day 4: Oodnadatta 27 32'58.4"S 135 26'51.5"E

3:00am bloody heat at night (thirties), needed to get some water from the car, got out of the tent, put the torch on: big mistake!!! I just woke up a couple of hundreds parrots that just took off and were trying to get to the trees nearby that were already "booked" by others parrots... The last ones were shouting back at them "the place is already taken, piss off!" That was it, I had to use the ultimate solution again: earplugs...
Well as I was awake, this was the occasion to take pictures of the beautiful stars lying above my head...
Woke up with the nature and friends: parrots & flies... pack up, have a last dip in the natural spa and go. Heading for Oodnadatta, will see if I stay there one night or head back to the Stuart Highway. Along the track, nice landscapes changing from stony to sandy with different colours: very beautiful.
Arrived in Oodnadatta with its sole attraction: the pink roadhouse. Booked an aircon room for 38$ (After 3 rough camp nights with earplugs, I deserved it, no?). Went at the local pub, took a seat at the counter: I met one aboriginal guy with his whole family, one after the other ordering drinks at the counter: brother, nephew, wife, dog... They all look a little bit drunk except for the dog.
Headed back to the roadhouse, nice clouds in the sky, heavy atmosphere, a little bit of thunder far away... Well, as they say here, it is so hot during summer, that when it rains, the rain does not have time to touch the ground, it evaporates before doing so... hope that's true cause when it rains here, the tracks can become impassable with water filling creeks up to 2 meters...
Back in my room, I am writing this post and preparing tomorrow trip: heading out of the track through the Painted Desert and heading for Alice Springs... the sandman takes me away... (French expression, forgot the English one...)

2:00 am. Ooopsie! Woken up in the night by some noise on the metallic roof: S#$%%*! It is raining as hell outside! I think I should have departed directly to the Highway!!! I'll check the rain damage tomorrow at the local police. Going back to sleep, hoping that the rain will not affect the track conditions... don't like the idea of getting stuck here for 2~3 days or even more... I just remembered the weather forecast on TV at the pub in between the bribes of conversation with my drunken fellows. They were saying that there were some disturbances due to the cyclone that just went over the North of Australia and that we are now seeing the repercussion in the Southern states as well...

Below pics from the day:
Cows next to a bore

From the bore view

Me & my desert friends: flies by the hundreds...

Sand dunes

Wreck at William Creek

Pub Entrance at William Creek

flooded wreck in Algebuckina

Old Ghan Brigde - Algebuckina

Middle of nowhere...

Sunset in Oodnadatta