Don said for me to leave when ready and he would catch up on his fat tyres. Would have worked if Don’s load didn’t keep coming loose.

Road mosrtly dirt except for a 10km random stretch of bitumen. About 20km of it was loose sandy corrugations and slow riding. My first horizontal dismount in the sand on a particularly loose section. Nobody saw it so it never happened!

Don was a long way back so stopped early to wait for him for an hour. Talked to camper ute travellers Mal and Brenda (?) from Johnson Range near Tabulam in NSW, also asked them to look for Don’s glasses.

Low loader driver doing 10km/hour over corrugations to protect hydraulic suspension stopped for a good chat. He bemoaned the subset of big rig truck drivers who still think of bonnet-forward trucks (Macks) as sexy. He also said that appearing in ‘Outback Truckers’ TV show hadn’t been good personally or mentally for the drivers involved. The situations in the show were often very contrived.

Dinner finished well into dark because of Don’s late arrival. My headlamp swivel bracket broke so have to hold it in hand.