Across the Simpson Desert (Final Day)

In the Simpson, To Birdsville, Little Red and the defacto, Big Red terrors, you've got mail and a bit fruity.
~ Off to Birdsville, but the challenge of Big Red - a dune to be feared, was looming!


A bit of vehicle swapping was going on, turned around and it was not Tloml sitting behind the wheel. What!! he'd handed over the Defender? The new driver informed me he hoped I knew how to drive this because he didn't. (No tachometer in the Defender apparently!). Off we go, up another dune and it became apparent to me how much I actually did know about driving our beauty - guess it was by osmosis.  See, all that passengering has its advantages ;-)
I'm totally showing off now, but I was able to tell the new driver when to put the Defender into low range third gear by the sound of the revs!  Pat on the back to me - not bad old girl :D 
Anyway, back to the defacto driver ... we advance up a dune we later called "Little Red" because it was a taste of the terrors ahead!  Defacto gets nearly to the top ok but forgot about the twist that can sometimes happen right at the top of a dune and, for a few awful seconds we keep going straight ahead (ulp, heart in mouth), then he swings the wheel and we shoot to the right on two wheels. Horrifying, but it was a thrill! The people watching us at the top were also a bit taken aback for a few seconds. 
Ah, welcome back Tloml - now for "Big Red" which loomed into sight. CB went quiet, everyone goes into deep concentration.


Only one person made it to the top at the first go - ambled over it like on a Sunday drive, and that was tail end charlie! We tried and got more than three quarters of the way up but took the wrong line and just ran out of power so rolled back down the bottom. Others were getting more and more frustrated. 

Conquering Big Red - oh, he was a biggie!

Tloml had a bit of a think, then lowered the tyre pressure right down to 16 psi and we were successful in getting up and over. Yay!
We then parked in the huge blowhole just over the other side and watched others have a go with their even further deflated tyres. Made for an exciting finish to dune driving that's for sure!


45 minutes after the last one over, we arrived at Birdsville. It felt a bit strange to see houses once again! It was very windswept and the first thing you see is the airport on the left, across the road from the pub. The camping ground area looked like a bulldozed tip with papers and stuff blowing around or half buried (leftovers from the Birdsville Races the week before). The facilities had all been recently upgraded, so with a bit of landscaping it'd be looking pretty good in the future we thought.

Susan in front of the Birdsville Pub

Went over to the pub that evening, halfway through some drinks at the bar and a voice booms out over the crowd with my name in it. My Dad had sent a letter to us addressed c/o the pub! What a lovely surprise too :) 


Next morning, just before we all departed, one of the group members very kindly gave us a packed morning tea, some fruit cake and candied nuts as a farewell gift...thinking about it later on, it occurred to me that was how it was all through our trip, friendliness, lots of surprises, a bit fruity at times and in the end we all went a bit nuts (in a nice way)! 


Mileage for the day 171km
Total mileage for the trip 1,382km  


By the way, a big thanks for everyone's comments. Our enjoyment in reliving our adventure was immense and made more so by your interest.  Ooroo!

Across the Simpson Desert (Days 10 & 11)

In The Simpson to Kuddaree Waterhole and a Rest Day, trail blazing, orphan, afternoon tea on the verandah and a simply grand campdinner - with a tablecloth!
~ All packed up and ready to move out well before 9.00 am. Everyone's  so much quicker at getting organised.
We're having a go being second in the convoy today, which is so interesting especially when they're trail blazing, which is what went on for this section - it took a full 3 hours to do only 37 kms. First of all, we drove up the Eyre Creek and then headed West over about 4 sand dunes. Some vehicles had problems getting over the dunes, one in particular had to give it 6 tries. Various reasons - the vehicle, the driver, tyre pressure. Our Defender got us up them time and time again. Of course Tloml's driving skills should be mentioned, as well as my magnificent passengering skills ;-)


We arrived at Kuddaree Waterhole about noon and saw more flocks of Brolgas, twice as many as the day before! Many head of cattle too, looking in prime condition, except for one poor calf whose mother was dead. No one was in a position to help it. One solitary emu by the water too. 


The water here wasn't up to much so no hairwashing! It was very pleasant though and we all looked forward to not having to pack up the next morning.  We set our tent under a grove of coolibahs. Overlooking the billabong, it was just perfect. Woke up from an arvo snooze in the tent to the delightful sight and sounds of a flock of (I think) Corellas arriving on the water. Some things just stay with you don't they... this was one of them.


