We left the van at Marla, a road house/general store/caravan park that has been dignified with a town name. It is in fact the last road house in South Australia heading north. We then deflated the tyres, bunged the Patrol into 4wd and headed down the Oodnadatta Track. This turned out not to be quite as intrepid as we had imagined - this part of the track at least is a reasonable dirt road, and doesn't really have too much of interest. We spent the afternoon in Oodnadatta, which involves a walk up and down the 500 metre long main (only) street and a visit to the museum. The road house closes at 6pm, so dinner was early - there is a pub but the kitchen was closed for renovations. After a late breakfast (the roadhouse doesn't open again until 8:30) we headed back to Marla via the Painted Desert. This part of the trip made the journey worthwhile, it provided all the 4wd adventure that we had expected, as well as stunning views of the Painted Desert itself. We even came across a cattle muster, which was utilising not only horses and motor bikes, but a helicopter! Luckily we weren't mown down by any stampeding cattle, and only had to wait a few minutes for them to clear the road.
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