We spent the last 2 weeks of October 2000 test driving the new truck. A major motivation was to see Lake Eyre while it still has some water in it. Of course, by the time we got there, evaporation had made the water so salty that all the fish were dead, and the birds were gone. Even so, we had a great time.
Unlike the american adventure, we only sent a single postcard, and we only went to a few national parks. The truck performed flawlessly - another spanner free trip.
We spotted at least fifty different species of birds, including about a dozen new ones. It was great to finally see some of the popular cage birds in the wild, including Budgies, Zebra Finches, and Cockatiels. Of course there were often brids of prey in the sky, plus some pleasant surprises, like the Rainbow Bee Eaters in the middle of the Strezlecki Desert.
From Sydney we travelled to Bourke on tar. Easy.
From there, we headed west on the dirt. Of course, it immediately started to rain, and the roads turned to sticky mud.
As our progress slowed, dark set in, and we began to wonder if we were going to make it. After spending lots of time travelling sideways in the mud at very low speeds, we eventually made it to Tibooburra.
All roads out of town were closed, so we spent a day there. In addition to wandering around the town, we were able explore dead horse gap.
When we eventually headed west again, and the wildlife on the road out to Fort Grey was everywhere. We managed to snap shots of
Wedge Tail Eagles 
lizards 
and even Brolgas 
(not to scale!). There were also lots of roos and emus.
We camped a couple of days at Fort Grey, did some hiking, and put the kayaks in at Lake Pinaroo.
From there we headed west through Camerons Corner, and into South Australia. The roads were reasonably good, so an almost endless series of dunes didn't present any problems.
The Strezlecki track was in excellent condition, and was the first stretch of dirt we travelled where you could actually pick up any speed.
The road and the desert both seem to stretch forever. It must have been very daunting for the early explorers.
But if you know where to look (ie, if you have a map) there are occaisional patches of abundance. (This is where we saw the bee eaters.)
After a lot of desert, we finally reached Maree, the closest town to the lake.
Although there is water in the lake, it's nowhere near the edge.
The best info we could get was that it was about an hours walk, ending in mud up to the knees. We walked out 'til the ground started to get soggy under the salt, and we were nowhere near the water.
A plane ride was the only convenient way to see the water
which is a lot further from the edge of the lake than it looks!
The sunset over the Frome Creek campground (along the road to the lake) was one of the better ones.
As we headed south out of the desert, there was still lots of life about, including families of emus
and falcons. 
We took one of the minor roads into the heart of the Flinders Ranges
through some impressive canyons
(look for the truck, bottom centre) to Wilpena Pound, arriving in time for a late afternoon hike up one side of the pound.
After many more miles of desert, and a day or so in Broken Hill, a campsite by the Darling river made another perfect spot for a campsite and a paddle.
As we hiked in Kinchega, we came upon more wildlife, this little goanna looked just great.
Then it was on to the lakes, and just for a change, another paddle.
Just on sunset, some storms began to loom over the lakes
and they tore through the camp during the night. After a fairly sleepless night, sunrise
revealed a VERY wet campsite.
By then it was time to start the long trek home, so after a quick blast from one side of the state to the other,
and a quick stop at Eileen's farm
(which is looking fabulous), it was back home to Sydney.