Mileage for the day 37km

~ Rest Day so a leisurely cooked brekky was the order of the day. Slices of bread with holes cut out into which an egg was broken  and then fried on the bbq with bacon - delish! Even the discarded toasted holes were wolfed down!


The day was spent getting up to no good. Good senses of humour abounded in the group, so we had fun. Lots of things to do, good walks to be had and the photographers revelled in the wildlife they'd captured on film (no good having regrets about things I know, however, do wish I'd been more keen on photography back then!!!!!) Of course, the inevitable group of men became involved with their pride and joys, either in, under or around them. As well as all this, the dunny received more than it's normal share of attention - no, I'm not being crude ..... it was decorated to the point that it became known as the Throne Room and received an 11/10 rating!


The group leader offered Tloml a chance to take part in a future convoy they were putting together - a fairly difficult expedition, hence only a few selected invitations were being offered. He was interested and a year later had himself an amazing adventure.  

Tloml firing up the bush billy

As we'd set our tent up a little away from the rest, we started to receive a few visitors who'd come to survey 'Our Selection' as they called it:)
Therefore, afternoon tea, taken on the verandah, overlooking the water, was definitely in order.
Tloml boiled up the water in our ingenious  bush billy - only needed a handful of twigs to get the job done! I made some very rough and ready pikelets and we all spent an enjoyable arvo under our tarp verandah.


In all, a very pleasant last day in camp was had by everyone.


The last camp dinner achieved the impossible - it outdid all the other dinners. Served on an actual tablecloth (triggered memories of being civilised!) with native floral arrangement we feasted on pumpkin soup, roast lamb and beef followed by a sherry soaked chocolate log. Everything was devoured with extreme pleasure :D


Mileage for the day nil.

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 9)

In The Simpson To Old Annandale Station Waterhole, emu bobbing, brolgas, abandoned steam engine and best ever hair conditioner. 
~ The dingo is still around, and on the morning walk it decided to follow at a comfortable 5 - 10 metres. We did 1.3 km which included a sand dune so had worked up a sweat by the time my ride arrived.


Also, when packing up, a fairly ferocious looking spider, same colour as the sand, appeared and reared up on its hind legs in attack mode. Tloml was up on the roof rack and I wasn't going to take it on, so gave it a wide berth. 


Back in convoy and the scenery began to change as the dunes became larger and further apart. We all took part in some emu bobbing - an activity I hadn't mentioned before, but the group did it every so often when needed. The convoy parks alongside the track, everyone has a stretch of legs and if any rubbish is seen it's picked up.  I guess, at a distance, we looked like a lot of emus with all that bobbing up and down!  Lots of exercise this particular day, plenty of empty stubbies found along this section of track - probably "hair of the dog" contributions after the Birdsville races a few days previous.


The flora is starting to change in this area, it's mainly Old Man Saltbush and Eucalypts. 

Crossing Eyre Creek

53 km from camp we arrived at Eyre Creek and it was time for another break. 


After leaving the Creek the road was smooth driving - such a treat, "smooth as a baby's b.." someone was heard to say. However, it lasted for only about 27 km when some difficult dunes were encountered. Or perhaps they just seemed difficult because everyone had been spoilt by the smooth ride. 

All was well and after a bit of a search found the right road to Ruwolt's Bore and cattle yards where we were able to gratefully fill some water containers.

Filling the water containers

Upon arriving at the supposedly dry Annandale waterhole, the convoy stopped and observed with immense pleasure about 30 brolgas near the water. We sneaked up to them but they flew off - the sound of their wings beating over our heads was quite amazing. 

The Annandale homestead ruins was on a sandy rise overlooking the waterhole. They're a real eye opener to life in the pioneering days. Stuck out, miles from anywhere, they established their little home and yards in such difficult conditions. The remains of the house still showed enough of the construction to indicate the degree of care and pride taken. The exterior wall was all cement rendered, so smooth, with filials around the chimney top. Over the years, steam engines had been brought up to assist in the running of the station, and the remains are now half buried in the drifting sand. All that toil, sweat and the eventual heartbreak when the place had to finally be abandoned.

l'll just pretend I was going for a
silhouette shot !

Hard yakka hauling all this machinery to Annandale.
Must have been a busy place in its time.

