Alice Springs to Daly Waters.

As we left Erldunda Randall messaged an old work friend who worked at Alice Springs, and we arranged to meet up with him on arrival. We enjoyed a cool drink at a cafe and then he visited us at our campsite in the late afternoon. The weather was really warm - about 24 degrees - and we sat outside enjoying the sunshine. It is always nice to see a familiar face from back home. 
The place we stopped at was just near the Alice Springs airport. There was more of a mixture of people stopping here from young backpackers to families and the older grey nomads. In the morning Randall was gobsmacked watching the young backpacker girls having an outdoor shower only a few metres away from us!!!  
On our sojourn to find water we went into The Ghan museum. It was really interesting to walk through the old train carriages and imagine what it would have been like travelling  in it. I would love to do the Ghan trip one day. 

Finding water when you don't stop at a caravan park is not always easy, but Randall and I are really good at spotting a tap from 100 metres now. We found one just near the library, and Randall whipped out his trusty tap handle and expandable hose and we were filled up in a few minutes.

We stayed two nights in Alice Springs catching up with shopping and stuff, and then headed off for warmer climes.

We headed north past the Tropic of Capricorn and the highest point on the Stuart Highway, 727.2 metres above sea level. We had a fairly high fuel consumption and could only put it down to the wind until we saw the sign. Anthills start appearing about now and get bigger as you head north. 

We stopped overnight at the John McDouall Rest Area, the third time we have stopped there. There was no phone service, however you could make a phone call by putting your mobile phone on a stand and use speaker phone. The signal was enhanced by a satellite dish next to the stand.

The next morning Randall put his phone there and put on his hotspot, so were were able to download our local newspaper - we like to keep up with what is happening at home.

It was a very grey morning and as we drove the rain started. It was quite heavy at times. When a big road train came towards me the spray was awful - I could hardly see where the road was! It continued raining for about two hours, but thankfully it eased off and made driving easier.

We pulled into a place called Wycliffe Well and couldn't believe the price of diesel there - $127.9! Way cheaper than home and in the middle of nowhere, so we took the opportunity to top up.

There is lots of roadkill around and usually with big eagles enjoying a feed. We hit one big bird, not an eagle, and it stayed stuck in our nudge bar. We had to pull over and Randall got a stick to push it out. It was not a pleasant experience and one we hope won't happen again.

We passed through Tennant Creek and again we were on the lookout for a water tap. We managed to find one at the local fire station - where else of course!

Our next stop was Daly Waters, a pub and caravan park. We stopped here for two nights and it was the first time we had paid since we left home. It has quite an atmosphere as caravans and motorhomes roll in and leave the next day. We enjoyed sitting outside chatting to people and having a beer or two.