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Perth-Coober Pedy | Coober Pedy - Birdsville | Life Around Birdsville | Birdsville - Kulgera | Kulgera - Perth

Birdsville to Kulgera

DAYS 21 - 24

Day 21	Start	Stop	Trip Odometer
Sunday 23/6/02	Birdsville	Salt Lake on Rig Road	252.5km
Stopped time	Moving average	Moving time	Max speed
1:20 hr	69 km/hr	3:39 hrs	102.8 km/hr

When it was time to leave Birdsville we decided to make our double crossing of the Simpson Desert a little more interesting. Rather than return across the French Line we went south along the Inside Track and just past Clifton Hills Station we veered west via the Warbuton Crossing and picked up the Rig Road. Camping with Wolfie is quite magic - we flew kites above the salt lake, he played his guitar and we all slept out under a full moon.

Day 22	Start	Stop	Trip Odometer
Monday 24/6/02	Salt Lake past Warbuton Crossing	Just short of Georges Corner	231.5 km
Stopped time	Moving average	Moving time	Max speed
3:35 hr	40.2 km/hr	5:45 hrs	80.7 km/hr

Wolfgang travelled with us along the Rig Road for most of the day until we parted company at the Knolls track junction. He went north along the Knolls track to the QAA line back into Birdsville and we continued along the Rig Road all the way to Dalhousie.

I have never seen so many camels as we did along the Rig Road. On the Anne Beadell last week we saw about 15 in total over the 7 days, but on the Rig we would see herds of 15 camels at a time and in total we recorded 54 in 2 days.

We were also well into our second day on the Rig Road before we encountered any other traffic. It was just another solo vehicle, and they didn't seem too experienced but were having a go. The only reason I say they were inexperienced was that we kept coming across foot prints at the top of dunes and saw evidence of where they had bogged themselves and dug themselves out. Letting a bit of air out would have been far easier, but you can't tell some people. Some people want to learn by their mistakes!

Having said that, just after we parted company with Wolfgang, we blew both our rear shock absorbers and found the going a bit bouncy and had to slow down the pace a little. We weren't carrying spare shocks and with over 3000km of desert to the west to go, we needed to replace them asap. 

Day 23	Start	Stop	Trip Odometer
Tuesday 25/6/02	Just short of Georges Corner	Dalhousie	179.7km
Stopped time	Moving average	Moving time	Max speed
2:34 hr	46.9km/hr	3:50 hr	77.3 km/hr

Last night at camp we talked about our options for getting replacement shocks and they were either Oodnadatta or Mt Dare. Both locations were out of the way of our planned route and neither will probably stock what we need so we need to contact them prior to arrival. 

With all the comms gear we carry it was no trouble (but a lot of time and messing around) to arrange them to be delivered to a convenient pick up location. For those that are interested - neither the Pink Roadhouse in Oodnadatta nor the Mt Dare Homestead have an interconnect with the VKS 737 network. We certainly don't carry around all the phone numbers, and neither of these businesses advertise on ExplorOz so although we have a copy of our website on our laptop with us you can't find their numbers in our Business Directory. If we knew the numbers we could have phoned them direct using the BushFone service that we decided to trial for this trip or even the Satphone that we hired. 

In the end, we used the Satphone to call directory assistance and then the Satphone again to call each of the numbers. Oodnadatta said the next delivery from Coober Pedy for parts would arrive at 2am on Thursday and they way we calculated it we would arrive in Oodnadatta on Wednesday so there would be some waiting. At Mt Dare it was much the same, but the delivery wouldn't be in until Sunday. We decided to wait till we got to Dalhousie and try to find a way to get parts from Alice Springs to be delivered somewhere along our route.

They are an easy replacement so it caused us little concern but it was a complication that we had to contend with for a few days.

The driving along the Rig Road is high range 4WD with the surface being covered by clay, although this was done many years ago and is now very broken up in places. The dune run ups are also laid with the clay capping but have become extremely eroded, especially following last year's floods in the region.

