Day 11 - excerpts from TVC duty log

6:30 AM

Having risen, we strike camp. Bright eyed and optimistic about a day of rest, we are ready to leave the Northern Territory and drive to parts unknown.

7:25 AM

In the course of breakfast, Tim Mallis appears at the table with a serving of barbecue sauce on toast. A unanimous decision is reached to exile him to James Lauritz's support vehicle for the trip, lest his madness consume us all.

8:21 AM

Our bus has departed from Yulara Base Camp, all seems well, although sanity seems to be slipping away. Our destination is unknown, our fate is unknowner.

9:58 AM

A “game of cards” has started. On the surface level this is just a harmless game, but deep underneath, the social hierarchy of the bus is slowly but surely instated. The North End and the South End border has been drawn, with the South End adopting sign language. We are not sure if they have forgotten how to speak. We hear a voice over the intercom. Is this our new leader?

10:43 AM

The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round. But do they really? We find no evidence to support this claim and an investigative committee is formed to determine whether the endless highway is in fact purgatory, or perhaps some fever-dream suffered while still backstage at Yulara amphitheatre.

11:11 AM

We have reached the sanctuary of the Erldunda Roadhouse. It's hard to believe we have only been on the road for three hours, and harder still to imagine the six more to come. Tim returns to us from exile, bringing penance in the form of a contraband packet of chips from the servo.

When we number off, 39 is conspicuously absent. This is not unusual, as Stewart often forgets his number; after a while, however, it becomes clear that Stewart is not on the bus at all. Has he retreated to the lawless exile of the van? Is he still at the rest stop? No one knows. Soon we forget he was ever with us.

11:26 AM

The Roadhouse is already a distant memory. Supplies have once again become scarce and we must prepare for the lean times ahead. Some hushed discussion over which of the boys would provide the most nutrition in the event of catastrophe.

11:27 AM

Furtive glances from the caring staff. They know too much.

12:15 PM

We arrive at the alleged border crossing. There is no line. Everything is the same. They are taunting us with the notion of a border. Before there is time to argue, we are silenced with dry sandwiches, while the flies keep a close watch.

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Our dear leader Noel has issued a gag order concerning the events of this time. No further information is required or will be provided.

3:35 PM

The bus has come to another stop. We meet up again with Stewart and James Lauritz from the supply van, they are silent. It has become apparent that other lifeforms are currently making to our destination, as horses prowl the area for sustenance. We agree to sacrifice the supply van’s contraband to keep the horses at bay. We will survive for now. The light is slipping away. Sleep beckons.

4:17 PM

The card game has started again, the rules have changed. Chaos is among us.

5:00 PM

In another change, strange mounds have begun to appear

on the side of the road. The geometry shift comes as an intense shock after what feels like an eternity of flatness. Have we reached our destination? Or mere outskirts? The mysterious intercom voice tells legends of the underground civilisation of Coober Pedy. Hope begins to bloom, like a faint desert flower stranded in the wilderness.

5:30 PM (final transmission from Alex + Miro)

Our bus is met at a station with what seems to be our captors. Split into small groups as to weaken our defences, we are sent off separately in opposite directions across the district.

After a short journey in a convoy, we are shuffled into a cave, six feet under, pushed further and further into darkness, we fear this might be the last we see of the light above.

We are met with a board game, lasagna, and some TeeVee™ snacks to determine our survival choices. I think we’ll be okay.

6:30 PM (penultimate transmission from Stewart + Tim + Hanan)

The light slips away below the horizon, with our host’s mining machinery casting strange shadows across the driveway. Silence envelops the landscape. Mysterious tunnels beckon further and further into the depths of the rock. Is this the end? Have we made it? Or have we arrived somewhere else entirely? We steel ourselves as we recall that this is merely the beginning of our journey into the lands of South Australia.

8:25pm (final transmission from Stewart + Tim + Hanan)

Our host family’s father, Slavko, hands us unlabelled brown bottles as dinner is served. Conversation ensues. He tells us how he came to Australia from Montenegro in the 60s and has worked in mining and dugout construction since then. His wife is the school’s local librarian. Slavko warns us in his thick European accent: “In Coober Pedy, is small town. Everyone know everyone. So if you do something stupid… everyone know.”

The light slips away below the horizon, with The light slips away below the horizon, with

We retire into our rooms deep within the rock and prepare ourselves for the day to c