Finally we get our chance to leave suburbia and commence our travels through the outback. Its only a month but weather permitting or more specifically, rain allowing, we will venture across the Simpson desert, the central deserts of Northern Territory and desert country along the Oodnadatta Track and Flinders Ranges.

We leave before sunrise and make good time enjoying a cuppa with Nan and Pop at the Jackson old Primary School Playshed with hot croissants thanks to our travel buddy oven. This is a great rest stop, you may even come across the members of the CWA who invited us in for a free cuppa on one occasion.

We are exploring with our friends who join us as travelling companions.

Once we leave Roma to our east the heavy vehicle, mining and tourist traffic drops off markedly, encountering only empty cattle trucks heading west.

Our camp for the night is the Morven Recreational Ground. This campsite costs $5.00 per vehicle and provides plenty of open space, hot showers and flushing toilets. This makes the town a great place to stay when travelling and by utilising local services, such as the hotel or cafe you put money back into the local economy.

We try out our seat warmers care of “Aunty Ann”, a great addition to comfortable night time camping.

Dinner is at the Sadlier’s Waterhole, which is a friendly hotel a short walk from the camping ground. The sky has cleared and the stars are blazing. We are up at 4:30am to watch the alignment of Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Saturn and the moon last seen in 947 AD.