There's just something about a sunrise in the desert that defies description by printed word and to actually get close to the feeling is that "There is something in the air". Yep any better than this and you really must get out there and experience it for yourself. Most of us travel the deserts in Winter because of the heat in Summer and also the rain that does fall in the desert can bring you to a stop for weeks at a time. So, we all know that the desert temps drop quite dramatically in the evening and warm up quickly during the day and this period of transition at first light to sunrise is the feeling that is unique....do yourselves a favour and do it sometime.

In case you were left wondering, we do love our Australian Deserts and this is our third trip to "The Strez" (Strzelecki Desert) and each time we're amazed at the rich red ochre colour of the sand and the stark contrast of red sand and azure blue skies with a tinge of green on top of the dunes. The rich ochre is just so beautiful that I had to have some, so I grab a spade and an old Maccona Coffee jar and set off to the top of one of the hundreds of dunes that make up The Strez.

Traveling The Strez is pretty easy going as with all the oil and gas exploration that has gone on in the region over the last few decades, the road is regularly maintained and the dunes are clay topped. Having said that, it really depends on what time you travel and where the road crews are as to how good or bad the road surface is. We rumbled across corrugations and plowed through sand holes on top of the dunes where traffic had broken through the clay top. Then at the Western end of the road toward the junction with the Old Strzelecki Track to Innamincka at Merty Merty Station, we knew we would come across the road crew because the road had been recently surfaced and we were driving on a road that you comfortably land a plane on. We even saw their demountable buildings that was home for them in the desert.

Heading to Innamincka on Old Strzelecki Track	Oil Donkey..pumping oil from the Desert
A new oil road over the dune under construction	Ahhhh........Innamincka Pub...What more can I say??

We reach the cross roads and decided to take the Old Strzelecki Track to Innamincka as we had already travelled the New one in '06 when we were here last. That time we saw the amazing oil and gas installation at Moomba and the info on their display was well worth the read. It's not until you travel these desert regions that you appreciate the amount of energy exploration and production that happens here.

Our trip up the Old Strez was also an eye opener with all the oil donkeys along the track and we were able to count a dozen or more from one look out the window and the same around the next corner. Then each little side track was signposted to another well site that was "Over the Dunes" somewhere?????

In Innamincka Hotel we read of the new "HOT ROCK" energy well just out of town and the idea is to pump water down the 4.5 kilometre deep well and produce steam that is piped back to the surface under high pressure where it drives turbines to run generators to produce electricity. The energy company involved in this had bestowed free electricity on the residents of Innamincka for the life of the well which in this case was expected to be 50 years. Innamincka has never been on a power grid like most of us in towns and cities and as such had to run their own generators and one resident said it cost him $9,000 annually for fuel to generate his power. Imagine if your power bill was $9,000 per year???

It really is a different world out there.....just seeing how everyone else lives is a real education in itself. You can see why some young couples hit the road with their kids for an extended 'Round OZ trip and school them via internet classes.