NT Road Trip 2015: Part 03 Tyres and Eringa Waterhole

Day 05 -- Coward Springs to Eringa Waterhole

Don't worry about Day 04. We spent it at Coward Springs, birdwatching, walking, spa-ing, checking out the few buildings, relaxing, sleeping, eating ... you know what I mean.

The next day we headed north, still on the Oodnadatta Track, stopping at William Creek and, of course, Oodnadatta [$1.79/L]. Bought a coffee and a pink Oodnadatta Roadhouse baseball cap from the German [or could have been French/Swedish/Pommy -- all the roadhouses and stations have backpacker-type employees and they all blur after a bit]. We topped up the fuel and pushed on. Whilst on the track, we assisted a station manager's wife who had a flat in her new Cooper tyre. After replacing it, we placed the flat in the back of the ute with the other flat new Cooper tyre!! She showed us where the tyre wall at the base of a lug had just cracked! The station hands use [almost] no-name El Cheapo tyres and have no problems.  I'm pretty happy with my Goodrich ATs. We ran our tyres on the gravel at 24 psi at the front and 26 psi at the back. Everyone runs tyres at low pressure. I met a lad in Yuendumu who runs his at 10 psi on the Tanami Road. Claimed his car "floats" across the corrugations. The Oodnadatta Track, though, was in excellent condition.

Travellers congregate outside the Oodnadatta Roadhouse

The vehicle to the far left was interesting. A closer image is below. I got a bit excited as Alberton is a small village south of Yarram in far eastern Victoria quite near home. Here was a vehicle from there. Wonders will never cease. However ...

... there is another Alberton, in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. This truck hadn't travelled far at all!

At Oodnadatta, we turned north [the Track itself makes it's way out to the Stuart Highway at Marla] to Hamilton Station and further on to Eringa Waterhole. This is a permanent waterbody on Lindsay Creek. It is about eight hundred metres long and up to 100 metres wide. It was an excellent place to camp with just one other camper. The sunset and stars were magnificent and the sunrise superb.

The galahs coming in for an evening drink were spectacular with their aerial displays in the light of a setting sun.

Galah Eolophus roseicapillus

More on Eringa tomorrow.