Tony decided to give the car a once over before heading back into the desert. Unfortunately one of the wheels was loose so we lost a few hours waiting to see the mechanic, not knowing if we'd be able to go anywhere. Luckily the mechanic was able to sort out the problem. The wheel bearing just needed to be tightened a bit and we'd caught it in time.
We didn't get back to Dalhousie till the afternoon. After lunch and setting up
camp we headed back to the spring. We met a couple of bikers in a water that we'd seen at Mt Dare. They were about to ride across the desert without any backup vehicles.
The
young Indian guy had been really courteous hold a door open for me, at Dalhousie. I invited them to join us for a drink and a chat at our charcoal fire that evening, knowing they couldn't carry many resources on their bikes. We had a great evening, and the smoke from the fire kept the mosquitoes away.
Later I decided to go for an evening swim. I was the only person there. It was a magical experience, swimming in such a beautiful warm natural tree line lake/spa, the size of 2 Olympic pools in the middle of a desert. Most of the fish in that lake are fully grown at 3 cm, a few are bigger. That night one of the bigger ones decided to tell me it was after bed time by giving me a nip on the bum!
I also got a little concerned when there was some noise at the lake entrance. I thought a group of blokes may be about to join me. But no one turned up, so I assumed it was just a
dingo.
Jacqui Fussell
![Dalhousie Springs]()
Dalhousie Springs