Day 103: Sun 1 Aug - Kimba to Hutchison Memorial Free Camp near Coober Pedy, 687 km; total towed: 12 008 km

3-19 degC, a chilly, foggy/misty start but no rain - lots of water around from last night's rain, which the trucks sprayed all over us every time they passed the other way

We are back in the Red Centre, hooray!  The weather has warmed up, the rain has gone, the wind is just a breeze and the sun is shinning; couldn't ask for more.  After a quick coffee we were on the road just after 7 am again, determined to put some km under the wheels.  It was our second day of driving through the SA Grain Belt with its 100 000 of hectares of lush green crops.  They are certainly enjoying a bumper winter crop thus far, we hope that it continues to harvest.  Plenty of healthy looking sheep around too.

Pulled off at Iron Knob for brekky/look around; moving right along.  Upon reaching Port Augusta we did a small grocery shop and refuelled.  It was then onto the Arid Botanic Gardens on the North side of Port Augusta where we had mornos.   The Gardens, although very well laid out and designed, was one for the real desert native plant enthusiasts really.   Upon exiting the Gardens, we turned to the North, and the sun came out, the sky cleared beautifully, and the temperature started to climb; yes we had escaped the ordinary weather!  Lunch was taken at a rest stop overlooking a magnificent salt lake called Lagoon Island.  As we drove past Lake Hart, another salt lake we'd stayed at last time (2018), we saw that it had a lot more water in it, evidence of how much rain they have received this season.  

We struck a fair amount of road works today, even though it is a Sunday, however, it didn't stop us from putting a reasonable amount of km behind us.  Finally made it into a free camp 13 km South of Coober Pedy at 5:30 pm, our longest day on this trip.  Great free camp with a huge flat area.  Although there's quite a few other vans here our nearest neighbour is about 120 m away.  

After dinner we did some star gazing and satellite spotting; it was certainly nice to see the stars again.   

The Big Galah at Kimba, what we came to see!

Sunrise, on the road, through the mist

Iron Knob

War Memorial at Iron Knob

Stuart's Dessert Pea mural on dunny walls at Iron Knob

St Patrick's Catholic Church, Iron Knob

Windfarm outside Port Augusta

Love this sign

Port Augusta from the bridge as we were leaving

Ironstone Lagoon (not bad shots taken with the iPhone from a vehicle moving at 95 km/h)

Another long straight road

Sunset at Hutchison Memorial Free Camp just outside Coober Pedy