Ha ha, the new highway was completed while we were away.

The old road was a real adventure with a real risk of not making it. Lots of cars smashed up on the side of the road, some old and some newer. Risk of smacking into cattle, camels, horses and donkeys. More so that today. Big holes full of super fine bulldust, which not only filled your car with fine blinding dust but also did not allow the car to steer, so you went straight ahead irrespective of the bend in the road. The cattle grids were raised well above the road surface by erosion, and gave a hell of a jar if you didn't slow down enough. Not dangerous unless one lost control, but tjhe corrugations in the road made an irritating journey of constant vibration.

It took us 24 hours driving to get to the border, driving non stop, sharing the wheel between three of us. Funnily we met two dickheads in Alice Springs from our home area, who also drove up but in their V8 car and sped all the way ... didn't make it, and crashed in the bush ... car written off. F***heads ....

The old road was much more fun than the highway today, but not a good communication route.