Bert Breaks Down But We Survive

so our deal old bert ended up breaking down, just once, but once is enough. we broke down 50 kms outside Coober Pedy, otherwise known as the middle of nowhere. it is one of the only places in australia with absolutely no phone reception WHATSOEVER. the rest of the country gets satellite phone coverage, if not regular phone coverage. not where we were though, nope. the highway would indicate the next land line about once every 70 or 100 kms. so there was no way of calling for help. how great. thankfully, i had passed a 4x4 on the highway about 25 kms back and so when this guy drove by sam and i waved our hands and did everything we could to make him stop for us. he didn't. but then 1 km down the road, perhaps noticing that sam and i were still waving and screaming our heads off, he decided to stop, turn around and come back. you have no idea how thankful we were. we told them what had happened and they said they would drive into coober pedy and call someone as soon as they had phone coverage. then they left. we were left with only the hope that these complete strangers would fulfill their promise and that help would come. the following hour and half were the longest of the whole trip, or so it seemed. eventually, a tow truck showed up on the horizon and sam and i stopped praying (HA!). the man at the garage told us our battery was completely dead because the alternator was not charging it and so the battery had just exploded. it ook a few hours to fix everything and we were ready to hit the road the next day at noon. i have to congratulate the NRMA here (aussie auto insurance) for their speed and professionalism. if you ever plan to travel extensively by car in oz, be sure to get at least their minimum insurance coverage, it's worth every penny.