Simpson Geographic Centre May 2015

No worries Bob, glad you enjoyed the read . . . hope you can get the pics ok somehow.

We had great weather up there, was a good southerly blowing cool all day, and it would drop off at sunset so we could have a small comfort fire.
The wind would come up again next morning.

Beaut clear skies, but early on the moon came full and had to shield head in swags a bit to avoid strong light, plus it did hamper night sky viewing a little until it started rising gradually later and later each night.

We are so lucky to be able to go to places like this with a little planning and care.

Great to be involved in history Neil, in setting up the mast.
It really is a welcome sight out there, and gives a definitive spot to aim for out there now.
We did find Thomas well, the large open pit, grove of Gidgees, and old fuel dumps etc, plus a few others signs of past mining exploration in places in the corridors out.

Didn't notice a container of cards, but might have missed it.
Was it in the tin / ziplock bag with the logbook ?

Wish I'd read the logbook a bit more, normally do, but was caught up with the celebrations and thinking of Geosurveys Hill next target.
The Earth thread report shows another Earth member was in the group that went to the centre on Anzac Day from Madigans, a real coincidence.

Hi Les
The Geo centre was marked by the CFA 4WD club in 1993 following a Madigan line trip. A jerry can with a flap cut into it was mounted on tent poles with a log book placed inside. A plaque with the co ordinates was fixed to the Jerry can.

The tower was erected in 1995, 2 x 6 metre sections were transported on 2 vehicles. The metal globe on top of the tower is 2 Volkswagen hub caps.

When we were there in 2000 we were the 11th group in the log book in 7 years. I wonder how many groups have been there now?

G'day Stephen, thought you might pop into the thread at some stage :)
yes, was certainly eye opening travelling raw country like that, when I got to FL I was taking time to look up the corridors and noticed much of that mongulated terrain was still there for quite some time / distance.

I plugged 2 small holes in my front right tyre (was up front a fair bit), and I still have a nagging slow leak that I couldn't find.
Will have to get that wheel off on in a bathtub to find it.
The hilux got a nasty small gash near the tread on the side wall that needed 2 plugs.
So we got off pretty ok there.

No mate missed your plaque, will have to check it out next time after Geosurveys, as I feel the best way out from a westerly approach is to travel south down that corridor anyway.

Phil, thanks mate, some selected pics are up now on the trip report link . . .

Yes mate, if travelling ML west to east you should find it pretty easy, and more like normal fuel consumption for desert sand.
The east dune faces are the beggars, though travelling back to the east into corridors we did find a few sticky slopes at times.

Our problem was idling almost all day with the power surges needed for the untracked dunes / mongulated terrain.
Doing 50 - 60 km for a full day on that untracked terrain is harsh or fuel, vehicle, and driver / passengers.
Hopefully there is more of a faint track to follow and not so much raw terrain over dunes and in corridors.

Re WAA, you will get much more normal use on the regular Simmo tracks like this route.
In my trip rep I mentioned normal use, including a WAA / Rig crossing last April.

The big cruisers and Patrols on that 2014 trip used around 20-25lt / 100, and a couple of those were the only ones that couldn't make it up Big Red due to the weights (we did crossing to BV that time, so were light at the end).

To play if safe I would take the extra 40lt of fuel on the ML, if you can manage it ok.
It will at least give you some peace of mind, and may get you a bit closer to home if not needed in the desert.

I will toss two the roof. Took the rear bar jerry can carrier off to fit the second wheel carrier for the second spare. Thanks.

Love the word mongulated. I just found this: "Mongulated may have a real, a legitimate meaning, but we pseudodictionariasts don't let such considerations deter us from claiming we've made up a new word". That's from: http://www.pseudodictionary.com/

At least I won't have to worry about the GVM. Raising it 500Kg.

Phil

Lol, their definition of mongulated - Messed up.
Very apt.

Hi Phil, we much have just missed Les when we were doing ML ourselves around the same time (E-W). Went down to the Geocentre and Geosurvey Hill as a side trip. Three days off track from Camp 8 as a round trip.

Fuel usage for fully loaded Cruiser, about 20-21 litres per 100kms Birdsville to Mt Dare and about 1000kms total distance. Carried two spare jerry cans to supplement the 200 litres in fuel tanks. Stopped at every ML camp on the way through except Camp 23 & 24. As said before, the shot lines are "shot", non-existent now although we did find quite a few of the stakes which marked the alignment. Plenty of rough country to traverse.

Enjoy your trip when you go.

Cheers
Rob K

Robin, that's the way to do it mate, use the corridors as much as possible, avoid the east to west direction is the priority.

Looking forward to July French Line BV to Mt D, but it is right in school hols, so expect to be a lot more stopping at dunes and on the radio a lot more calling more regularly.