Still had to observe water rationing but a lot of us were longing to wash our reddirt-caked hair. It just hadn't been possible when you consider that our version of a 'shower' was standing in a bowl and (slowly) pouring one cup of water over ourselves! So the group leaders arranged a big container of waterhole water (a white clayey sludge) which was heated up on the campfire and left to cool for a couple of hours.  After dinner we were invited to fill our bowls and to enjoy.  Now, every single one of us were fairly skeptical at what our hair would be like but, hey, couldn't be any worse than it already was!!  Now, I'm not kidding, but we all came back to the campfire, absolutely glowing! That water was something else, our hair was so soft and silky feeling and looking - no conditioner could compare. Seems because it's content was mostly clay, once it had been boiled and the solids allowed to settle, the remaining water contained certain minerals which had softening properties. This is something I've always remembered - some more enterprising person should follow up on this perhaps, give Pantene a run for their money!


We really look forward to our campfire dinners - get so ravenous. This night's was chicken soup, beef stroganoff and trifle. Tloml and I each had two helpings of the trifle, yum. (Made a special note in my journal that I hoped my darling realises it'll be back to the one pot stews when it's just the two of us on the road!)


Mileage for the day 129km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 8)

In The Simpson to Gidgee Patch QAA Line, a dressing down, Ephemeral Lakes, hungry dingo and a dunny like none before.
~ A very windy night and everyone seemed to be packing up before brekky.
Last night's dunny crew were told they had to do it again but to make a better job of it. Also, there were a couple of group members grizzling about having to write today's group journal.Do it or you'll be writing it again the next night were the orders!! No holiday camp this!!  Our group leader tells it like it is, has a good sense of humour and treads a fine line of making sure everyone pulls their weight. 

We moved along the AAK Line (another of the tracks made by oil exploration companies from the 1960s -1980s), had a look at the Approdina Attora Knolls. They are fragile gypsum outcrops and are of great Aboriginal and scientific importance. They give a good view of the surrounding countryside from the top. They were important landmarks to the early explorers and settlers. It had been necessary to fence them off though, as some people were driving to the top, doing irrepairable damage. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the Knolls.

The water count is getting low, not many have much left - we had a fair bit so our contribution for the night will be about 40 litres. Fortunately, everyone can have a major refill at one of the cattle stations tomorrow where permission has been given to use their supply. Always have to conserve though because permissions, as we'd already experienced, can be withdrawn and for valid reasons.

The convoy across the Simpson - a treeless section

After a long stretch of pretty much treeless plains, a beautiful shady Gidgee patch was found for a lunchtime stop. Quite hot so it was welcome. Beautiful wattles and cassias all in yellow bloom - the effect was stunning.


Lots of sand dunes to conquer again. Spotted a white dingo but it was too far away to show up in a photo. Ha ha, when a lot of my photos were developed there'd be a tiny spot in a far corner - I'd barely remember, perhaps a camel, or maybe a dingo, so small it was unrecognisable. Whilst others I just couldn't, for the life of me, remember what they were!! 

Passed over about 6 lakes today, all dry and sparkly with their salty crusts on top. They're part of the Ephemeral Lake System. 


Stopped at Poeppel's Corner and took photos. They're the borders of SA, NT and Qld, it was funny actually standing with a foot and a hand in each State and, of course, we all made the obvious jokes. 


Re-dressed Tloml's cut which is healing up well, then it was off to gather around the campfire. Mostly, we all get along very easily with one another. It's funny, but we never really socialised as much back home as out there. It is nice to roll up to the fire and have a chat. Perhaps it's because we all have pretty much the same interests.

We were visited by a dingo whilst dinner was cooking. She came in closer and closer. One of the group gave her some chicken, vegies and water which she enjoyed (the peas and carrots were ignored however). Lots of photos were taken.  After we'd all gone to bed she re-visited and lapped up the remaining bit of soapy washing up water, only a short distance from the group leader's swag!


The dunny rating was 10/10, the reasons for a perfect score were innumerable - far too many to list here. A condensed version included "beautifully positioned" "tucked away in sylvan solitude" "in perfect harmony with the environment" and "such comfort that when seated and gazing out the door, one can really feel comfort and peace of mind and have that inner feeling of minding ones own business".


Mileage for the day 113km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 7)

In The Simpson and to Approdina Attora Knolls Track, dingoes, Happy Father's Day, OKA madness, way out welding. 
~ We awoke at sunrise and heard dingoes howling in the distance - very spooky because it's usually so quiet. Fresh tracks were seen near the camp. 
A cooked brekky, sausages and tomatoes, for Father's Day.

