We had packed up and headed off from Wilpena Pound by about 10am. At Hawker there was a late model Hilux that had been rolled over and written off in the centre of town (had only happened that morning and the driver had high tailed it out of there). All the kit was spread over the road including laptops etc. The general consensus from the locals was that the vehicle had been stolen. There was even a bloodied pitch fork in the front seat of the Hilux so the talk of the town was about the mystery of the car and it’s story. The police arrived on the scene whilst we were mortgaging our soul and that of our first born in order to fill up the car with diesel! $$$$$$$
Well all the locals that we meet on our way up towards Lake Eyre are telling us that they have had more rain so far in April than they have had for the past 10 years put together! Roads are closed everywhere. Hail stones and storms today.
The Stzlecki track has been closed since January. We only JUST got through the road from Lyndhurst to Marree as it was closed just after we drove through. (see the shot of Steve wading through to check one of the areas where water was rushing across the road)
We ended up staying 21st camped behind the pub at Marree. The local publican has let us set up camp for free (with a gold coin donation for the showers – bless him)
Had our first beer in 3 weeks - at the pub that night. 3 other groups of campers are also camped here at the pub: an English couple, a German couple and a couple from Cairns. All of us were waiting to travel to William Creek on the Oonadatta track. Unfortunately the track has been closed – washed out by rain. We have decided to stay another night in the hope that it re-opens tomorrow.
