I've been reading Will Self's collection of articles Junk Mail on the trip so far. An interesting bit of reading. His assessment of how Aboriginals use white people as slaves was intriuging and probably true in some cases, exploitation of guilt felt by whites over the treatment of the 'natives' when Australia was first settled.

We had a stop in Leigh Creek, a very new town due to the old town being moved away from the nearby coalmines, massive pits dug into the ground.

Stopped to meet a man who goes by the name of Talc Alf near Lyndehurst. Alf has found meaning in the letters of the alphabet and people's names. He gets his name from his use of rock used for talcum powder in his sculptures. We had lunch there before using the local rep-public toilets and heading off for William Creek (population 2).

William Creek is reached via the Oodnadatta Track, which is fortunately open. The town itself consists of a pub/hotel and campsite. We use both for the night. Dinner s supplied at the pub, as are late night refreshments and a game of Boule out front, a classic battle of the sexes which (unfortunately) the girls won.

We sleep in swags for the night, although with the wind blowing as strong as it was we take some shelter. The wind, however, did have the benefit of keeping the flies away.

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