All the dunes have a layer of deep soft sand at the top requiring lower tyre pressures so a compromise of pressure is necessary for an easy run over this track. 22-24psi is about right for a fully loaded Landcruiser.

The track is scenic, heavily vegetated, and varied. This track was built by Santos to enable the rigging machinery to be brought in to drill the oil wells that are dotted across the region so the track follows the easiest route over the dunes. Although it is significantly longer than the French Line, travelling the Rig Road takes about the same amount of driving time as the average travelling speed is faster. Much of the route zig-zags between the dunes corridors and then over the dunes at their lowest point.

There are many points of interest, such as salt lakes, camels, dingoes, old rig sites, abandoned airstrips and even a memorial grave site. All these sites are clearly marked on the Hema and Westprint maps.

We finally crossed our own path at Freeth Junction where the Rig Road meets the French Line and so the final run west to Purni Bore appeared much rougher than last fortnight when we came across from the other direction. It appears that a fair amount of traffic has been through and the sand is starting to get corrugated.

At Purni Bore we had a good look around and tested the facilities. The 2 sheds are still operational - one for the pit toilet (with a bird's nest in the roof) and the other for the shower and laundry tub. The shower is hot. Also of interest is a hose on a tap - although the sign warns that this is untreated water which should not be drunk without boiling. I tasted it however, and it was only slightly saline. I've drunk worse. It was about the same water quality as at Mt Dare.

We had an easy run into Dalhousie for an early afternoon arrival.

When we arrived at Dalhousie we used the Ranger's phone and his Yellow Pages directory to find a store in Alice Springs. Tuff Stuff had the right gear at the best price in stock and for $13.20 arranged bus freight on the Greyhound to ship the parts down the Stuart Highway to the Kulgera Roadhouse. A big thanks to Jack from Alice Springs Tuff Stuff - who had no idea that we were the ExplorOz Team and didn't do us any special favours based on that. 

Once the parts were arranged we enjoyed our second dip in the fantastic springs of Dalhousie - much to Leah's satisfaction!

Day 24	Start	Stop	Trip Odometer
Wednesday 26/6/02	Dalhousie	Bush camp west of Kulgera	386.6 km
Stopped time	Moving average	Moving time	Max speed
2 hrs	69.1 km/hr	5:35 hr	105.3km/hr

This is a very enjoyable drive and quite an easy day's drive. From Dalhousie to Kulgera, we travelled to Finke via Bloodwoods Bore. The road to Finke is via Mt Dare, but this lesser used route is generally easier and more scenic. There's lots to see, such as the old bore and yards plus you continue along more of the Old Ghan route and pass directly by the Abminga Siding Ruins, which is plainly not overvisited.

Past Abminga Ruins you come from the east and meet a North/South crossroads. At this point you are 56km from New Crown, 203km north of Oodnadatta and 87km east of Finke. We turned north along the track towards New Crown and Finke and here the track narrows down to just a basic station track. Towards the border this track varies from wide and stony to narrow faint wheel tracks and then in places has some long sandy corrugated sections.

The road from the border to New Crown is wide, red and firm over a graded sand base. The homestead is quite large but it didn't appear to offer a stop for tourists so we kept going towards Finke. The road from here continues to be wide, graded firm red sand as is obviously well travelled by supply trucks and station traffic.

Finke hasn't changed since we passed through last but the motorcycle rally came through last week so there were still quite a few flags and signs laying about. There seemed to be an aboriginal cultural week with an art display but after driving around town we couldn't work out where it was housed. We didn't really have time to stop so it was probably a half-hearted effort and we didn't make any enquiries but just headed out on the road to Kulgera. The track passes the turnoff to the Lambert Centre - the centre of Australia. It's a 12km one-way diversion and since we have been there before we didn't go out there again. We were more concerned about whether someone had remembered to take our shocks off the bus as arranged with the roadhouse.

The bus was expected to make its drop off at 1.30pm and we arrived at 3.30pm and thankfully everyone knew all about it and knew who were were before I even asked if our package had arrived. We simply collected it over the counter and went to a bush camp to fit them.