Day 8: Tjukayirla - Warakurna

Today went so smoothly we were happy to carry on driving when we came upon Warburton 255km from Tjukayirla. We arrived around midday after leaving at 7AM. Our next stop was Warakurna, 231km, which took another four hours.

I say everything went smoothly because there was no major dramas for a change. We didn't break down, we still haven't found the mouse and assume it's mouse overboard by now, and we still relativity sane.

By the end of the day I was so fed up with seeing, feeling, smelling the sun. So fed up with getting jiggled about over terrible stretches of road where we could only do 35km/h (our max is around 65km/h), where the road was densely littered with jagged rocks or it was so corrugated that every bone in poor Henry's and our bodies clattered and shuddered like the end spin of a washing machine. So fed up with seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting every shade and texture of red dirt, we are all covered in it, including Henry's interior and as a result all our belongings. Incidentally, it is iron oxide coating the particles of soil that makes it red. Whenever we stopped to change drivers or check the van over if we looked at the road in front we both had a strange visual effect where the road seemed to be drawing away from us, which made me feel a little queasy. I guess looking at a stretch of road rushing towards you for so many hours can play tricks on your brain.

That all said I am happy we have gained a day by doing the nine hour dash and tomorrow we have Uluru (Ayers Rock) and real road to look forward too. It really wasn't all bad.

Actually there was one small drama, when I went to the ablutions for my shower there were two HUGE flying bugs bombing me and they didn't even die after I emptied 3/4 of a can of Raid bug killer on them, so I had to shower in the men's. Oly and I were the only people in the camp site so it was OK.

Tip: Always check dates on anything you buy at remote road houses, twice now oly has bought orange juice and they have been our of date by as much as three months!

Em

Miles: 486
Time: 9 hours
Temp: 41c
Music:
Bill Withers - Greatest Hits
Audio book - The Cat Who Went up the Creek, Lilian Jackson Braun