Log One Hundred and Thirty Two – And They Call the Wind Maria.

1 June 2026

We have left the southern regions of this continent and are now approaching the middle bit, often referred to as the red centre or maybe just the centre.

As I write the wind is blowing as it has these last 24 hours. It makes for an interesting day of driving with head winds of 40kph+. It’s most interesting when a road train with four wagons passes you at speed. It has a tail wind and you’re driving into the wind. The aerodynamics between our car and the truck causes the car and caravan to bear away and toward the edge of the road. All this happens in seconds. The heart races as you get the car and caravan back on course whilst maintaining a steady course and no swerving but maybe some swearing.

We are now in Coober Pedy, once the capital of the opal mining industry in Australia. The first time we visited Coober Pedy the cashier at the supermarket had a shot gun at the register and all roads leading into town were dirt. It was said there were two police officers in town who only recorded births and deaths. Whatever else happened in town was left to the locals, particularly claim jumping. Now I have 5G connectivity and there is a pizza shop in town not to mention good roads. Water is still closely managed and people still live underground.

Modern vehicles have an annoying habit of tracking your eye movement and displaying error messages like it can’t see your eyes or you should keep your eyes on the road or would you like to take a break. On these roads you need to be watchful for feral goats and wandering cattle. Clearly the Toyota engineers in Japan have little experience with driving in the Australian outback.

Tomorrow we will make it to the Northern Territory.