Hay River Track - Simpson Desert trip report

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

One thing that never ceased to amaze me when driving the French Line was just how many different ways they had found to construct the road over each of the dunes, I don't think any 2 were the same the whole way across. Some dunes had power sapping tight turns at the base of the dune, others hairpins just before or over the crest, some with rally-cross style s-turns either side of the crest at the top and many more varieties, you just never knew what to expect with dune. It was especially fun to try and guess which way the road went just over the crest, choose wrong and you could easily end up the bushes. Usually a slight gap in the tops of the shrubs pointed the way to the track!

One thing all of the dunes did have in common was that they were really chopped up on the western slopes. The conventional wisdom is that the east-west crossing that we were doing is the harder route due to the steep eastern dune slopes, however I was glad we were heading that direction because it must have been torture for vehicles heading the other way to maintain power to get over the dunes. Later on we found out that a group of ~20 T-Van towers had gone across the other way a few days previously so that may have had something to do with it...

I loved cresting the big dunes and just taking in the scenery and seeing the track stretching endlessly into the distance, winding over countless sand dunes:

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

We had managed to cover 124km's that day from Poeppels Corner, and found a beaut little clearing between the dunes to set up camp for the night:





The sand wasn't as red along the French Line as it was on the Hay River Track, still managed to light up nicely in the setting sun though.

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

Absolutely awesome Jeff. It's takes me back to our trip that we did getting to the GTG in 2009, complete withn the rain at Cobar and staying in the underground motel at White Cliffs (didn't see old Jock there again did ya, I reckon his mutton stew would just about be ready to eat by now?)
Gotta say the car is looking fantastic as well, looks like you've got a well sorted rig.
The desert is one of the most beautiful places in this country I reckon and the memories will stay with you for a lifetime.
Well done mate, I'm extremely envious. We hope to get out there again in the not too distant future.
Cheers,
Pete.

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

We continued our battle with the dunes the next morning, with some great views from the crests of many of the dunes:




Up until this day I hadn't had any real trouble with any of the dunes, only having to reverse back down and take another crack at one dune on the Hay River track shot line because I took it a bit lightly at first attempt and was caught out by a patch of very soft sand near the top. Although there were a few dunes that I just clawed my over the previous day I didn't have to reverse back down any dunes, however being at the back of the convoy for the second day on the French Line meant that the dunes were just that little bit more chopped up when I arrived at them. That said though, I only needed a second crack at two of them, so I was pretty happy with that result.



After reaching the intersection of the Rig Road the dunes became mostly clay-capped and the going became a lot easier. Then the dunes just...ended and disappeared to be replaced by flat, rocky gibber plains. After stopping in at Purnie Bore we continued on towards Dalhousie. It wasn't long though before I was wishing I could turn around and head back into the desert as the road was bloody terrible. Badly corrugated and rutted, it had obviously copped a lot with all the wet weather.

Water!

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

We made it Dalhousie Springs and set up camp:

Note Pajero with bonnet up in background...no troubles with it though. In fact, other than the old GU Patrol exiting the desert with no front or rear sway bars on the vehicle we had all emerged from the desert mechanically unscathed.

I don't think there could be a better placed set of hot springs anywhere in the world then those at Dalhousie, having been in the desert and not having a shower of any kind for a week, it was great to be able to get into the 37deg natural pool and relax while all the little fish swim up to you to clean all the dirt off.


The next morning we took a quick trip to Dalhousie ruins before heading for Mt Dare and fuel. Despite not needing to put it in, I had emptied one of my Jerry's into the tank, and given the other to one of the Patrols who was just getting a little worried about fuel consumption and making it Mt Dare. In the end they would have made it with about 20 litres to spare (not including the Jerry can).

I don't think the windmill at Mt Dare worked any more:


Then it was off to Kulgera, and "civilisation" via the road up to Finke. After having my first hot shower in a week at Kulgera, we all headed into the roadhouse restaurant for a meal, and I reckon this will probably be the only restaurant that I will ever eat at where I just didn't give a toss that there were mice running all about the place. It was probably a combination of being used to living with the mice and rats in the desert, and enjoying the fact I didn't have to cook my meal for the first time in a long time! After a few beers at the pub I had a wonderful nights sleep at the Kulgera, with all the road trains pulling in right outside the swag during the night...:

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

Absolutely awesome Jeff. It's takes me back to our trip that we did getting to the GTG in 2009, complete withn the rain at Cobar and staying in the underground motel at White Cliffs (didn't see old Jock there again did ya, I reckon his mutton stew would just about be ready to eat by now?)
Gotta say the car is looking fantastic as well, looks like you've got a well sorted rig.
The desert is one of the most beautiful places in this country I reckon and the memories will stay with you for a lifetime.
Well done mate, I'm extremely envious. We hope to get out there again in the not too distant future.
Cheers,
Pete.

