FORTYSIXTH DAY – MONDAY 23RD AUGUST
We got up early, had breaky and left by 7.20 am. Along the way we saw open plains of succulents, some of which were flowering. Then suddenly the landscape changed to low level shrubs then to taller trees with surrounding grass then back to the open plains of succulents. It was pretty windy still and about 77 km north or Port Augusta we caught up with the rain! On our way we also notice lots of very old trucks heading the opposite direction. One stopped near us and Graeme asked where they were heading. They said to Alice Springs Truck Hall of Fame for a big thing there next weekend. A pity we missed out on that but we get to see them go past, and there is a lot of them. We arrived in Port Augusta about 10.20 am and got a map of the town from the info centre so we could find the shops we needed. Graeme then went and did some grocery shopping while I hopped on the internet to download my blogs and check emails etc. We filled up with fuel, water and food and then had lunch just out of PA in a rest area. We then turned east onto B56 and away we went. Well! It was a bit of a struggle for the poor old Snail up a gradual slope toward the South Flinders Rangers. We were up against a side wind and The Snail could only manage 40 kph! We then reached the actual mountains and travelled through Horracks Pass. This was a beautiful area with big old red gum trees along both sides of the windy road. Once we reached the other side there was a flat patchwork of green and yellow paddocks of crops and dotted with orange sheep and old ruins. The clouds were amazing and we were managing to just be ahead of the big black rain clouds. We were surrounded by rain in the distance and were hoping it wouldn’t catch up to us. We dropped in to see a very Big Old Gum Tree near Orooroo that they say is over 500 years old – and yes it was pretty big. We then got to the wayside stop that we thought could be our overnight stay spot. We just got there and it began to get very windy and started to rain, but the spot was not very nice and we could see clear skies ahead so decided to keep going to the next wayside stop. We got to Peterborough and it is a lovely old town with nice old buildings. We travelled through it to get to the wayside stop and when we got there it looked like a good one so we stopped for the night. There are several other vans here as well. There was a nice fiery sunset through the mulga trees and the moon is almost full. The clouds cleared and it is very cold, but the wind has died down. We had roast vegies and steak for tea. Graeme considered making a fire but it is just too cold to be outside to appreciate it and we didn’t want to waste the wood. We’ll keep it for another night. No marshmallows tonight!