This was possibly
the most remote run I have ever done - apart from the three of us, I think there's a fair chance that there were no other people within a 50-kilometre radius (we didn't see another vehicle between Ceduna and Tarcoola).
The day started at Googs Lake, about 50 kilometres along the sand-dune section of the track. The plan for the run was for Geoff to drop us off at the Mount Finke turnoff (after 73 kilometres and three hours of dune climbing), and for us to run from there to the base of the mountain - a real standout rising probably 250 metres above endless rolling sand-dune country. The run itself was short, and nothing too startling, but that wasn't really the point - it was a chance to get close to the landscape in a way you don't experience so much in a vehicle (even one doing 20-30 kilometres an hour).
Apparently Stuart was so impressed by the exploits of William Finke (or maybe just by the amount of money Mr. Finke may have contributed to the expedition) that he named both this mountain and the Finke River for him. I don't know if he also gave his name to the Finks motorcycle gang.
The track was slowish going but not exceptionally difficult (although I was glad someone with dune experience was doing the driving) - there was only one dune we had to make a second attempt at.
And then we got to the end of the track and hit the smoothest dirt road I've ever been on, past the settlement of Tarcoola (where I ticked another name off my weather-stations list). The tentative plan was to stay at Kingoonya, either camping or at the pub, but when we got there just before last light it was already apparent that a lively night was in prospect, so we quickly changed plans and decided to go on another 300 kilometres (mostly highway) to Coober Pedy - I was already aware from the 1990 trip that I was missing precisely nothing by doing this in the dark (and we only saw two roos in the middle of the road). The day's last 400 kilometres took less time than the first 100.