Friday, 17 April 2026
With only 488 kilometres to drive today, we decided we didn’t need to set out too early. After a leisurely breakfast, we re-packed the truck and we were on the road about 9.45am making our way out through the mullock heaps to the west of Coober Pedy. The evidence of opal mining continued for some way before the landscape returned to unspoiled low scrub. Very green low scrub after the rains earlier in the year. We are certainly being treated to an uncharacteristically green ‘Red Centre’.
Our first stop was at the Pootnoura Rest Area. We hadn’t been on the road for very long but Bernie was keen to put the drone up and capture some aerial shots of the desert landscape. Ugh! The flies are relentless every time we step out of the car and, at reception this morning when checking out, Bernie was warned that they will be even worse at Uluru. That sounds very unpleasant. At least the fly nets over our hats makes it (almost) tolerable.
We continued past the turn off to ‘Mount Willoughby’ at Cadney Park Roadhouse, which purports to be the last roadhouse in South Australia. We were planning a stop at the BP Servo at Marla, another 80 kilometres north (and still in SA) so we’re not sure if Cadney Park is still the last roadhouse or if it has been usurped by the services at Marla in more recent times??
It was around noon when we arrived at Marla, at the western end of the Oodnadatta Track. Bernie topped up the truck with diesel again. We have more than enough in the tank to reach Erldunda but we are continuing to buy smaller amounts more frequently, rather than run the tank to near empty before refilling. With no more roadhouses now until after the border, we opted for an early lunch.
After our toasted sandwiches we pulled back out onto the Stuart Highway, which I keep forgetting to mention is also known as ‘Explorers Way’. We had not even travelled a kilometre when the ‘Check Engine’ warning light came up on the dashboard. Uh, oh. Bernie pulled over and we dug the truck’s manual out of the glovebox. With it proving difficult to find the right section of the manual, Bernie said a bad word and decided that we should go back to the roadhouse, rather than stay perched on the hard shoulder ploughing through the pages of the manual.
Parked under a shady tree, out the front of the Marla BP, Bernie eventually found the page of the manual that was needed. The manual told him that the warning related to the diesel particulate filter. From his Scan Gauge he could see that the truck had recently done an emissions burn which may not have finished before we pulled in earlier? Also from the Scan Gauge, Bernie was able to look up the code and clear it. All of this was gobbledegook to me but Bernie was happy that the code had triggered for a non fatal reason and we should be fine to continue on our way.
At a rest area a little further along the road Bernie pulled in to switch the truck off and turn it back on again. He wanted to check if the ‘Check Engine’ warning would activate again. When it didn’t he was even more confident that the activation was just an electronic blip and not indicative of any dire engine problem. Phew.
We stopped at the Marryat Creek North Rest Area and walked down to the creek bed to take some photos of the eucalypts that grow in the creeks. We had already crossed a couple of other creeks and noted the change in vegetation along these ephemeral waterways. They are almost dry again now but would have been flowing earlier in the year with the rain that fell then. Even though the creeks only flow sporadically it is enough to support some larger trees. Back in the car park we chatted with a couple from Devon in the UK who started in Adelaide, drove through the Flinders Ranges and are now heading to Uluru and Alice Springs. They will fly from there to Brisbane to spend the end of their holiday with family there.
Next we pulled into the NT/SA Border Rest Area for the obligatory border crossing photo. Never having driven into the Northern Territory before, it was a border sign that we’ve not photographed previously! Nineteen Ks over the border, we pulled into the Kulgera Roadhouse feeling like it must be Splice o’clock. Hmmn, the Kulgera Roadhouse was looking pretty tired and neglected. Not much of an example of Northern Territory hospitality? And Splices? Nope, the roadhouse didn’t even have an ice-cream freezer so, no afternoon ice-cream for us … of any variety! The English couple told us they are staying in Kulgera tonight. We were very happy to be just passing through.
Just over 90 kilometres later we arrived in Erldunda where Bernie topped the truck up again, while I washed all the bug guts off the windscreen. From the bowsers we drove around to the reception office of the Erldunda Desert Oaks Resort. Much, MUCH better looking than Kulgera! Thank goodness Bernie booked us in here when he was looking for an accommodation option part way between Coober Pedy and Uluru.
After checking in, we drove the truck around to our room for tonight. The room is basic but clean and spacious which is all we need for a single night. Dinner tonight was in the Emu Bar which proclaims itself to be ‘The Centre of the Centre’. The bar featured wooden AFL and NRL team signs that were arranged on a couple of the timber pillars in the dining room. The signs had hooks to hang them on screws on the pillars which theoretically means that the team names can be displayed in ladder order. Ahem, no-one has rearranged them for quite some time. Bernie was delighted though because the order showed the Tigers on the top of the ladder!!
As we were leaving the bar, we stopped to look at the HUGE map of Australia on the wall, to get a better impression of how far we have come and how far we have to go. Although we have already driven a long way to arrive in the centre of Australia, we still have a very long way to go. We started chatting to another couple looking at the map and asked where they are heading. Ed and Ginger are from Alaska and their plan is similar to ours but they are worried about running out of time. They are spending six months on their Aussie adventure and have already done the east coast from Sydney to Melbourne and then spent six weeks in Tasmania. They continued along the coast to Adelaide and have now commenced the outback section of their trip. They’re not sure they have enough time left to continue up north, cross northern WA and then drive down the west coast to Perth. We wonder if we’ll cross paths with them again?
Steps: 5,173 (3.40kms)
