how cold dose it get at night

Submitted: Monday, Jul 29, 2002 at 00:00

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throughthesimpson

can any body tell how cold the simpson gets ant night where going in sept and also r there any mossies there, this mite sound funny but this is our first time to the simpson thx 4 your help

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Reply By: Fred - Monday, Jul 29, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Jul 29, 2002 at 00:00

WEnt there this time last year - prepared for cold nights and had no worries. MAybe 2 jumpers, jacket - about zero or just above. Should be warmer in September - no mozzies in July don't know about September. Read Road conditions under "Resources" on this site - sounds as though the French line is hard going - they say low range - last year we didn't use low range at all - conditions vary greatly out there even from day to day and of course year to year. It sounds as though it's quite dry now - last year it was closed regularly because of wet conditions so make sure your info is recent!!

AnswerID: 5234

Reply By: Slunnie - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

We have just returned. The coldest we saw was about -5 in the morning, though I would expect Sept to be a lot warmer. The Mozzies were non existant except for the 1 which I saw at Dalhousie Springs. The Desert currently is very dry and the conditions are slow. We travelled at about 15 - 20km/h along the QAA line. Low range wasn't needed much, but we didn't travel the entire French line. No flies either. Camping in the interdunal claypans was good, especially in the vegetated areas.

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Reply By: Bob - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

It got down to minus six here in Alice Springs about a week ago, but day time temp up to 29 a couple of days ago. I got a surprise a few years ago when camping in the west MacDs and our water froze!

AnswerID: 5243

Reply By: ExplorOz Team - Michelle - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

We have travelled the Simpson during Sept (although it was a few years ago) and our friends who live there constantly tell us about conditions. Around September and Races it really starts to get quite hot during the day, and night temps don't plumet to zero as they do during winter, but it is still cool as it is everywhere in central australia at night. Early morning dawn wakings are around 2-5 degrees. As for mossies, they are only caused by water, so if there has been rain, then you'll get mossies. Currently, the mossies have all gone after being quite bad early in the season. We have recently returned from there ourselves. It is still wise to carry mossie coils - and burn these around your camp at night. We find these work very well. As the temperatures start to rise for summer so do the flies and I remember being plagued by them during our Sept trip. It is quite dry this year so I would suspect the flies will be starting soon.

AnswerID: 5247

Reply By: Willie - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

We did a North/South crossing of the Simpson Desert in 1987 in two Suzukis. From Jervois Station on the Plenty Highway to the French Track 25 km west of Poeppel Corner and then east over Big Red to Birdsville. 500km of NO road. Just on a compass bearing and with a sextant to help. One night the cook draped a tea towel over a bush and it was frozen solid the next morning. Icicles formed on the inside of the tents due to condensation. It went down to minus 7. Admittedly this was in July. The days were nice and sunny. Even in September you may experience quite cool nights and days around 30 degrees. Warm socks are very important clothing items. Happy travelling, Willie

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Follow Up By: Bob - Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00

Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00

Willie, pretty amazing trip! Any drama? Did you have a route to follow or did you just travel along the swales?

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Reply By: Willie - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 at 00:00

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Follow Up By: Willie - Friday, Aug 02, 2002 at 00:00

Friday, Aug 02, 2002 at 00:00

In response to Bob's question. I wrote an article published in 4x4 Australia in 1988 called The Spinifex Trail. We plotted our own course to what we assumed was the Geographical Centre of the Simpson Desert as set out in a book written by Bonython (who walked the Simpson in the 1970's) and also an article by Dennis Bartell. On 4th July 1987 we planted a plaque at that spot. Some years later a fellow traveller advised me that we were 6 kilometres off course. Ahhh for the luxury of GPS!! As the Suzukis were not powerful enough to cross the dunes directly we used to drive zig-zag up the dune. Driving over endless spinifex polished the front diff housing so that you could see your face in it. As we were overloaded with fuel and water my Suzuki 1300 JX broke 4 rear spring leaves and my mate Dave broke a main leaf. We carried spares and dug a pit in the sand to to do our repairs. We got bogged few times atop spinifex clumps and had to winch off. Nearly got bogged after cutting a corner on a salt pan but otherwise had trouble free motoring. Fuel consumption 33l/100km or 8.53mpg. Low range for 5 full days. Drove sideways up Big Red zig zag and back along the top to cross over. Arrived in Birdsville with 5 litres left in tank. What an adventure!!! Cheers, Willie

FollowupID: 2305