Tloml ogling the OKA

Throughout the trip Tloml had been admiring another group member's vehicle, an OKA, so when its owner offered to let him get behind the wheel, well, it just made his day!  
I got to ride in the back.  It's a huge tank of a vehicle but, boy, what a ride. It just kept rolling (more like gliding) along, up and over all the dunes, never missed a beat. 

The power in the engine 
was incredible, keeping it in third gear, low range, no matter what the terrain it irons out the bumps. Having experienced it first hand ... we both wanted one!!


Back to earth and in our own vehicle again. Saw a pair of eagles along the way, some budgerigars, a camel and some rabbits. Very windy so a lot of sand in our sandwiches!


A few in the group went ahead and missed the turn off to the Knoll's Track because of wrong info in the desert parks hand book. Tackling a sand dune east to west was a challenge to those vehicles retracing their steps because the dunes are so much steeper than the way we were doing it, west to east.
An appendage was spotted hanging from the rear of a group member's vehicle which turned out to be broken shock absorber.  After setting up camp some 10km South of the Approdina Attora Knolls, batteries were assembled to weld it up. All the men had gathered to witness the wonder of welding being carried out under such trying circumstances ;-) 


We'd sustained a bit of wear and tear as well. The roof rack had moved forward a couple of inches (not a good thing). The floor got bashed where the gas tank had been thumping up and down and the side door had a hole bored into it when a stove stand had fallen from the roof rack (someone with good intentions was helping to load - ah well). 


Dunny rating 5/10, points lost because (1) Too far away, and (2) Location in a valley between two trees making access difficult.


Mileage for the day 127km 

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 6)

To The Simpson Desert (Yay!), the gluepot, more fun than Luna Park! Burnt fingers, a bit of history and shiny pots.
~ So dry and warm overnight that last night's handwashing is bone dry! 
The Fly boys flew off to the races early morning and peace was restored.
No freaking out for me today, jumped into the driver's seat quite confident and off we went - this 4WDriving is a piece of cake!! Did about 20 minutes then Tloml took over. Think he was getting driver withdrawals..or, 'praps my comment of "ok, let's see what this baby can do" gave him cause to worry for his beloved Defender ;-) 
Whatever, all is back to normal and I'd hidden the axe for the rest of the trip ;-)


We travelled over moonscape type land called the Glue Pot, When it rains, it's totally impassable by anything, and the track can be closed for weeks at a time.

 Finally we entered the Simpson, and all the fun began. Driving over dunes is better fun than anyone can ever have at Luna Park!  Over the expanse of the desert, the dunes get progressively further apart, but higher and steeper.  Air pressure is lowered in tyres and the vehicles slowly advance up the dunes, just as it's about to crest there could be a quick drop, then a catchup and then wow! The scenery from the top of some of the higher ones is stunning. 

The vegetation consists of spinifex cane grass (a finer version than what we're used to), the vehicles regularly have to check the front undercarriage to clear any accumulation of the grass which could pose a fire hazard! 
There are wattle trees with their bright yellow flowers. My photos don't do the scenery any justice at all, the contrasting colours are brilliant... I won't rave on, but gosh it's a great place.

Purnie Bore - and it's hot hot hot

A lunchtime stop at Purnie Bore. It's not a natural waterhole, a bore was sunk by teams during the oil exploration years of the Simpson. As time passed, leaks in the bore allowed a large amount of hot water to surface and develop into a sizeable lake. 
A sign at the bore reads "Danger The bore water temperature exceeds 80deg celcius and will cause serious burns. Do not step beyond the fence."  I just had to step beyond the fence and check it out though. Ouch, yep, there's a reason for the warning sign. 
I should mention at this juncture that our beaut children have always supported our little adventures. However, it's acts like the axe episode and this last one that has caused them to shake their heads and to sometimes be in despair of their wayward parents. Sorry kids.... um, love yas ;-)


Made camp 35km from the Colson Track in late arvo. This track was named in honour of Edward (Ted) Colson who was the first european to cross the Simpson Desert. In May 1936 he left Blood Creek and crossed the Simpson from west to east to Birdsville. He returned to Blood Creek across the desert, deviating in part along a more southerly route. He was accompanied by an Aboriginal companion, Peter Ains, and five camels. The expedition traversed more than 900 kms of largely unexplored country in just 36 days. Many believe Colson's achievement has been inadequately documented and it was for that reason that a full account of his journey was made by Mark Shephard in his book "The Simpson Desert, Natural History and Human Endeavour" - a great read! I should add that no money has changed hands for this blatant promotion of a book, we just happen to like it!


