simpson desert

[baz gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close baz gxl]

we are doing the simpson in a few weeks and are wondering how hard the east to west crossing is in terms of height of sand dunes and steepness compared to something like stockton :lol:

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

I havn't done the trip myself, looking at middle of next year, but it would probably help if you gave details of your route. There are a number of routes through there.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: simpson desert

we are doing the simpson in a few weeks and are wondering how hard the east to west crossing is in terms of height of sand dunes and steepness compared to something like stockton :lol:

Not sure about the crossing, but check out the below thread on the tough dogs,not so tough.
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php ... c&start=90

[baz gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close baz gxl]

simpson desert

we are planning to take the french line the whole way and we willbe joined by a new 200 series sahara (lokking forward to see how that goes)and we where intreseted in the comments of anyone who has done the crossing east to west.

[lawrance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lawrance]

Hi Baz Gxl,

I crossed the Simpson (east to west) a couple of years ago in my '99 Land Rover Discovery V8 auto.

Even though this is supposed to be "harder", the way the Simpson Desert is crossed so many times now, it really won't be much of a challenge in a Prado, especially if equipped with good tyres. I wouldn't be game to go with the factory tyres though!

I would strongly recommend fitting a long flagpole and possibly even having it pointing forward slightly, as it will then be much more effective as an "early warning" for drivers coming up the other side of the dune. As your vehicle will have a steeper angle, if you have a straight up mounted flag, it will actually be bent backwards, due to the inclination and be actually further back to the front of the vehicle.

We found that Dalhousie Springs was full of flies and very crowded - would have been heaps better camping at Purnie Bore and then driving into Dalhousie Springs for a dip the morning after.

That's about all that I can think of.

Cheers,

Lawrance

[Bes Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bes]

Hi Baz,

We did a double crossing of the Simpson earlier this year. Our East to West part was mainly along the Rig road. Due to the prevailing winds over last summer, the dune shapes this year (or at least when we crossed - presume they're still basically the same) were the reverse of what is generally regarded as normal. That is, this year, the gentler approach side is on the East, with drop off's occurring on the West side.

We then came back from Mt. Dare West to East across the Rig road and French Line, etc.

So you should have no trouble at all. As Lawrance says, make sure you have a good set of tyres - light truck construction- a good sand flag, and all the other normal gear you would need for such a trip.

We also found lots of mozzies at Dalhousie Springs - great for a swim, but you may need somewhere to retreat to at night to get away from the mozzies.

Sand dune hieght varies (sorry - have not been to Stockton), but again you won't have a problem.

Enjoy, Cheers, Bes.

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Crossed in July.
Recommend WAA line. Less busy, reasonable challenge.
QAA and French lines - lotsa traffic.
Allow 4 days minimum - enjoy the solitude, sunrises, sunsets, night sky, colors.
It's not a race.
It's not about "doing" the Simpson.
It's about experiencing the desert.
Take time and enjoy.

[Wandy1977 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Wandy1977]

Simpson

Baz, this is my first post on Prado Pint so hopefully it's correct. Been looking at the site for alomst 12months. Just about to upgrade from my 91 80 series to 05 Prado and can't wait.

We crossed the Simpson in my 80 about 5 years ago now and it was the best trip we have ever completed to date. We travelled from Birdsville to Mt Dare and had no trouble on the French Line. Traffic wasn't too much of an issue, we only ran into a couple of people along the way. I would strongly recomend you take your time, we rushed it and ended up doing the whole Simpson in 3 days two nights which was crazy looking back. We had A/T tyres, 2 jerry can's of diesel on the roof, from memeory 40ltrs of water and the rest full of food and clothes.

Asd the others have said take your normal camping gear and just enjoy it, don't rush. I personally wouldn't camp at Burnie Bore as the smell wasn't all that plesant when we were there.

Have a great trip, it's certainly on our agenda again in the next two years. :wink:

Cheers

Wandy

[baz gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close baz gxl]

thanx for all the good advice guys it is extremely useful.

one other quick question. will a 3.5 m dune flag be tall enogh if we tap it to the bullbar.

also if we put 180l of petrol in at birdsville will that be enough to do the crossing.

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

ExplorOz has a lot of info on crossing the Simpson, including the many variations.

I think when doing the standard trip from Dalhousie to Birdsville they estimate around 127 litres of ULP.

Check this link out http://www.exploroz.com/TrekNotes/De...on_Desert.aspx

[baz gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close baz gxl]

thanks mate
:P

[Wandy1977 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Wandy1977]

Simpson

We had 140 ltr of diesel at Birdsville along with 80 ltrs on the roof. I reckon we would have made the crossing on the just the 140 lts, however to get the weight off the roof we put int he 80lts.

The flag should be plenty high, mine was about 2mtr's from memory and in most cases when you crest a dune you can see for quite a distance anyway.

[spara Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close spara]

Baz GXL
I have crossed the Simpson twice now 1st time from east to west in petrol Prado filled at Birdsville and went into the pink road house at Oodnadatta on the smell of an oily rag. with the sub tank light on, and the WWA line. Second time from west to east on the French Line in a 120 diesel D4D into Birdsville easy as, from Alice via Chambers Pillar.
Both a grate experience.
Be sure to lower tyre pressure. We did 3 days 2 nights in the desert on both trips.
Your flag will be long enough.
Use CH 10 UHF. you can the monitor traffic in the desert.
I run 2 radios one for the party and one for the the traffic.
We did enjoy the WWA line trip.
Both trips through the Desert were a great experience.
Tip. 1. you do not need to carry fire wood we did the first time and people laughed at us. second trip we used wood every night from were we stopped.
Tip. 2. as the weather is getting warmer take a fly net ( u will use it )
our first trip was b4 easter flies were wicked nothing could describe how they were !!!!!!!!!!!!
second trip was august ( after frost) flies no problem.....

enjoy the trip & take lots of photos

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Fuel - used 84.5 litres diesel from Mt Dare to Dalhousie. So you have a huge margin in a Prado with its 2 tanks.
Water - took 100 litres for two of us. Plenty spare at the end, but you need to plan for unexpected contingencies (however unlikely).
Firewood - you are in a National Park and the rules are clear that firewood may not be collected. Have some token firewood aboard in case someone's looking!
We took a satphone but didnt use it - again, something for unexpected events.
Most of all, take plenty of time, and plenty of photos!

[lawrance Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lawrance]

one other quick question. will a 3.5 m dune flag be tall enogh if we tap it to the bullbar.

I had a very long dune flag and it was great until I decided to park under a tree for some shade. Snap crackle pop. Oops, I forgot all about the dune flag. ops:

It was a bit shorter, once I salvaged what remained of the previously tall flag. :lol: