Simpson Anyone Know what happened to the OKA x 3 Group (Exploranges)

that looks so different from oct 05 when we were last there

Prickle - Yes very wet and boggy out there, we were able to bypass a few of the bad lakes. We did 550ks for the Frenchline including the bypasses

We used 95ltrs of fuel for the crossing. I thought that was excellent given the driving conditions.

Hope you had fun - We did :-)

Cheers Tony

Teraa - Might mean the roads will again be water :-)

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Brian - They were the ones - In that case they must have opted out on doing the French line and gone another route. We got to the Caravan Park on Tuesday afternoon and did not see them? We left the morning of the 3rd with changed plans. So how did they get out of Birdsville? Must have gone the long way back to SA.

The Birdsville track was closed and would be for another 2 days and then we were not able to get to Camerons corner so we called off the Ferry Crossing and headed West.

Now home 2 weeks early :-) Oh well up to Cooktown to go fishing :-)

Cheers Tony

Tony,
We left Birdsville on Wednesday morning, 4th. The OKA's were set up not far from us, with all those safari tents dotted around them. I spoke with the female driver one morning but I can't remember where they were going or where they'd been. As you know, everyone talks to everyone else and all those conversations become one in my head... LOL...

We were camped behind the BBQ nearest the office, in the Tvan. Your car looks familiar, but there were a few of those style utes out there at the time, so I might be wrong.

Cheers

Brian

Brian - Yes we left the morning of the 3rd, so they came in behind us obviously - If they did the french line there would be a lot of large wheel ruts :-)

We camped way down the bottom near the water, I did see a Tvan. We stopped near the BBQ to pick up the washing as we were leaving.

Did you see the 4x4 with the snatch strap still attached? I assume they had issues. They were in the units near the toilet block.

Cheers

Tony,
I did see that 4by, there were a bunch of others around it when I noticed it, and all the guys were standing around having a few drinks. I didn't go and ask what had happened, I figured there were enough people over there already! LOL...


Cheers

Brian

Phillip - Not sure what your point is, but as it dries out the wind will do the rest
:-)

Cheers Tony

I tend to agree.

Tractors towing substantial trailers?

OKA s where does it stop?

I could go on!

Philip - You are then suggesting that we should have a crystal ball so before we start the 2000k trip we know it will rain the day you get there? :-) and rain as you cross.....

In my opinion and from previous observations, The Clay pans will be rolled by other cars as they dry out and the deeper wheel ruts will soon be gone. If not there will be a track straddling the ruts

There was evidence this had already started to happen on other clay pans.

This is not the first year they would have had a lot of traffic over them when wet, and as long as you stick to the track and do not cross the clay pans in other areas I see no issue. The track dries out the fastest in the base of these ruts. There was numerous bypasses around others. Other you could not bypass.

In 2010 it was destined to be all part of the Simpson experience. There was a lot of travelers out there at this time, we had numerous vehicles pass us by :-) Mainly West to East - We passed Mt Dare's Toyota Cruiser loaded up going East to West and they had got stuck on one Clay pan.

Russ - Have you an answer to your question? :-) How was your trip across this year?

Cheers Tony

I'm with Tony 110%.... The only thing you risk damaging when you enter a remote area is humans and vehicles. These deserts have been around for a few years longer than any Patrol or 'Cruiser or Oka. It's more likely to be the vehicles damaged than the terrain.

And the last time I looked, an OKA is a 4X4. If the wheel ruts are bigger after the OKA goes through, a few storms and a bit of wind and the next lot of trucks will sort it out.

And in any case, the desert does get closed in wet weather..... it was closed 2 weekends ago, due to the rain!

Cheers

Brian

Tony & others,

Unfortunately we did not cross the Simpson. All so disappointed.

We were holed up at Oodnadatta for 3 days, and after LISTENING to all those coming in from the north (including local workers) and reading the postings from SA Transport, we decided that the track conditions were already difficult.

