Well after 31 days, 8778 kms and $2120 in fuel, I have returned home after my
Simpson Desert Adventure.
The official trip kicked off from Narrabri, tackling some rather muddy conditions between
Bourke and
Wilcannia on our way to
Broken Hill.
The trip up to Maree was trouble free. However at Maree the original itinerary took a significant change and instead of tackling
the desert East to West, we headed up the
Oodnadatta track to
William Creek.
From here we headed over to the
Coober Pedy and the Stuart Highway for our run out to
Yulara to spend some time around Uluru and
Kata Tjuta.
Next port of call was Kings Canyon, before looping back down on the Ernest Giles Road and heading up to
Hermannsburg via
Boggy Hole and the
Finke Gorge National Park.
5 kms after turning off towards
Hermannsburg we encountered a couple of vehicles towing campers that had become bogged on the soft sand of the Palmer River bed. After helping them out, we pushed on further making
camp on the banks of Ellery
Creek.
Alice Springs was calling, and for the next 4 nights we called Alice home.
From here it was a run down the Old Ghan Railway to
Chambers Pillar. By now I was unable to transfer fuel from the sub
tank into the main, but having long range tanks and spare fuel I wasn't concerned.
After a cool night at Chambers, the warm waters of Dalhousie were sounding damn good!
But only after paying Ian a visit at Mt Dare to grab a beer and to top up the fuel.
After an early morning swim in
the springs the fun began. On arriving back at the truck, I found I had a flat. No worries, just whacked on a spare and was ready to roll.
And roll I did. 2 dunes before Purnie
Bore I had the brake pedal go straight to the floor. The corrugations had caused a brake line to contact against a miss-placed bolt (my fault here) and rupture.
After plugging up the offending line, we set out across
the desert. The dramas didn't end there though. I lost my sand flag and also discovered a couple of ruptures in the flexi
tank. The beers had never tasted so damn good!!!!!
After another night in
the desert, I dragged the Nissan over Big Red and headed straight for the
Birdsville Hotel.
It was then time to head over and experience the excellent hospitality of the
Birdsville Caravan Park - thanks again Ruth!!! and it was great to finally catch up!
South Western QLD was now in sights and after chasing a glimpse of the Min Min lights at
Boulia, we headed to
Winton and then
Longreach.
It was then time to start turning South to
Blackall,
Charleville and
Roma.
The final night of the official trip was spent at
Burren Junction to soak in the hot
bore baths.
It was then a short run back into Narrabri to win a meat tray at the bowls club and then head back home to
Sydney :-(
This is just a brief (or maybe not so brief) account of my last 4 weeks and I am endeavouring to get the
routes sorted out and uploaded at some stage.