Dinner was, as always, delicious. Crumbed veal, vegies followed by chocolate cake with liquer icing. Yum.  
I elected to scrub pots as part of my night's chores. Kind of nice just standing there, taking in the camp activities and well, making those big stainless steel pots all nice and shiny. Hmmm is the sun getting to me?


Mileage for the day 141km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 5)

To Dalhousie Thermal Springs, freaking out, a desert oasis, burnt palms, hot bubbly springs, amazing fish life and party-time.
~ After a very warm night we woke to a windswept camp site. Amongst the dust Tloml's wounded foot was checked and declared good to go. He felt ok thank goodness, but, couldn't walk on it so driving was out of the question. 
Ah, er ... that meant me, I, would be driving.  Wow, major freakout!! I'd gone on a 4WD driver training course before our trip, could do a stop/start hill climb etc., but driving on those roads tracks? on those ruts, berms? in a convoy? (added pressure to keep up).  Sucked breath in and got behind the wheel. Must say, I hadn't realised what concentration it takes to avoid holes (craters) in the road, so developed a whole new appreciation of the luxury of being a passenger all the time! After an hour I was totally over being in 3rd position on the convoy and asked demanded to be put in second last position, just in front of tail end charlie. Much better but, boy, was I longing for that day to end. On a brighter note, at least it gave Tloml a chance to enjoy some of the passing scenery :D

Dalhousie Homestead Ruins

Arrived at the Dalhousie Homestead Ruins first. It truly is an oasis in the desert and was wonderful to see date palms in such profusion out there. Apparently, a few of the rabid preservationists wanted to get rid of them, as they 'weren't native to this country'..bah! (The fact that date and cotton palms had been planted, during some overnight camps, by Afghan Cameleers is absolutely part of our history). Anyway, someone had set fire to them, but that had the effect of only clearing the base of them and had given them a spurt of growth.

We couldn't imagine travelling for hundreds of kms and settling there. The original settlers bred horses for the cavalry as well as running a few sheep and goats. The stockyards were a wonderful example of post and rail workmanship. 

Tloml at the Dalhousie Homestead Ruins (complete with his foot/peg bag)
(The burnt out palms are in the distance)

On to the thermal springs at Dalhousie and set up camp. There were Spoonbills on the water, which was a great sight.

I joined some of the others for a guided walk around the springs with the Ranger. Poor Tloml's lack of mobility unfortunately kept him confined to camp. 
These freshwater springs are an outlet from the Great Artesian Basin. The water temp is 38deg C where it emerges, and cool to 32deg C at the other end of the pools. The water eventually evaporates (what a waste). The springs just bubble out of the ground which eventually form mounds that grow in size as plants germinate and lose foliage. This builds up, along with other debris, until eventually there is too much pressure on the flow of water, and it starts to bubble up somehwere else. 

A strange thing about these springs is the fish in them. there are no rivers or creeks running into the springs, yet there are 5 distinct species of fish, each living in its own temperature zone. If they were to move into another zone, they would die, and as a result, are able to live alongside each other without affecting the others' habitat. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and talk - such an amazing place!

A beautiful sunset which we enjoyed - momentarily. 
Three (small) plane loads of young things en route to the Birdsville Races decided to overnight at the springs and have themselves a party. A few in our group had good cause to grizzle the next morning but as we were both so tired, for our various reasons, we just crashed and were oblivious to everything!


Mileage for the day 90km 

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 4)

To Mt Dare, a 'forceful' fella, old bones, bogged and Blood Creek - literally!
~ Dawn broke bright and clear - then all hell broke loose!


One of the more, shall we say 'forceful' personalities in the group woke up to a flat tyre. I wandered over for a look just as he was inflating the air bag so he asked me to keep an eye on it. As I watched, his vehicle rolled backwards - my fault he said, I wasn't watching!! Before I could answer, Tloml and some other onlookers stepped up and enlightened him to the fact that perhaps putting the hand brake on first would've been a better idea ;-)  
All that excitement got our juices flowing for a great day's travel. 


As we drove out of the campsite we passed under some old telegraph lines, two wires. It made me wonder about all the important messages that must've raced back and forth through those wires. Their only means of communication back then. 


A little wait while the trip leaders were driving backwards and forwards, referring to their co-ordinates, trying to find the track they wanted to use. We checked out a pile of long dead, sun-dried old bones, and, after the right track was found, comments flew over the CB musing that we were perhaps a lot luckier than those other travellers!! 


