Simpson Desert. In this third part we cross the desert west to east via some of the iconic 4WD tracks.
To read from the start go to Part 1 or YouTube
Day 14 - Mt Dare to camp beside Rig Road. 202 km Back on the road and excited to be heading straight across to Birdsville. Well not quite straight because we planned to divert south to the WAA Line. The culmination of so much planning and setup and day dreaming. Note the red dots on the map for approximate camp site locations.
But first we had to negotiate the stony and corrugated tracks between Mt Dare and Dalhousie Spring. We went via the Blood Creek ruins just for something different and some sections were nice but mostly it was annoying corrugations or stony gibber sections. Closer to Dalhousie there was a few bulldust patches throwing plenty of dust. And then we were there; lots of people having a swim but this didn't seem to phase the cockys too much (look closely at the trees).
We had to stop not long after Dalhousie to fix an issue with the Defender's rear door. Bolts from one of the hinges had disappeared and a roof rack mount had come loose. How is it that the D4 driver has a little container of bolts and the Defender driver doesn't? Anyway all fixed after a little work and no further issues were experienced for the whole trip.
The next section through to Purni Bore was relatively uneventful with the track and scenery being pretty flat. However, we started to notice sandy ground and slight dunes as we got closer to Purni and the excitement levels went up a bit.
The bore itself is pretty desolate but does support wildlife without draining the artesian well now that its flow rate is managed.
Had to mark the occasion of official desert entry with a photo at the sign, although in reality we had been in a desert environment for many days already including the Old Andado Track. The Simpson is larger than you think and split across multiple national parks, regional reserve and conservation park as well as private pastoral land and indigenous land holdings.
And then we started dune crossing proper along the French Line. The going was pretty slow thanks to lots of offset wombat holes in the track churned up by too much traffic but the scenery was starting to look better. We lowered tyre pressure to something more appropriate for sand and got into the swing of it; and getting that feeling of "now I'm really doing it" very strongly.
Here's the intersection where we headed south on the Rig Road to get to the WAA Line. The Rig Road had once been properly formed to allow access for trucks and drilling rigs but since the abandonment of the wells it has tended to revert to a more natural state. It was however easier driving than the lines that head straight over dunes.
After a while the track turned east again and we started to look for a camp site. Eventually found a good spot nestled down between two dunes that were relatively close together. There was even a convenient pile of dead wood ready for a fire.
Day 15 - Rig Road camp to Lone Gum camp. 106 km Earlier in the trip Jill and I had started a morning ritual to wander the dunes nearby camp on first getting up, even before the coffee making started. This is usually the time of lowest wind and soft, golden light and we never failed to see beautiful little details or just enjoy the desert. The overall sense of calm and quiet is difficult to explain. Most of the spinafex was flowering with soft long stalks that are a stark contrast to their main scratchy ball. the ball slowly turns into a ring as the spinafex grows into old age. We also came across many small animal footprints and tracks; plenty of dingo but also small marsupials and lizards that would probably be blown over in a couple of hours.
Nothing else happens before that first coffee; Bellman CX25P.
This was the day we would get onto the WAA Line, expecting little traffic and more natural dune formations with less severe churning of the approaches. We certainly got what was on the tin. We had seen no one since Purni Bore and would see no one this whole day. Sometime that morning one of the few dingos to be seen on the trip was spotted. This one looked the healthiest, wandering along and then pausing photogenically on the crest of a dune.
You can see in the photo below the lack of distinct tyre tracks suggesting two or three days since the last vehicle had passed through. Also I really enjoyed stopping on top of the larger dunes; the view into the distance was really something especially the way the little track disappears into nothing.
Group shot where the WAA Line starts.
What looks like and from a distance actually is a straight line still requires a lot of navigation around small scale obstacles so the pace was pretty slow but it was really enjoyable.
Feeling small surveying the view.
The track was not without softer sections and after this particular dune we lowered tyre pressure slightly more just to allow slower progress and avoid excessive side-to-side rocking.
One thing that had intrigued us since the first desert crossing was these small dead bushes that grew in clusters. It made us think of Harry Potter broomsticks and perhaps they would be grown in farms.
A witch and her broom :) This is one of the biggest ones we saw.
One that had blown onto the track came home with us and now takes pride of place as centre-piece on the table on our deck.
In some areas the bushes press close to the track. You can just make out the intersection up ahead with the turn off to Lone Gum.