We chose not to make them worse and more difficult for others who may have felt the need to do the trip. (By others, I mean similar to us, no trailers and just 4x4 vehicles).

On the ONLY track open at the time we headed for Coober Pedy on the Kempe Track and up to Alice.
on the black top.

Lets not forget that I had spent 18 months planning this trip, and along with the other three vehicles, had spent in excess of $10k ensuring that our vehicles were up to it and other things to cover water and fuel contingencies. SO this was a really hard decision to make.

I am well aware that there are no restrictions on type of vehicles that can travel this route, but may be there should be.

I watched as the three tractors towing heavy campers headed off along the Oodnadatta track that clearly said CLOSED. They did not care in the least. (Were heard to say, "Well who is going to stop us." Oh yes them and other tractors apparently made the crossing with more than one attempt to get up some sand hills (heard on the ABC by driver of "SMOKEY" ).

I guess I now tend to lean to banning trailers, over weight vehicles and then if the conditions require it (NOT JUST THE HEAT) close the desert. I am also aware of the impact that all this would have on local businesses. When you think of it though, this tourist season will go on for some time, so local businesses will still benefit, it will just stretch out over a longer period, better for them.

Our group (much to our disappointment) decided to head north to East McDonnell Ranges out of Alice and had a great time. Some fantastic experiences in Trephina Gorge, Rainbow Valley and Chambers Pillar.

I am bleep tered that we could not make our trip, but one does not have control over the weather.

HOPEFULLY heading to the Coopers Ferry for a couple of days later in the month to satisfy my disappointment. (Doing this as I feel cheated by the weather/climatic conditions - a fact of life hey!).

I respect that others have their own agendas too.

Soft "cox", no, just concerned about the environment and our/my plan to ENJOY our trip with unnecessary impact on our enjoyment and the environment.

Enjoy.

:)

Russ

Russ - Sorry you missed your trip. We had to cut our Ferry ride across the Cooper and Cameron's Corner because of Closed Roads. It started raining as we headed down the Old Ghan Track.

When we reached Mt Dare through all the water and mud there were no Road Closed signs. Prior to departing for Mt Dare from Alice the road was Open.

At Mt Dare there was no talk that any road was closed or that the desert may be closed. The OodnadattaTrack was closed, thus quite a few people at Mt Dare were changing plans. We found out after leaving Purnie Bore that there was a lot of rain in front of us as well.

We would not pass a road closed sign and would not travel on a road we knew to be closed.

The Tractors need to be reported and charged if they dd go around the road closed signs.

As for the tractors and Oka's on the sandhills, they are not the only ones ripping up the dune tops. From what I found there are a lot of 4x4 drivers still not willing to run correct Tyre pressures in the desert. We followed someone that had to spin wheels climbing every dune. There was no need for this as the sand was wet and I could Idle over in 1st high without spinning. I was at 16psi front and 18psi rear.

There is no issue really - If the tractor or OKA made a track you can not pass you would just move slightly to the side and make another.
No use turning this into an issue that it is not. These comments kind of put a dampener on the joy we had, but you are entitled to do that.

What is the issue is if someone purposely travels on a closed road, they need to be dealt with.

Anyway we had fun and tackled what we were faced with, as we travel alone we dealt with the situations as they arose.

Hope you have another go at the desert soon - Cheers tony

Russ, I too am sorry you missed your trip. Soft??? I would not say anyone was soft in making hard decisions like the ones you had to make.

And I might add your post is a very well written one making clear your point of view. Not argumentative or derisive as posts on forums can sometimes be!

I do want to point out a couple of things..... not intended to argue or labour the points, just so you know from our point of view.

1) Our crossing of the desert was timed (by good luck rather than good management) when there was minimal rainfall. The tracks were dry, we watched a storm pass by to the south quite a distance away on the 2nd last night, then had light rain the last night and on the morning of our arrival in Birdsville. Shortly after we arrived in Birdsville, the rain came and we heard that the desert was closed. All the roads from Birdsville were closed.

2) I DID tow my trailer, it is a Tvan and I can vouch for the advertised blurbs that say a Tvan will go anywhere.... anywhere might be a stretch I guess, but the desert certainly wasn't a problem for the Tvan/Patrol combo. I had a reasonably good Cavalier Off Road trailer, but would NEVER contemplate a trip like this in anything short of a Tvan or Ultimate. (Not starting a brand war here, there may be others, but these two are the only ones that I would take!)

3) I really didn't want to mention this, 'cos I don't want this to sound like bragging, 'cos it isn't, but I did most of the desert, towing, in 2wd. Not 'cos I'm a bloke who has to do this sort of thing to prove that I'm a better driver than someone who does it in 4wd, but to conserve fuel as best as I could. Now I know that the swales. and the Rig Road & Erabema Track are certainly 2wd roads, but I did a lot of the French Line in 2wd as well, including a lot of the dunes. On a lot of the dunes, I would pull the "little stick" back into 4 Hi as we crested and got the extra traction needed to get over. On I think 6 or 8 dunes, I had to stop, reverse back down and have another go. On 1 dune, I had to have 3 goes at it, it was particularly difficult, being very soft at the crest. The dunes that stopped me, I was already in 4wd at the base of the dune. Again, I mention this not out of bravado, but simply to portray the conditions I was confronted with on our crossing.

4) Tony mentions tyre pressures, and I agree with him totally. I thought long and hard about this in the week leading up to the crossing. Usually off road, I run 18psi all round, but this time I elected to try 16psi, all round, including the trailer. The amount of vehicles that I saw/spoke with drivers of that were running higher pressures, (anywhere between 25-40!) amazed me. They were the ones that were struggling. The dune I mentioned above that I had three goes at, a Defender in front of me had 5 goes at it, his pressures were 22 front and 24 rear. I later saw him airing down further!

Sorry that this is so long, but the one other thing that I wanted to say is this....
the tractors who went around the Road Closed signs should be reported! They are the types who are buggering it up for others, those with an absolute disregard for rules and regs.... I know we're an over regulated population, but SOME people have to be saved from themselves!

I'm sorry you missed out on seeing the desert this year, it was a vibrant kaleidoscope of colour thanks to the wild flowers, something I guess I'll never see again. Please try to get out there and see it, it's certainly worth the effort.

Regards

Brian

Tony and Brian,

Thanks for your supportive/understanding responses.

Certainly not having a go at either of you and your responses are valid, I have no issue with their contents. Tyre pressure will always be an issue.

An extraordinary year.

My point made and you acknowledge this.

Thanks.

Bring on the Coopers Ferry trip now. (No rain please).

Having done most of my off road driving in the vic high country and seen the closure of numerous tracks due to massive lifts on fourbies and huge mud tyres that do terrible damage to tracks,and people waiting for the tracks to become wet and boggy before the head out to them for some "fun in the mud" I know this is not the case with you guys, but I must admit to feeling a sense of sadness when seeing the torn up Simpson tracks, and the claims of fun in the mud etc.

Maybe keeping the pics for your own enjoyment rather than posting them in a public forum is the answer?

I dunno, dont want to sound like a kill joy, and I have absolutley no experiance what so ever in the Simpson and if as has been stated, in know time at all, mother nature will have the track back to normal, then no harm done, but if it results in the bog holes becoming impassible with every little shower they receive now and people need to continually go around them making the "track" wider, than it's an issue I reckon.

But having said all that, well done on completing such a tough drive with no assistance, I can certainly understand your sense of achievment.

Cheers.....Browny
P.S. I applaude your decision Tony to change your trip plans

Sorry, should be PRICKLE I applaud your decision

The tractors tore it up abit on the top of the hills but its there choice what they drive and the sands of time will fix it. My canter was at 38psi and only had to go back down 1 dune and had some expert in a 4x4 tell me to drop it to 15psi my tryes would fall off at that i told him. Saw 2 old BMW bikes with side cars struggling out there. You see some strange sites out back Cheers Tony