Smoke & Mirrors....... well...... Dust & Mirrors actually.

So tell me - what else to you talk about over breakfast if it isn't toilet etiquette!  I had to laugh when Shane shared with me the horror that is going to the men's toilet first thing in the morning.  Having not experienced this particular pleasure myself, I'm only taking his word for it, but it's said that this time of sharing in the men's is..... well...... vocal to say the least.  The urging of bodily functions, smokers coughing up half a lung and the smell has to be experienced to be believed.  Contrary to his experience, I shared my experience of going to the ladies where I was sandwiched at the door by two other lovely travellers, exchanging "good mornings" we entered consecutive toilets where toilet paper was immediately put into the bowl to avoid any splashing or unsightly running water noise upon which there was silence until more toilet paper was extracted, clothing reinstated, toilets flushed, hands washed and the building vacated.  All unicorn farts and glitter in the ladies I informed Shane.  We may have an issue at further caravan parks as he's now determined to attend the ladies instead of the mens in the morning.

We set off towards the SA border around 9.00am and had only driven about 15 minutes before two things happened.....  One was the wind and the other was our passenger side towing mirror flew off and the last I saw of it it was tumbling down the highway in an effort to catch up to us.  It failed miserably.  By the time I managed to pull over it was quite a way back - Shane's first bit of exercise for the day.  Miraculously although the mirror had come away from the arm, it was still in one (well two but you know what I mean) piece.  While Shane was taking a walk I noticed what was waiting for us ahead - a massive red dust storm on the horizon and the wind was picking up by the minute.

We pushed on but the weather simply continued to get worse.  Though we had no rain, the wind and dust were severe and due to having cross and head winds for most of the way, I couldn't travel at much more than 70-75 kms for most of the way.  We broke the trip for lunch at the Overland Corner Hotel but by that stage the dust and wind was so bad we just had some Salada biscuits, a cuppa and some fruit cake for lunch all while hoping that the wind didn't blow the caravan on its side it was THAT bad.

During our stop I snapped a few photos across the paddock - the dust storms kept coming and I couldn't help but wonder what would make a person want to live here!!!!!  There were times you could imagine that you were in the area of a massive bushfire - it just had that red smokey look.

As it turned out, the decision to book into Port Pirie for tonight which was a pretty long trip anyway at 451 kms wasn't the best decision ever.  We had those winds non stop for the entire trip with maybe the exception of the last 40 kms and finally pulled in to Port Pirie just after 6.00pm (SA time).   I haven't been so glad to get out of a car in a while.  My hands and arms were aching from trying to keep the car and van on the road, but we made it safely and with barely enough light to find the park and locate our site, and I was absolutely ready for bed by the time we had set up.

Port Pirie Beach park looks nice with a view across the water to the township and nice big sites to make life for weary travellers easy.  We'll stay here two nights, have a break tomorrow and do a little exploring before turning north again.