Big Red

The truth about Big Red.

Seventeen years had elapsed since screaming my Suzuki over Big Red. Last Sunday I drove out to this icon of the desert. These days a wide graded road from Birdsville takes you there where the majority of desert travellers cross over on their Simpson trek. This cross over point is know as Little Red and is 58 metres ASL.(At the information sign it is 39 metres ASL and so the drive up the sand hill is only 19 metres in perpendicular height). The southern blow at this crossing which I did not climb is approximately 68 metres ASL. The original Big Red crossing lies 3 kilometres to the north. On the flat at this point the height is 35 metres ASL. The crossover point is 65 metres ASL.( It was at this crossinjg where I drove the Suzuki over). The northern blow is 70 metres ASL and the Southern Blow is 75 metres ASL. This cross over point is no longer used and is vitually impossible to cross due to the nature of the sand at this point in time. There is a crossing a little further to the south which may be conquerable. Nevertheless I managed to walk up the dune with the aid of my stick and a few short rest stops in between to take the measurements and some pics. It brought back fond memeories of our desert adventure all those years ago.