Thanks Pete,

Yeah I had a feeling of Deja Vu with the rain at Cobar and the road closures. Must be a good omen though, because like last time the weather was great up to the end of the end of trip. I was keeping an eye out for Jock at White Cliffs but alas, didn't see him anywhere, I reckon he's still got at least one pot of that stew to get through lol.

The desert certainly is one of the most incredible places to experience, I know that I will certainly hope to get back there in the future as well, still more to see!

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

The next day it was off to Kings Canyon, via Henbury Meteorite craters and the severely corrugated Ernest Giles Road. We had two nights at Kings Canyon, so the next day was spent doing the walk around the rim of the Canyon, which I didn't get a chance to do when I was there 2 years previously for the '09 GTG.

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

Then it was off to Uluru for the final night with the rest of the group before we all went our separate ways.
A quick drive out to the Olgas, and then back to the Rock for a short walk around a section of its base:

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

I still had a week and a half before I was due back at work, so I took the opportunity to do a bit more exploring on the way home. My first aim was to get back into the Painted Desert. I first visited the Painted Desert 2 years ago on the way to the 09 GTG with Dobbo, and I reckon it has to be one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever seen, so I was keen to get back in there and walk around the hills again:

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

Then it was off to Oodnadatta for the night, what a wonderful place that camp ground/caravan park at the Pink Roadhouse is...In hindsight I would have been better off, heading down the track towards William Creek and finding a bush camp for the night.

Oh well, I made an early start the next morning, with the aim of reaching Farina that day, which meant a fairly long days driving, especially as I wanted to drive out to Lake Eyre as well.

I didn't see another vehicle for over the first 2 hours of driving that day, a great feeling of being solitary amongst the wide expanse of the desert. Early morning on the Oodnadatta Track:


Is it possible to be dissappointed that a dirt road is too smooth? Because I kind of was when heading down the Oodnadatta Track that day, it was smoother than many NSW highways (that's not really a fair comparison though is it!) for most of the way. I had driven the track two years before (except for the William Ck - Oodnadatta section) and it wasn't like this. I guess with the extra traffic to Lake Eyre they're keeping it in better condition. Apart from the creeks and floodways being a bit washed out it was easy to rack up the kays.



In at Lake Eyre, not much water to be seen From ABC Bay, some of in the distance, I didn't drive the rest of the way into Halligans Bay.


Plenty of water at Lake Eyre South though:

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

Continuing down the Track, past the big Dog and Hover bus:





I made it the campground at Farina. I had heard that this was a great little campground and that info wasn't wrong, easily the best 'proper' camping area that I stayed at for the entire trip. Good toilets, wood-heated showers, and clear flat ground, all for only $5 a night. Why can't the big places get it right like this?

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

The next day it was into the Flinders Ranges, where I stayed at Rawnsley Park campground for 2 nights. Originally I had planned to stay for 3 nights, but the weather turned, with rain and gale force winds. So I decided to cut short my stay and push on. I still got to check out a few of the trails through the national park though:





The Cazneaux Tree:

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

A few more pics from the Flinders, the geography of this place is amazing:

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

On the second night I was sitting in my tent waiting for a break in the rain so I could cook some dinner, when the break came I poked my head out of the tent to check the cloud and saw this instead, cue mad scramble for camera!





There's a massive bush camping area at Rawnsley Park, with acres and acres of tracks winding through the bush where you can just pick your own spot to camp, and I had the entire place to myself. Not a bad view from the campsite either:


The Flinders was to be the last of the dirt roads for the trip. I wanted to head down into Victoria to see my sister in Kerang before heading home, so I took a leisurely route down through the Barossa Valley to Murray Bridge, before heading East the next day to Kerang. I stayed there for a couple of nights, before heading back up the Newell Hwy (which is thankfully back up to 110kph, thanks Barry!) to my Parents place in Dubbo, before arriving back home in Bathurst after 30 days, 8797km's and an incredible adventure on (and off) the road.

Thanks for reading the report, sorry it was so long but the 4 pictures per post limit is a real pain to work around. Anyone that has actually read it all deserves a gold star.


EDIT: Almost forgot, if you want to see the route that I took for the entire trip go here http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?...54e1c2cfae088c. It shows the points from my SPOT device for the entire trip.

Also there are more photos on my site: http://jhosken.smugmug.com/Expeditio...393317_skKZmNz

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

What a great adventure, thanks for sharing!

What are your thoughts on the tag-along tour?