didn't wanna get there too late. Besides, I could see dark clouds in the distance and I didn't want to be on the track if it started to rain.
Along the way to Oodnadatta we stopped to replenish our firewood supplies and to take photos of Algebuckina Bridge. The bridge is a lot bigger than I imagined.
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| Gathering Firewood on the Oodnadatta Track |
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| Algebuckina Bridge |
Coming into Oodnadatta the storm clouds were all around us. I hadn't been able to get radio reception so I wasn't sure what the weather was going to do. Turns out there wasn't any rain in any of the clouds.
I noticed that another stone had made it's way into my brake hub on the trailer as we entered the Pink Roadhouse caravan park. Pauline made a great dinner that evening and we sat around a fire and had a couple of drinks before retiring.
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| Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse |
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