The featured image is of the dawn at Horrocks Pass Rest Area. You won’t actually see it unless you click on the title of the post and go to it in a web page. It doesn’t show up in the email version.

We have camped tonight at the Ranges View Rest Area – so named because of the view, of course. We haven’t gone very far today, maybe about 100 kms.

We drove from Horrocks Pass to Port Augusta where we went to a dump point, fed the Winnie and checked the tyres. We also did a bit of shopping, getting bread, rolls and bananas. We started out on the Stuart Highway, then stopped at a lovely Botanic Gardens. After a bit of a walk around we had lunch, then drove to a lookout nearby. That was definitely worthwhile.

Stephen isn’t feeling very well, he has a headache and just not his usual self. That is party why we have chosen to camp early (by about 2.30 p.m.). The other is that the view is quite special, there is internet access, and I am also feeling a bit tired. We have a long way to go and it will all be interesting as we haven’t been this way before (or at least, not since I was a small child).

We are approximately 1,300 kms from Alice Springs.

I’m a day late with this blog. We didn’t have internet at our Rest Stop last night.

We got away from Adelaide in good time and were heading for a rest stop that is in Mt Remarkable National Park. I was following Geowiki, which conveniently forgot to mention that we needed a vehicle pass and camping permit to being in the national park. We couldn’t book online as all the camping spaces were filled. It is a long weekend!

Geowiki said there were rest stops on the road we could use, one on each side of the highway. However, there was a sign at our left hand rest stop which said we couldn’t camp there. We were feeling upset at this stage. Driving into the park was very attractive, with trees and views of the ranges getting closer and closer. I didn’t get photos of this, but have some video taken on the GoPro.

We didn’t want to drive into Port August late in the day, so opted for a caravan park on the way. It was somewhat off the main highway. As we got to the turnoff, there was a sign saying that there were no vacancies. There were a couple of caravan parks further on, but also a rest stop. We were on the Horrocks Pass road which we recognised from our trip a couple of years ago.

The rest stop had one other caravan/camper, at some distance from where we chose our spot. We were trying to find a completely flat spot, but ended up with a slope – hence putting chocks under the wheels. Not that there was any real danger, but it made us feel better.

We had a very peaceful night. There was a full moon, so it was almost like being in a camping area with a security light. Because it was so bright we didn’t get a good view of the stars.