Coober Pedy to Birdsville Day 10 - Dalhousie Springs to Bush Camp between Colson Tk & Erabena Tk

Day 10 - Wednesday 12/6/02
Start - Dalhousie Springs
Stop - Bush camp between Colson Track and Erabena Track
Trip Odometer - 153.2 km
Stopped time - 0.34 hrs
Moving average - 37.7 km/hr
Moving time - 4:03 hr
Max speed - 86.7 km/hr

There were probably 20 cars in camp last night and only half left today. When you get talking to people it is surprising the number that have only dropped in to visit the spring and are not there at the end or start of a desert crossing.

We are probably quite different to other travellers because we opt to travel solo and do our best to put as much space between ourselves and others. So when in a crowded situation we watch what's going on and either wait for everyone else to move out or we rush out to get ahead. Either way, we find that travelling in convoy with a group that is not your own quite undesirable. We also find hearing other travellers radio conversation quite tiresome and annoying, especially if the trip leader is "educating" his followers with stories of "... when I was here 5 years ago....".

So it was 10.30am when we left camp and headed out along the Spring Creek Delta Track. There has been some talk of a "new" track, which confused us because you can't make out any other track. I think the whole track has been slightly rerouted so its hardly worth mentioning as there is no diversion - you just follow the track (or pack) ahead of you.

The flow at Purnie Bore has been restricted - it really was a waste of water but now you cannot see that beautiful blue pond or go swimming. The picture below is of Leah at PB and its all quite dry. The wildlife viewing hut is still up the back in the reeds and there seems to still be water further up that way with plenty of screeching from the birds indicating that this is still a favourite spot.

In all, it takes about an hour of driving after leaving Dalhousie before you come to the first dune and it was not until after lunch that we started the French Line at Freth Junction.

From Freth Junction we took 1hr 40 minutes to reach the Colson Track and it was all low range (4th) over sandy dunes. There's nothing too steep or difficult but most dunes have twists at the top in softer sand. These are just single lane narrow tracks so using a desert flag and using your radio to periodically check for oncoming traffic is very wise.

After setting up camp I walked Leah back up the last dune we had descended to burn off some energy. She was having a ball - running, face-planting and throwing sand everywhere, including in her mouth...
It's a good place to bring a toddler.

Dinner: Moroccan Lamb with Couscous (camp oven).