It is going to be a long day on the road today, but the good thing is, it is all bitumen and 110 km/hr most of the way. We set out out just before 9 am, with an aim of having a coffee break at the first piece of civilisation, Glendambo. With a population of around 30, it consists of a caravan park, a hotel motel, a licensed restaurant, roadhouse and a general store. We stopped at the Roadhouse and had a pretty ordinary cup of coffee before moving on.
The Glendambo Roadhouse
The next centre of civilisation, is Pimba, a further hour down the road where we plan to stop for lunch.
However, to our surprise, we see a roadside lookout not too far out of Glendambo, with a number of cars and caravans pulled into the rather large carpark. The attraction is a view of Lake Hart. Lake Hart is one of the many large salt lakes in SA, and from the carpark you can walk down to the lakeside, and the Ghan railway line that runs past it. Just between the Ghan line and the lake is this welcome sign.
Woomera is to the eastern side of the lake.
The walking path down to the lake
There we some informative storyboards there, but none talked about the lake
Some caravaners had set up camp and looked like they may be there for a while, taking in the great view and enjoying the flies. For us, it was time to move on, and it wasn't too much further down the road that we found a large pink lake. We think it is still part of Lake Hart, but there is no information available.
Prior to arriving in Pimba, there was another lookout over a dry salt lake, which was very white, so we pulled in to have a look. Once again, not a lot of info around.
At last we are in Pimba. It is somewhat bigger than Glendambo, with 50 inhabitants. Pimba lies at the junction of the Stuart Highway and Pimba Road which goes to Woomera, Roxby Downs and Andamooka. Both the Ghan and the Great Southern Railway run through Pimba.
The highlight of the town is Spud's Roadhouse, where we stop for lunch, named after a local legend.
It is hard to find words to describe Spud's Road house as it offers just about everything from fuel, accommodation, a limited supermarket, a bar with pokies, caravan and camping sites and of course food which is why we are here. The decor is basic, but the food is good. We had a couple of wraps for lunch that were both very generous in size, and very tasty. Oh ! Did I mention they also have EV charging facilities. Outback SA really are leading the way in the electric car revolution, and have invested well in advance of demand.
From here we have about 170 km to Port Augusta where we will spend the night. They have organised a special roadworks program to slow us down so we can appreciate the barren landscape.
Nevertheless, we arrive at our motel at around 3.30pm, and once again it iswell presented and the room spacious. Once we checked in, we had to find a carwash and deposit the considerable amount of rich red soil we have carried all the way from the Flinders Ranges, to the benefit of the residents of Port Augusta. The car wash complex even had a couple of special bays set aside for muddy cars, appreciating the value of what we had brought to town.
What a transformation, a clean car at least for a while
Port Augusta is a dry town with a serious youth crime issue. We were advised not to stay here, so we are not keen to venture out for dinner and have a very good "chicken shop" next to the motel, so we go next door, get half a chicken and some coleslaw and add a few salad ingredients we are carrying with us for a satisfying meal. A bottle of Pikes Shiraz makes it even better.
Tomorrow we start the coastal part of our trip, beginning at Streaky Bay.
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