The Simpson Desert. In this second part we loop around to Alice Springs and visit a couple of places on the western edge of the desert before getting down to Mt Dare to start a west-to-east crossing.
Day 8 - Gemtree to Alice Springs. 182 km After a nice breakfast at the Gemtree cafe and a quick look at their gem shop we had an easy run on bitumen into Alice and a chance to get some chores done, the first one being to sort out a new sand flag. The ARB guy talked us out of buying one of his expensive ones and suggested we make another one. Well I didn't want to try that again and found a good one at TJM for a reasonable cost. Still needed to make up a new roof rack mount for it but nothing that a bit of aluminium angle from Bunnings couldn't fix the following morning. We stayed in a very nice cabin at Desert Palms Alice Springs. The double villa was perfect for us. Highly recommended with good facilities and within walking distance of Todd Street, which we did the next morning for breakfast. Strolling along the edge of the dry river bed was really nice.
It was great to get showered and clothes cleaned and we found a couple of excellent places for coffee and lunch. Watertank Cafe in Ciccone and the The Bakery on Todd Street, plus another place called Page 27 just off the Todd Street Mall. All had a good vibe and excellent coffee.
We liked the view from the golf club so much we had dinner there both nights. Probably helped that you can walk through the back gate at Desert Palms straight into the club. And $20 for lasagna and a beer is hard to beat.
Day 9 - full day in Alice Springs. We kept this day off in the itinerary (2 nights in Alice) in case of delays or issues on the first desert crossing and although it wasn't really required it still was nice to relax for the day. And of course as soon as you don't leave contingency things will go wrong. The map below shows the route taken between desert crossings, with the main attractions over the next couple of days being a visit to Chambers Pillar and to take the Old Andado Track down to Mt Dare from where we were to return across the desert. Both these things were missed on our previous excursion through this area when we took the Old Ghan north from Mt Dare to Alice and ran out of time for Chambers Pillar.
Day 10 - Alice Springs to Chambers Pillar. 162 km This place is feasible as a day trip from Alice or calling in when travelling the Old Ghan but it is a pretty big diversion and we wanted to be there for evening light. The road down was in reasonable condition but did have a few sections of corrugations and bull dust holes. We called in at the Ewaninga Rock Carvings. A small rocky outcrop is covered in geometric patterns that seem quite different to the more typical rock paintings and certainly worth having a look.
The road to Chambers Pillar also takes you to the Maryvale / Titjikala community where there is a general store and fuel but our interest was the community arts centre (Tapatjatjaka Art & Craft Centre).
We were interested to buy some original artworks but didn't want to go through a dealer third party in a major centre like Yulara or Alice Springs. While it was a Monday it was also a public holiday and closed but luckily we had time the next day and called in again to find it open.
We continued on towards Chambers over a track that was in poor condition in sections and I managed to slam into a huge bulldust hole with too much speed. Luckily no damage was sustained but it was a lesson learned, some of them are very hard to spot. Further on after cresting a ridge line you can see the Pillar, that's more than 10km distant.
The camp grounds are a national park type of setup with bollards delineating sites, a couple of drop toilets and a decent covered shelter. We setup and just took it easy for the afternoon reading and pottering around camp as you do. A couple of day tripping groups came and went and we had the place to ourselves later in the afternoon. We then set off to have a look at the pillar up close and around the far side for the best sunset views. There's an accessway to get up close to where people have been carving their names into the rock since the first Europeans in the mid 1800s and it also affords a great panoramic view over the landscape.
Golden hour at sunset was really worth waiting for. The colours became so intense you'd think these photos have been heavily filtered but this is pretty much straight out of the camera. Luckily we were the only ones there and other than putting the drone up briefly we enjoyed the show in peace and quiet.
We arrived back to camp to find a group of two vehicles had setup right next to us. They were nice enough and even offered us some very tasty camp over baked tea cake but it was still a bit jarring after having had so much solo camping up to that point. The photo below shows how close the camp sites are to the pillar and the day use shelter.
Day 11 - Chambers Pillar to free camp on Old Andado Track. 245 km Saw a group of camels that morning, notable because it was the only ones we saw the whole trip. I had hoped to see a mob while on the crossing or even when in camp. Saw lots of tracks in the desert but they are elusive and it's a big place.
