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Friday, October 24 - Day 6

The campsite was a hive of activity this morning, with repairs to both Sungroper and Andrew's car, which we call "Follow". Sungroper had some temporary repairs made to the left hand brake caliper and Andrew rectified a fault with his brake light switch. He was actually able to find a complete replacement part in a wrecked Falcon of the same model and colour that was quietly rusting away at the back of the campsite.

We got on the road somewhat late at 8:30am and trailered directly to Erldunda. Doug went in first and drove through to Kulgera where Lannie was swapped in for the drive across the border. Sungroper crossed in to South Australia at 12:40 (WSC time) and drove through to Maryatt Creek, the site of a Sungoper camp in 2001.

Karen then drove from Marryat Creek to a lay-by about 57km short of Marla Bore from where we trailered the remaining distance (to Marla Bore) for our overnight stop.

Teams seen on the road today were Annesley, Helios, Mannum and Kirenjaku, of which only Kirenjaku was seen to be solaring their car. Both Mannum and Helios were trailering their vehicles and Annesley (who are driving in the Greenfleet class) were parked in a layby.

We didn't run the Internet Cafe tonight because of concerns about the weather - it's quite windy and there is rain threatening. We're also the only team here at Marla Bore as most of the others have already trailered through to Cadney.

	Morning charge in the carpark of Jim's Place at Stuarts Well.
	Grant Hovey is our observer for the the leg from Alice Springs to Cadney. Here he is keeping a close eye on proceedings during morning charge.
	The array cooling equipment is always kept at the ready.
	Andrew found a ready supply of parts available at Stuarts Well for his red EB Falcon which we use as the chase car. His brake light switch had failed and he found a working replacement in the backyard at Jim's Place.
	Make sure you read the story of the old Dodge at the entrance to the camping ground.
	The Sungroper Internet Cafe and team camp at Stuarts Well. We found the proprietors of Jim's Place to be very friendly and heartily recommend Stuarts Well for any solar teams.
	The local residents cool off in the shade.
	There's an oasis in the kangaroo compound.
	The nearest that the Sungroper team made it to Uluru.
	Hang on! Onno's going to Ayer's Rock anyway. Going...
	going...
	gone!!!
	Actually he turned around just down the road a bit
	and came back again.
	If you haven't guessed it was just a ruse.
	Bevan clears roadkill ahead of Sungroper. This one was just a little too old.
	The support and logistics teams wait at the NT/SA border for Sungroper to arrive.
	Sungroper and "Follow" leave the Northern Territory...
	... and enter South Australia. It's all downhill from here (we hope).
	Arrival at Marryat Creek rest area for a drive change.
	We pop the lid on Lannie...
	And move the array back to let him out...
	Lannie leaps from Sungroper's cockpit...
	and quickly grabs his shoes.
	Additional ballast is added for Karen, who is the next driver. She needs a total of 24kg.
	Karen climbs in...
	The steering wheel and dashboard are lowered in place...
	Karen stows her water bottle...
	Buckles herself in...
	The comms gear is handed in...
	Karen waves to say "see ya later"
	and holds the emergency release straps up to clear the chassis.
	The lid is lowered into place and locked.
	She's off! Another textbook driver change!
	One of the many memorials along the Stuart Highway. This one marks the completion of the highway and is where we trailered Sungroper for the 57km run into Marla Bore for our overnight stop.
	The lead vehicle with Sungroper's trailer is driven in from the opposite end of the lay-by to make trailering easier.
	We chose to wait at the lay-by for a short time to make greatest use of available sunlight.
	Bevan updating the website - complete with trademark headlights.