Day 19 Port Augusta – Bush Camp 87 K / 54 Miles

This is probably the part of the trip that has instilled more anxiousness in me than any other. The Stuart Highway is a two -lane track that extends across one of the most hostile and remote areas of the planet, Australia’s “Great Red Center.” There are only three towns of any size, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs and Katherine, before we reach Darwin some 1,700 miles later. It is interspersed with a variety of roadhouses that still remain little more than watering holes. More miles than we will be able to cover with the daylight available separate the roadhouses, so bush camps are part of the plan. Tonight we will look for some remote spot not too far off the road, but concealed to avoid any disturbances.

We left Port August mid-morning and within the first mile came to the roundabout leading either to Perth on the west coast or to Darwin via the Stuart Highway. Immediately the traffic dissipated and we were in the outback. The change was really dramatic.

The road surface was good, but we were still challenged by a side-wind but not the brutal headwinds of the past few days. Sight lines were excellent allowing us to see both oncoming as well as traffic from behind. I had expected what traffic we would see to be traveling at a faster pace that we experienced. “Gray Nomads” and their RVs made up a the most of traffic with individual cars and Truck-tractor 3 trailer “Road Trains” making up the rest of the particularly sparse traffic.

Periodic brief rain showers blew in unexpectedly. The rain wasn’t heavy but blown by a cold wind, caused us to shelter behind bushes until it passed.

We started looking for a suitable campsite around 4:00 PM and about a half hour later found a good spot down a small dirt track with tree shading the camp from direct view from the road. The tents went up quickly as the before the sun went down. I fire up my small camp stove to boil water for hot chocolate and noodle bowls for Joe and I. David settled for cheese and crackers. The temperature dropped rapidly as the sun went down, we expected temperatures near freezing tonight.