THURSDAY 27 MAY     COWARD SPRINGS

I got up at 7.15, not sure why I was wide awake at that hour! John slept until 9.30.

I went walking in the cool but pleasant early morning. Watched the lady proprietor water their camels – about seven of them. They get water every second day, otherwise they fill their stomachs too much. They were amusing to watch – and they have beautiful eyes.

I walked to the wetland area/bore overflow and looked at birds. Saw a spotless crake flitting about.

It did not take long for the flies to descend in droves.

The sky looked like it could turn to rain, for a while in the morning, but it lightened off during the day.

After breakfast, John and I went walking along the wetlands and channel. We saw two more new birds – white fronted chat and black-eared cuckoo. This is a wonderful area in the otherwise dry country.

We wandered about and looked at the historical railway remnants here. There are two buildings, one of which appears to be the home of the owners.

After an hour or so of walking, we’d had enough of the flies, so retreated to the van for a while.

For lunch, made ourselves spam and cheese sandwiches, toasted on the open fire. Yum.

After lunch, went driving because John decided that he wanted to find some sleeper remains that he could cut and take home to make woodwork items. We found some lovely old red woods – two different kinds it seemed. Two varieties of red gum? Or red gum and something else? John cut a couple of pieces – obviously, we can’t take much, though. I have in mind a pepper grinder – would be great to have as a memento of the Track.

A couple who came into the campground during the afternoon, and camped near us, had problems. They’d had three flat tyres between Marree and here! That seemed most strange to us but we did not like to quiz them about it. But we wondered: poor driving as in too fast? Too heavily loaded? Or just a really dud brand of tyre. They will have to leave their camper trailer here and go to William Creek tomorrow for repairs. We certainly had no tyre trouble on that stretch and it really did not seem the sort of surface, to me, that should cause issues.

I used the fire to make curried potato and tomato soup, for these cold nights. But I must use less curry next time!

Late in the afternoon, John went for a dip in the artesian spa, and enjoyed it greatly. I just had a shower, which was also great – nice warm water from the donkey heater.

The sunsets here are truly spectacular.

We cooked sausages on the BBQ grill over the fire, for tea, with potatoes baked in foil in the coals. Followed that with yoghurt and bananas.

We sat round the fire again, after tea. There was a breeze, which was pleasant and it kept the mozzies away. The moon was bright, amongst a lot of small clouds.