I mentioned yesterday the joys of the gibbers.  Well I didn't think the roads could get any worse than yesterday but they did.

Leaving Pederka next stop was Dalhousie Ruins.  Dalhousie was a pastoral lease in the 1800s running sheep, cattle, camels and goats and even an attempt to grow lucern. Like the route of the old Ghan we were following, this place only existed due to the natural spring that finds its way to the surface.  Despite this liquid gold, it was not enough to sustain the property, eventually being abandoned in 1929.  

You get some idea of what it was like out in this arid unforgiving environment by Captain Whites description in 1914: 

Speaking of crying like children, leaving Dalhausie ruins we made a run for Mt Dare Pub. Although run is an interesting word as we could have walked quicker let alone run.  The track had gibbers the size of soccer balls and corregations the size of Mt Everest.  The jolting and shaking was enough to make any 'traveller sit and cry like children'.

 Witjirga National Park is the gateway to the Simpson Desert but unfortunately that will have to wait for another trip.  Another unfortunate thing you notice in the National Park are the fences and signs with 'don't camp here'.  It is a shame it has had to come to this as a result of previous fools that have trashed this valuable land. 

The views were amazing with a mix of red dunes, flat gibbers and red and yellow hills reminiscent of the Arazona desert. The reds and yellows only make way for greens as you come to Oposum waterhole.  The sounds also dramatically change as you move from the plains where only the noise is that of the wind as it picks up the dust in whirlybirds.  This is replaced with the clatter and squarks of the Galahs and Corellas who travel from waterhole to waterhole much like the Ghan train of the past.

Reaching Mt Dare pub we only stayed for a quick look and luckily no need to fill up (with Diesel at $2.40/lt).  Like all outback pubs each has their own unique feature.  Apart from the exhaubinant price of fuel, this one had several thousand beer coolers strung up on the roof.

Leaving the pub (never a good thing) it was on towards Finke.  Not far out we crossed into the Northern Territory, although it could have been another world.  We went from brrrrrr to zoooom as we got a freshly graded track, something my bones greatly appreciated.

From here it was to another camp out in the middle of know where.  I am now sitting by the camp fire having just finished a lovely lamb shops in the camp oven.  If you don't get another post it is because we have been stampeded by cattle during the middle of the night.  It turns out we camped near a watering trough and there are 100 beady eyes reflecting in the light of the campfire watching us.