Lone Gum is a coolabah tree and these normally grow in flood plains. There's no others for hundreds of kilometres and apparently not much is known about its age or origin. However we did notice a sapling growing right next to it so conditions must have been reasonably good.
The 18km run south to the Lone Gum is along the Erebana Track down a wide swale between dunes and was relatively fast but it was now late in the day so rather than head back up to the WAA we decided to find a camp nearby. There was quite a few sites that had seen previous camps and we settled in to a small bowl-like area nestled between small dunes to get out of the wind a little.
Have I mentioned how awesome this all is.
Day 16 - Lone Gum to Knolls Track camp. 66km Less distanced travelled today with a late start and early stop on the agenda as well as plenty of things to see along the way. This is the beauty of allowing five full days for Mt Dare > Birdsville, a leisurely pace. We finally had some traffic, just one vehicle travelling solo coming the other way who indicated that things were a lot busier up on the French Line. Note the lack of vehicle tracks in this photo taken before we passed them. This was one of the best day's driving on a 4WD trip I've ever experienced, so much variation between the dune crossing on the WAA and tracking along dune tops on the Knolls.
We retraced our detour to the Lone Gum bck up to finish the last 30km of the WAA Line and you can see why the pace is slow; the relatively natural and undamaged track still has lots of up/down through the relatively broken ground between dunes, which contrasts to other areas of the desert where the interdune zone is wide and almost dead flat. There is also plenty of tight turns to weave around outcrops and erosion channels. It's not difficult or technical driving but concentration is required and I found an enjoyable rhythm to it.
In this map you can see where the WAA Line intersects Knolls Track and where we turned north. This is also the northern edge of an area of the desert that contains a myriad of salt pans and mud flats to the south. The track crossed or skirted a couple of these salt pans and we stopped in the middle of one for a closer look at the surreal landscape.
On the salt pan.
Strange consistency to the crust; soft and crunchy.
Knolls Track, unlike the other tracks we'd travelled so far, tended to run along dune tops for long sections as well as cross between. This made for another type of driving experience to add to the mix and a different way to see the terrain, albeit not any faster.
It also meant that finding a camp site was not that simple because the dune tops in this area were far too tufted and bushy. However patience was rewarded when we came over a dune to a wide flat area of ground where we could locate ourselves near the dune and a couple of bushes for a partial wind break. With camp setup all that was left was to settle in & enjoy the afternoon and evening.
The drone is just amazing sometimes, especially to get a sense of the landscape in which you are a tiny speck. Most of the drone images are frames taken from video but it can also take high res photos too. This was its first trip and I'm still getting used to it.
Day 17 - Knolls Track camp to QAA camp via French Line & Poeppel Corner. 90km For this day, our 4th full day on the crossing, we wanted to ideally to get through Poeppel Corner and out to the QAA Line, which we knew from the first crossing would set us up well for the following day into Birdsville. This wasn’t too much distance but with plenty to see along the way and the unknown conditions on the French Line to deal with meant some uncertainty as to how much of that would be achieved. In the end that plan worked out well. But first our morning walk on and around the dune near camp & breakfast.
The Knolls Track meandered along, up and down over dunes that morning but it was one of the smaller salt pans that caught our attention. The diversity of plants on the edge of the salt pan was amazing considering how harsh the environment is in which they grow. It is lucky we actually stopped and had a closer look because from a distance it was just a few scrawny bushes. But there we were out amongst it like a bunch of crazy botanists, albeit ones who didn't know the names of any of the plants.
The Knolls Track is named for the Approdino Attore Knolls. They are just small flat-topped outcrops that would otherwise be unremarkable but in the extremely flat landscape of the desert they stand out and the view from the top is pretty good. The salt pan they overlook is called Lake Tamblyn.
After that it was not too long before we were back at the French Line with about 40km of dune crossing to get to Poeppel Corner.
The first few miles had us all wishing we were back on the WAA. There was constant chatter on the UHF, which was jarring after days of just us and the dune faces were in pretty poor condition. Frustratingly, the track surface is obviously churned up by vehicles that have struggled on dunes that to be honest are not difficult at all. So what would otherwise be a nice drive is a fight to avoid seasickness inducing swaying and pitching. Having said that, the scenery was still pretty spectacular and we stopped on top of a couple of the biggest dunes to take it in.
Poeppel Corner marks the third and final state border corner for us with two on this trip and Cameron Corner two years ago.