Travelled via the dry Finke River, which had some interesting outcrops of limestone in places. Passed through various homesteads and leases and quite a number of other dry creek beds. It must be hellish trying to travel this way after rain. 
Crossing the Goyder Creek, everyone was warned not to change gears midway. Unfortunately one vehicle did,'forceful' from this morning, his wife was driving! It was firmly bogged in the dry deep sand. Apparently he'd been telling her to use more acceleration to which she'd replied "it's flat to the floor, how much [expletive] harder do you want me to go?" No worries though, it took a few good men but they pushed the vehicle out ok.

De-bogging in Goyder Creek

Further along and once again travelling alongside the old Ghan line, the country is very open, flat and stony. It was ironstone and rather beautiful. All the stones were nearly black in colour and shiny as though they'd all been polished, I wanted to take some home (can't just stop when you want to in a convoy unless it's an emergency!)

Gidgee tree (not my pic, found it
on the internet)

Saw about 20 head of cattle, all in fine condition. It was the variety of vegetation available.  Came upon groves of Gidgee trees, which are a lovely shaped tree (their dropped limbs made the best firewood too).


A few more corrugations thrown in for a while - just to remind us of the previous day! Bit of a to-do as a couple of vehicles got caught up on the berm in the centre of the track, one vehicle actually straddled the berm with a large rock turning them into a see-saw!  This, of course, brought a comment over the CB by who else but 'forceful' about women drivers!  A quick response by others was that there was a lot of bulldust from the CB as well as the track!! Ha ha, 'forceful' lived to regret those words for the rest of the trip ;-)
We had a lot of laughs that's for sure, sometimes, we'd be toodling along with tears in our eyes at some of the comments and comebacks that'd be flying across the CB waves.


Arrived at the start of the Witjira NP mid arvo. Stopped for firewood near Blood Creek to take into that night's camp at Mt Dare. Tloml was chopping wood with the axe and I was gathering sticks nearby.  He quietly called to me and said "I've cut my foot". The axe had glanced off a hard piece of Mulga, down through his sneaker into his little toe nicking the bottom of the next one. Ow .. it didn't look good. The first aiders in the group tended him and, while it really needed stitches, they'd dealt with it more than adequately he felt. They had an excellent first aid kit and, together with some extra strong pain killers, he had a painfree night.  All bandaged up, I gave him a tent peg bag to wear over everything - just as an extra precaution and to everyone's amusement! 

Tent peg bag being put to better use

(That night's group journal entry included a reference to Tloml's misadventure "......he took the name of the creek literally and decided to shed some by way of his trusty axe.")


We continued on to Mt Dare camping ground and revelled in the luxury of showers, and eagerly awaited the trip leader's call of "Come and Get It" ... What a day!


Mileage for the day 196 km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 3)

To Lambert's Centre, twittering, groves galore, humpty doos and loads of bulldust.
~ Always in awe as to how peaceful it is when we're camping. At night, away from the lights of cities and towns, the sky is bursting with such an array of stars and planet - it's breathtaking! 
So, after a great night's sleep, we had our tent all packed up in readiness for a 9.30 departure. I joined some of the other women to walk out along the track. The men were to catch us up in the vehicles as camp was disbanded. 
Saw an amazing amount of strange looking tracks from small animals and creatures which meant that'd be worthwhile doing some spotlighting after dark. Also came upon 4 birds in a Desert Oak - they looked like budgerigars, only more colourful. Bright orange breasts, turquoise necks and yellows, blues and greens. They were twittering as we approached, no apparent fear of us.
I'd walked 2.6km by the time my ride arrived ;-)  


Off we went, on to Maryvale and stopped at the store where we bought essentials like ice creams and also filled water containers.  A young lass with a small baby was running the store. She said she also did the cooking for ten men, as they were doing cattle work (made me feel quite lazy!)

After Maryvale, the track alternated between rocky and sandy conditions.
Quite a few sand dunes, albeit small, but we felt it was a foretaste of the Simpson. 


We followed the old Ghan line for most of the day. 

A few old relics, a shovel,
the Ghan track and herself

In some sections the rail track was removed, so we drove on the actual old Ghan trackline, however the corrugations were pretty bad. On the 'road' track there were
'humpty doos'  which were very frequent, so had to decide which was worse! (Humpty doos are much larger versions of corrugations in the road - not too bad if far apart, but when close together they're hell to drive on!)


