We were woken by our alarms and emerged from our beds, looking rather bleary eyed, at about 5:30am. We had been very sensible and packed most of our things into the car the night before so we only had to get ourselves ready, put our last few bits into a bag and have a quick bite to eat before we set off. Unfortunately, Westie woke up just as we were about to leave so we were a little bit delayed leaving as we tried desperately to calm him down and get him back off to sleep!
 
Although already half hour behind schedule, we were in the car by 6:30am and with the Sat Nav prepped we were on our way out of Glenelg and headed towards Port Adelaide . I was really surprised by how many cars were on the road that early in the morning but they were all moving steadily so we didn't encounter any hold ups! Matt was nominated as our first driver so he had the task of getting us out of the city in our super powerful car! It didn't take long for me and Gareth to fall back to sleep so poor Matt had just the radio to keep him company! After about 3 hours, he was really starting to struggle to stay awake so pulled into a lay by and Gareth took over the driving. By now we had reached Port Augusta so we were making really good time and with the roads becoming increasingly empty we had a nice clear run which was made even easier by the cruise control. Of course the more we drove into the countryside, the more aware we became of the wildlife and the potential for hitting something! On one stretch of road, we must have counted at least 10 squashed animals very close together!!! As we left the built up areas of Adelaide and got to Port Augusta the drive soon became very scenic with vast open areas and mountain ranges along with large lakes, some with water in but many just massive dried up salt lakes . We also got to drive past quite a big twister which was picking up all the sand not far from the road, it was rather impressive. 
 
Apart from a brief stop in another lay by so the boys could go to the toilet behind a bush, we drove non stop to a small town called Pimba which appeared to contain only a road house and service station! Here we refuelled and I was able to go to the toilet as by now we had been on the road for 5 hours! There was a road sign as we turned back onto the highway which said we were 597km from Marla so nearly half way!!!!
 
We stopped for lunch at about 1:30pm in a rest area by the side of the road as by now we had been on the road for 7 hours and had travelled almost 700km so we were ready for a break! The downside of going on a road trip here is the food as it is almost impossible to keep anything cool and fresh in this heat so we were back on a diet of cheese slice and crisp sandwiches! We had also noticed an increase in the number of flies again, so stretching our legs turned into dancing around wafting flies from our faces and then darting back into the car with the inevitable few managing to sneak in with us and having to be flicked out before setting off back on the road with Matt behind the wheel again .
 
At about 4:30pm and with 960km on the clock we made another stop at a little rest area so the boys could change driver for the last time. By now we were only about 160km from Marla which would see us arrive around 6pm so Gareth suggested we continue to a free camping area at the state border line which would take about another 2 hours to reach but would leave us with only 4 hours of driving to do in the morning! Thinking this was a pretty good idea we continued on our now extended journey!
 
At 6pm we pulled into our penultimate stop of the day at the service station in Marla where we filled up with fuel and used the facilities! We decided it definitely was a good idea to continue on to the state border as it was still very light and was pretty early to be heading to bed already but there would be nothing else to do if we stayed in Marla and it would be free camping as well. After being in the car for 12 hours we were all starting to go a little stir crazy though with Gareth even jokingly suggesting a game of musical chairs and Matt winning the game of hide and seek as he was sitting in the back! In the end we decided 'I Spy' was probably a more sensible option but after spying trees, sky, bushes, road and cars we came unstuck!! (yep it was getting that bad!) A couple of more interesting sightings along this stretch (although not during the game!) were 4 cows stood by the side of the road, lots of horses and about 6 burnt out cars?!?!
 
We made it to the rest area at the state border at about 7:30pm but what we saw wasn't what we were expecting . It was advertised as being a free camping area but in fact was simply a car park so there was nowhere to pitch a tent as it was more meant for truckers and campervans. After a quick toilet break and a look about, we noticed there was a ridiculous amount of flies, more than we'd ever experienced, so we all agreed it would be pretty uncomfortable for all 3 of us to try and sleep in the car with the added risk of wildlife, especially dingos. So were left with no choice but to carry on up the road and hope that the next town had somewhere we could stay! Thankfully our gamble paid off and 17km up the road we came to Kulgera which has a road house, campsite and to the boys delight, a pub! Matt used his best flirting skills and negotiated a site for $18! He was rewarded for his efforts by the fact it was happy hour (we initially thought we had missed it but as we were now back in the Northern Territory we had to put our clocks back an hour!) so we got a beer each and went to set up camp! This was far from a nice campsite but it was better than the rest area. Gareth had decided to sleep in the car rather than set up the swag while Matt and I were having the tent so it didn't take long to organise and in no time we were back in the pub ordering more beer and burgers for dinner! Figuring it probably wasn't going to be the most comfortable night's sleep and with very little else to do, we made our way to bed at around 10pm. We were so worn out from our early start and all the driving that we were asleep in no time. Matt was so tired he even slept through the entertainment at about 11pm when 2 rather drunk ladies decided to go skinny dipping in the pool next to where we were camped and I was woken by their giggling and music pumping! Thankfully their party didn't last long and I was able to go back to sleep by midnight!