Marla

Uluru to Marla
Curtain Springs, Mt Ebenezer, Erldunda, Kulgera (Lasseter & Stuart Highways) 526 kms

Another brilliant morning ! Clear skies, warm morning sunshine and the singing of our resident top notch pigeons ("they think we make the noise with our wings !") greeted our departure from a very special, wonderful place.

A tour record was set with the completion of a full pack of the big rig in 85 minutes !

There were tears from youngest to oldest as we pulled away from Yulara and set our sights on heading into South Australia and a new phase of ourjourney.

Lunch was taken at the junction of the Lasseter and Stuart Highways and despite the madhouse, it was a true desert setting. As we swallowed our cheese sandwiches and billy tea, we considered maps and tour guides in order to make some changes to the planned itinerary over the next few days.

Following lunch, the boys and I had a lively conversation with the rider of an Indian motorbike which was manufactured and used during the Second World War. An American bike, the Indian was the only opposition to Harley-Davidson until the company closed in 1954 and Japanese bikes took over the market. Apparently, owners of "Indys" had many funny lines about Harleys. They often referred to them as cattle dogs, because the factory sent them out and they came back in trucks ! This particular bike was part of the 308th USAAF Bomber Group stationed in Northern Australia and had been part of the same motorcade as the Desotto we had seen on our way to Uluru.

After some head scratching, we determined to push past our planned stop at Kulgera and continue to Maria in South Australia. This would give us only a short hop into Coober Pedy on the following day and allow Sue the time she required to browse in the underground town.

The scenery was much the same for the entire day, with the only major change being the addition of Mulga trees.

Maria offered many sevices, including supermarket, post office. Commonwealth Bank, fuel, motel, caravan park and camping ground. This turned out to be all contained in the one complex ! The sights were grassy and the campsite reasonably well back from the mad, making it a good spot for a one night stop over.