Too many Kangaroos

We stayed in a free camp ground near Woomera on 4/6 to see the sunrise at a dry salt lake Lake Hart. There are many dry salt lakes at this part of Australia. 

We stopped on the road side to observe an emu this morning, until one of us tried to lure the emu with an banana yet scared it away. We tracked back the same route out of South Australia until Port Augusta then passed via a green valley and a border from South Australia (SA) into New South Wales (NSW). There was an interesting Border Cafe right on the state border line ran by the one and only resident of the tiny border town on NSW side, while there is only 14 residents on the other border town on the SA side. Broken Hills is a bigger town on the way but still very dry and offers no free drinkable water. 

I have been driving in Australia for several hundred kms so far during day time. Driving between towns and cities comes with a risk of hitting or crashing due to swerving to avoid wildlife. Kangaroos have a habit of being spooked by cars and then, bewilderingly, jumping in front of them. We saw a lot live and dead kangaroos on the way, especially tonight (probably over 100), so we decided to stop at a middle of nowhere near Paratoo and waited for the day light. The roadside store has only smelly washing water so I gave up showering and used a little bit precious drinking water to brush my teeth. The shop owners were freaky so I am really concerned about our safety, but we are trapped here to camp for the night of 4/7.  I had a baby wipes shower tonight, a common dry cleaning practice for hikers.

It is good that we have cellphones signals here to call for help in case of emergency (unlike Northern Territory requires satellite phones). This would be the 10th and hopefully last night tat I sleep in a passage car, which is more comfortable for me than sleeping in a tent without a good mat. I can't wait to reach Sydney on 4/8. Keep my fingers crossed.








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