C.A.G.E. purchases the Golden Quest II from Hart Aircraft Services and make immediate arrangements with Pat Hall to fly the plane to Alice Springs via Adelaide.

Somewhere south of Mount Marjorie the C.A.G.E. team makes a daylight start for the Lake Macdonald country, heaven knows why; with the track already broken it takes only two and a half hours to return to the point where they turned north. Taylor parks the truck in a shady place while Blakeley treads west checking the ground, after a days walking he decides the country is too soft for the truck. At the nights camp they decide to return to Illbilla.

Blakeley is concerned, he had expected to meet Freddy Colson along the track, this now makes him a couple of days overdue.