The art centre in Titjikala is well worth a look. The artists tend to come and go and I think are pretty shy so we didn't get to meet them but did have a good chat to the lady that manages the place and has been there for 11 years.
The maps we had indicated that there was a fairly direct route across to the Old Andado Track (also known as Binns Track) via Deep Well Station. It is included on the government map for Chambers Pillar and Hema shows a public stock route (Philipson). However when we got closer to the station there was signage indicating no through road. As it would have meant a detour virtually back to Alice I decided to press on following the stock route and after an hour or so we came out at a tee intersection on the Binns Track. Looking at the signage facing the way we came out, I'm pretty confident that we had just taken a legitimate/gazetted road.
The rest of that day was spent travelling along a classic outback road, variable in condition & scenery. Much of the route tracked beside steep escarpments before turning southwards and entering into a more desert environment, with low dunes interrupting wide open treeless plains. All day there was plenty of evidence of stock use, which seemed quite bizarre given the desert conditions. Looking at the map it's pretty clear that this is within the Simpson Desert even though it's not a national park or nature reserve.
After 4pm we started looking for somewhere to camp and found a nice flat area with a few small trees between low dunes where the track went through a little cutting. We saw very little traffic in either direction that day and nothing after we stopped, except for one vehicle heading south about 10pm.
Day 12 - Andado camp to Mt Dare. 241 km Starting off with photos of desert vegetation along the way that we really liked.
Saw another example of bizarre conditions to be running cattle, literally in the desert. Later on we saw a cow half way up a dune slope.
As we got closer to the Mac Clark reserve the scenery opened up into absolutely huge flat plains with zero vegetation and the occasional small dune. Both of these can be seen in this photo although it is impossible to convey the scale of the openness and flatness of the landscape strangely contrasted to the dune we were travelling alongside.
The reserve is there because of a few remnant stands of Waddi trees similar to those we'd seen outside Birdsville. These are growing in the middle of one of the vast open plains and this is also the start of the access to the Madigan Line's western end. They look pretty unassuming but when you think about the conditions they endure and the strength within, it's impressive.
Not too much further on after winding around a few meandering dunes is Old Andado Station, now maintained as a living museum by caretakers after the death of Molly Clark a few years ago. Reading the history I think it would have been excellent to visit and stay in the days when Molly ran the place as perhaps the most remote tourist attraction anywhere in outback Australia. She had pioneered much of the track we had just driven back in the 70s. Apparently the place may be closed permanently because the grandchildren aren't interested in keeping it open. This would be a real shame.
We had planned on camping there and having an easy drive into Mt Dare the next day. However just before our arrival a group of around 10 guys in five vehicles had set themselves up around the communal camp kitchen and were staying the night. The rest of the camping area was a wind blown dust bowl that we didn't like the look of for a whole afternoon, especially shared with such a large group. Again, nice enough people but not the best vibe for a couple who prefer free camping. So we decided to push on and either free camp along the way or keep going until Mt Dare. Nothing much presented itself for camping because most of the ground either side of the track was heavily used by cattle and therefore trampled and dusty. The next obstacle was the dry bed of the Finke River. This was basically an extended section of bulldust holes and soft sand that went for at least 20km. This required a very high level of concentration and careful line selection. Sadly we took no photos or video but that's because the focus really was 100% on the driving. To be honest I really enjoyed it but am glad we didn't stop to camp. And then we were there, in time for sundowner drinks in the outdoor beer garden beside the little dam. The air was filled with galahs and finches and we saw the young dingo the staff put food out for. Our early arrival meant a full day at Mt Dare waiting for Jon and Maya to arrive but that was absolutely fine with us.
Day 13. Mt Dare Mt Dare really is an oasis for people who want to travel in the desert. Many trips would be impossible or at least much more difficult if Mt Dare wasn't there to offer fuel. But it's more than that; camping, accommodation, food and basic supplies, as well as a recovery service.
Jon and Maya didn't arrive until around 5pm, late enough that I was starting to wonder if something had happened. In the end it was just a lot of very rocky and corrugated track as they got closer to Mt Dare that had slowed their progress from William Creek. We were keen to get back in to the desert after our few nights on the first crossing.
Straight to Part 3 of the trip report.
