Newcastle and Districts Four Wheel Drive Club Inc.

This blog commences after the Binns Track and Kimberly blog.

We drove back through Halls Creek and stopped at the beginning of the Tanami Road for some running repairs to our car. This entailed replacing one set of shock absorber rubbers and topping up the diff oil. On inspection we found that some of the bolts on the front plate of the diff had come loose. Tightening them up solved the leaking oil problem. The Tanami was generally in very good condition and we were able to average about 90kph. A Bush camp 25 k’s East of Billiluna led to an early start for a long day’s drive to Tilmouth Well. . Three very tired crews arrived there just before dusk and all took the opportunity to book into cabins for the night. We managed to cover 650 k’s in the day, thanks mainly to the excellent condition of the road. . We did see the result of inexperienced and unprepared drivers attempting this passage. A 2wd station sedan was sitting on the edge of the road, obviously having rolled, with its 2 very lucky occupants standing beside it – shaken but not hurt. They were being assisted by other motorists and were wishing to travel West, so we left them with our best wishes. That did not seem to affect the attitude of another driver we saw about an hour later who overtook our convoy in a particularly nasty stretch of road – water and mud across the road - he passed us at a speed of at least 120kph.

From Tilmouth Well we were back on the blacktop and into Alice Springs for lunch. Tomorrow we head out to cross the Simpson. Unfortunately the weather has intervened again in our plans. Because the recent rains have closed the Finke River crossing we now will be travelling down the Stuart Highway to Kulgera and then in to Finke before we head out through Mt Dare to Dalhousie Springs. At the moment all roads between Birdsville and Innamincka are also closed. If that remains the situation we will have no choice but to head East out of Birdsville and travel home on the blacktop.

30.8 Home!!! We got home on 18 August exhausted. We have been cleaning up and recouperating since then. Whilst in Alice we were joined by members of the other group from our club who had left home a few weeks after us and travelled a similar route to us without venturing into the Kimberley. Four vehicles, including us, left Alice on 10 August to cross the Simpson Desert. The other vehicles made their way home via various routes on the blacktop. We travelled down the blacktop to Kulgera, taking short detours to visit Rainbow Valley and the Henbury Craters. We were confronted on the Rainbow Valley road by a large caravan of feral camels. They seemed almost as interested in us as we were in them.. Then back onto the dirt and out towards Finke. After a lovely bush camp we got up the next morning and turned left at Finke to drive through the town to see the Finke River flowing. WRONG!!! We had been told in Alice that the river was flowing and impassable. When we got there it was bone dry. So we drove across and got some nice pics. Then back through town and on to Mount Dare. Along the way we passed a cameleer with his 2 camels towing an old panel van. .Asked where he was going he said "I don't know". Upon arrival at Mount Dare a quick phone call to my service manager at Maitland assured me that it was quite safe to cross the desert with the ABS/Traction Control warning lights illuminated. So we took off for Dalhousie Springs. This time we travelled via Bloods Creek because of the poor condition of the direct track when we had used it a couple of months earlier. We arrived in Dalhousie with plenty of time to set up camp and have a refreshing swim.

And so, on Thursday 12 August we set off to cross the Simpson Desert. The first day was fairly easy and we managed to travel 120 km's along the French Line. The further we got into the desert the more greenery and wild flowers we saw. Speaking to travellers coming the other way we were anticipating this to get even better. ..We were not disappointed. After a comfortable night we were up early and away by 8.30m. Still on the French Line this day proved long and tiresome. The dunes themselves were not a problem, but the lumps and bumps between them were most uncomfortable. The difficulties were somewhat relieved by the wonderful scenery we were driving through. The wildflowers in this part of the desert were like rainbow coloured paddocks We came across a 40 y.o. man walking across the desert. His father was driving a support vehicle and when we asked the father why his son was doing it he said "his sister did it a couple of years ago and I did it 25 years ago." We later discovered that the father was the first white person to do the walk, and he has been involved in numerous charity walks over the desert, either as a participant or an organiser. His name is Dennis Bartel and he is credited with giving Big Red its name. His son was averaging over 60 km's per day. We camped the night at Poeppel's Corner..
The next day we found the going a lot easier and made it all the way to Birdsville. The Eyre Creek crossing was uneventful but we had a detour of about 10km's straight after it. However, it was not all plain sailing. Cresting the second last dune we were confronted by a sea of water between us and Big Red. . This sent us South to Little Red before we could get around it. One of the group went back and drove up and over Big Red on the first attempt.

When we got to the top of the dune we were confronted by another lake on the Eastern side of Big Red. This was much bigger that the one on the Western side and took over an hour to circumnavigate before we were back on the road into Birdsville. .

We spent 2 nights at Birdsville, with those of us who had not been there before doing all the tourist things. We had dinner in the pub both nights. There was still some confusion as to the state of the roads to Innamincka and beyond. Some signs said they were open and some said they were closed. Given the length of the trip we had been on, and the uncertainty about the roads we decided to abandon that part of the trip and head for home.

On Monday 14 August we drove to Quilpie where we all stayed in the hotel and next morning went separate ways to get home. We drove that day to Moree and then home the following day.

All in all a fabulous trip. Perhaps a bit too long and maybe we bit off a bit more than we should have in crossing the desert after all the other things we had done. But we have certainly ticked a lot of boxes this time round. We travelled 14900 km's and took 3500 photos.