Passed through some lovely groves of blue gums, then Mulga. Also a section filled with mauve flowers - a beautiful contrast against the red dirt.

The landscape is never boring, it's so changeable. Up and over a sand dune and you're presented with a magnificent panorama of ranges, or a grove of Deserk Oaks and their saplings waving (dancing) in the breeze.


Had a look around a couple of abandoned rail sidings and settlers quarters. They were substantially made, with concrete walls and floors. We all tried to imagine the life of the former occupants.

Arrived at the very dry Finke River and drove over it. That's where we experienced bull dust for the first time. It's like a very fine talcum powder which covers the windscreen (and everything else) instantly. A most strange and unique sensation. 
A willy willy welcomed us to the Finke Community and amongst other articles, a pair of pants were seen flying heavenwards!


After more humpty doos and corrugations, we arrived at the Lambert Centre around 5pm. This is the geographical centre of Australia. Apparently, Lambert is the fellow who pushed for this location to be marked. 

The campsite came together with no problems, everyone's got the hang of who does what and when.
The dunny rating was 9/10, particular mention was made of the landscaped path curving up to the door and new toilet rolls!


Mileage for the day 216km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 2)

To Chambers Pillar, a detour, graffiti from the 1800s, a banquet and low dunny rating. 
~ Had a good morning's drive through country as shown in this pic.

Lunch under beautiful large white gums in the bed of the Hugh River, where the new (well, new in 1994!) Ghan railway line goes over a bridge. 


We had to make a detour of about 25km further down the track because access permission had been withdrawn from one property. The reason was that after mustering stock for several days, and bringing in 3 road trains to transport them out, the station owners found some uncaring traveller had left the gates open and the stock had escaped! So no access for anyone anymore - couldn't blame them either. 


Arrived at Chambers Pillar mid afternoon and took in its imposing beauty. Very interesting to see the names that had been carved in it by the early explorers and settlers from the mid 1800s, and those involved in the overland telegraph line. (The link I've added will give more info on this area). Couldn't find Tloml anywhere, but eventually did.... there he was, sitting astride one of the highest peaks of the interestingly shaped outcrops in the area - Castle Rock. (That man has mountain goat in his genes I'm convinced, the places he ends up!). By that time, everyone had gathered to watch his descent. 

Chambers Pillar

Chambers Pillar
Pic taken from Castle Rock

Back into our vehicles and an off the beaten track camp site was chosen.

The weather was great, top temp around 30 deg C, no humidity. Clear blue sky which contrasts with the beautiful red earth. Silver shrubs and pale green vegetation. We passed through stands of Waddy trees looking lovely in their red-band setting. The terrain wasn't stark and arid as I thought it may be.  Not a lot of wildlife though. I saw some hawks and a galah or two, as well as some donkeys. No roos, wallabies or smaller animals. 

We all took turns in doing evening chores which were firewood gathering, digging a toilet pit and erecting tent walls around it; kitchen duties such as peeling and chopping vegies, scrubbing pots and pans afterwards. Also, writing up the day's activities in the group's journal. We'd get stuck into our chores pretty quick, erect our tents and then have a pretend shower with a ration of water. Most would then have a bit of a relax before gathering around the campfire for pre-dinner drinks and nibblies.

I have to mention that evening's meal which was superb. Started off with dry bikkies, chips, olives, cheeses, gherkins, oysters, cabanossi, pate and dip. Scotch fillet, steak diane sauce, potatoes, peas and carrots. Dessert was coconut cake and cream, and of course, endless tea and coffee.  Just what you'd expect to be rustled up in the middle of nowhere ;-)

After dinner, the day's journal entry was read out followed by a Dunny Rating which was judged by each day's journal contributors. This particular evening, the dunny was erected on a little knoll west of the camp, however, it only scored a rating of 6/10 because it had a list to the west of the entrance!

With all that fresh air, driving, sight-seeing, activities and good food no one had any objections to an early night.

Mileage for the day 188km

Across the Simpson Desert (Day 1)

Us in the Defender
(red flag is to alert oncoming dune traffic)

Leaving The Alice
~ this yarn starts way back in August 1994. 
We'd arrived at a caravan park in Alice Springs to meet up with a 4WD Tagalong Tour group to travel from Alice Springs to Birdsville across the Simpson Desert.
This wasn't a luxury trip, every member and vehicle was expected to contribute in ways that will become obvious.