Just east of the corner, the French Line diverts north once it hits the 20km long salt pan we crossed on the second day of our earlier crossing. The track was hard and fast running along the western edge up to the crossing point where we closed the loop back to the start of the Hay River Track. Now we were back in familiar territory on the QAA Line and knew there was plenty of camping options.
Found a great spot amongst the trees and setup for our final night in the desert. The sunset was not as flashy as when there's clouds but was still pretty amazing to see the deep colours and the sliver of the waning moon. To be honest I could have kept going for a few more days it was such good fun.
Day 18 - QAA camp to Birdsville. 139km Wandered amongst the tough little stunted trees that morning and admired their tenacity.
The last full day of driving in the desert was mostly enjoyable but still with a few yawing and pitching sessions up dune faces. A few groups tended to get on the UHF too much with pointless chatter, which is annoying because you need to all be on one channel for safety. Anyway we stopped a few times on the bigger dunes and had lunch under a tree between dunes and any day you can do that is a good day.
We love the subtle beauty of the different desert wattles and there was now some in full bloom that hadn't been only two weeks previous. I didn't keep a proper count but there must have been at least four varieties on show.
Cresting a dune to see Eyre Creek is a pretty special moment. It's a strange sight to see a forest in the desert and you can tell it would be a major water course when in flood.
Eyre Creek is one of the major rivers that feed lake Eyre.
As good as it is to see Eyre Creek, cresting a dune to see Big Red is something else entirely because it means that you have made it .... so long as you can get up there.
15psi and I was up the top before you could say I wonder if he'll get stuck. Did it twice to make sure we had good footage.
How's the serenity when there's a dozen touring motorbikes there at the same time.
And then we were there, back in Birdsville. Happy to have made it and even talking about going again sometime.
Statistics for the desert crossing: Mt Dare to Birdsville 603km and 99 litres used for an average of 16.4 L/100km We both expected the desert to be a much more homogeneous landscape and that the joy would be in the accomplishment more than anything. But there's more than that; it is a variable, beautiful, harsh and epic place that is a joy in itself as much as an accomplishment to cross through. We still had Walkers Crossing down to Innamincka to come but the feeling of achievement at dinner that night was something you don't get too often.
Day 19 - Birdsville to Innamincka via Walkers Crossing Track. 360 km. All of us had been to Innamincka a couple of times but none had taken the Walkers Crossing Track.
We started the day with breakfast at the excellent Birdsville Bakery. There would not be a better loaf of old fashioned traditional white bread anywhere, so we always get one. I had excellent toast for the next week.
The Birdsville Track was in very good condition with only a few corrugated sections and we made good progress down to the turn-off. This is in the running for worst road sign ever.
Walkers Crossing Track starts off traversing some of the wide open gibber rock plains that look like something straight from Mars. We took it steady being careful to avoid the larger rocks and heavily rutted sections where people had clearly been caught by wet ground at some point.
Most of the track is pretty harsh, flat country but there was a lovely section through low dunes that looked spectacular thanks to the yellow wild flowers covering some slopes.
Emu tracks and wild flowers.
We got to the 15 Mile Track, from where you find all the camp sites on the Cooper Creek, at around 4pm. We camped at Ski Beach but couldn't get the best creek bank sites due to other groups already settled in. But we did have a nice time watching the sun go down, even though the flies were the most annoying for the entire trip.
Dinner at the excellent Innamincka Hotel capped it all off nicely, where our friends had chosen to stay for the night rather than camp. Next time we're passing through I think we'll stay at the hotel too, it has a good vibe and is well organised.
Days 20 and 21 - 1372km home via overnight stop in Eulo
These were relatively uneventful days travelling through some very harsh, dry country. Note to self for next time, overnight in Cunnamulla it's a great little town. Had originally planned the return as three days but was feeling pretty good so pushed all the way home (approx 850km) on the second day. Probably could have done the same on the way out but I don't really like driving too long in a day and really prefer to avoid being on the road after 4pm anywhere there's a high risk of wildlife encounters. This map gives an indication of the two routes taken to get out to the desert and the return leg.
Repeat of key stats from first post: Brisbane > Birdsville via Mitchell, Windorah and Haddons Corner Desert crossing (3 nights) Plenty Highway including night at Gemtree Alice Springs (2 nights) Chambers Pillar Old Andado Track to Mt Dare Desert crossing (4 nights) Birdsville > Innamincka Innamincka > Brisbane via Eulo Total dist: 5,687 km Time away: 21 days Fuel consumption: ~12L/100km on roads and 16L/100km for the crossings
Return to Part 1 of this trip report