It was fun meeting our fellow adventurers and checking out each others' vehicles etc. Watching the organisers arranging all the provisions and distributing them throughout everyone's vehicles was also an eye opener. I learnt a lot about storage of vegetables - cabbages and lettuces wrapped in newspaper and stored in cardboard boxes remained quite fresh. The total amount of water our vehicle carried was 140 litres - most of which was for group use. No potable water where we were going!


Next morning started with what would be our daily routine. Breakfast by a campfire. The setup is a large grate for the cooking pots, with a smaller grate attached for the continually boiling kettles. On the table are an assortment of cereals and spreads and everyone can make toast on the coals of the fire. Sandwiches and thermoses are prepared for lunch, we all wash our own utensils and that's it, food-wise, until the evening. 


Radio checks done, we're finally on our way, off-road driving almost straight away.

Much excitement at finally taking off
Our Defender is the 4th from the front
(Tloml about to jump in and start up)

Note:  The photos in these yarns are from a pretty basic camera, in fact, they get worse as the dust etc played havoc with the lens.... well, that's my excuse anyway ;-)  

strawberries, cream and parsley; a grey nomad yarn

~  I just love going into other people's blogs and either getting inspired by their posts, or having a memory triggered by them which then sends me off on my own tangent. So here goes, I'm off wandering around again ....


This time I was taking much pleasure in reading Diane's blog of amazing adventures that she shares with Bill:   Adventure Before Dementia.  In  a post about their trip to the Bungle Bungles in the Top End of Australia, the first picture, a helicopter, brought a funny little memory back to me.


We had a temporary job (needed to put some more biccies in the barrel) working in one of the general stores in Borroloola, which is a remote community on the McArthur River in the Gulf of Carpentaria, NT.  It's an historic town, full of colourful characters and the experience of living and working there even for just a short time was quite an eye-opener on many levels!  
One sleepy hot afternoon, Tloml was working away in his corner of the store and I was behind the counter.
To put the scenario in perspective...... Borroloola is dusty, hot and humid all day and all night long. The last of the young bucks had settled down for their hungover snooze on the patch of dead grass in the front of the store. Most of their killer black dogs had been rounded up and tied to their various utes. Cheeky little kids were darting in and out of the shop trying their hardest to pinch whatever icecreams from the freezer they could lay their hands on. Anyone else left standing were in pretty foul moods. The afternoon grew hotter by the hour and we were quickly wilting. Standard dress in the community was a tee shirt and shorts mostly. We female store workers had a pinny on over that. 
Then..

In walks a beautiful young woman, a delightful vision of loveliness, dressed to the nines in a filmy floaty floral dress complete with pretty high heels (her attire definitely more suited to a shopping expedition in Collins Street).  Fresh as a daisy, perfumed and perky with it. Word quickly spread (word is never slow to spread - is it!), that she had just disembarked from the chopper which landed a short distance away.


"I just need a few things" she said.  "Sure, just help yourself" said I, (it was a self serve store after all!)  "Well, I'd like 2 punnets of fresh strawberries, 2 jars of cream and I also must have fresh parsley, not dried".  All I could offer her was tinned cherries, UHT cream and then gently explained that fresh parsley was practically unheard of in these parts.  Her beautifulness was marred by a slight frown. A definite pause was followed by "well I'll try the other store then" and with that she was gone..... Shortly afterwards we heard the chopper depart, and were pretty sure she was going back with compromise purchases.


Word filtered back (very quickly, again) that she'd flown in from Cape Crawford, 117 km South of Borroloola, on a chartered helicopter that operated from there. She'd been holidaying with friends, decided to prepare a luncheon and the hotel's provisions weren't up to scratch! 


It just tickled me at how cool it must be to go shopping in a chopper! A shopper chopper  as Tloml remarked  :D

There ... that's not asking too
 much, surely!

The stores in Borroloola were extremely well stocked for pretty much everything though, and we were quite impressed at the fair prices - then, I mean, not sure what it's like 10 years later.  Another request that couldn't be fulfilled while we were there, was from a tourist passing through (by road this time) who wanted canned goat's milk for their baby.  Quite miffed they couldn't get it too!


I got a bit starry-eyed one day when Laraine, the wife of Mal, one of the Leyland Bros, came into the store. Took me a moment to place her. We used to love those down-to-earth, slightly daggy but loveable film-makers and their Aussie doco's. So I got a kick out of helping her re-stock their caravan larder. She was just as nice in real life too I might add. Here's a link to some of their videos on YouTube Leyland Brothers



As an aside.  We never did find out why Cape Crawford was named as such  It was miles from any water.