Simpson Desert - Take 2

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

Well... the lure of the Simmo got me back there again.. 2 years after complete engine failure of the 120 in the middle of the desert! So this time... do it quietly in the 150.. with fingers crossed! As it happens... not one issue.. the 150 did it faultlessly. Got up every dune including Big Red first go... and did the whole trip in comfort.. , including the drive back from Birdsville to Brisbane, 1600km, non stop except for fuel! Left on 14 July, back on the 29th July. Rain again frustrated our start..so had to miss Cameron Corner...and went straight down the Birdsville track to Maree, Oodnadatta, Painted Desert, Mt Dare, then across to Birdsville again and home. A few happy snaps below.
Highlights? Painted Desert for sure!... altho the 1 day we had cloud cover.. was THAT day. Dalhousie Springs, crap road in and out, but springs are an absolute marvel ! The Simmo itself, although comparatively crowded as we were in the middle of the Nissan 50th Anniversary crossing... and met em everywhere! The weather was perfect, the company was great, the characters we met were awesome, including Kris Gauslaa, who is walking across the desert as a gesture to his late brother and raising money for Cancer research, Kris and his wife Sylvia shared our camp one night with some great stories...


Album piccies here
http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/d...impson%202012/

and a few samples here....


The Ghan Bridge



Lake Eyre from the Air....


Painted Desert

[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

Good to hear you had a "uneventful" trip. Like the photos. Where is the first photo (in photobucket) taken with the water over the track. Do you know if there is any drinking water east of Dalhousie. I have heard of a sweet tasting bore. Did you drive out to Halligan Bay at all. If so how was the road.

[LiveFreeAndRoam Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LiveFreeAndRoam]

Some stunning pics there Masso! Well done mate.

Which line did you take to cross the desert? The amount of traffic you describe makes me think it was the French Line.
Do you know how much fuel you used crossing the desert?

LFaR.

[stevensr34 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevensr34]

Simpson desert is a magic place. Esp out of peak visiting times...
We did Birdsville to Kulgera (786km) via French line easily without refilling, actually only used 128 Litres of ULP fuel.

[stevensr34 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevensr34]

Good to hear you had a "uneventful" trip. Like the photos. Where is the first photo (in photobucket) taken with the water over the track. Do you know if there is any drinking water east of Dalhousie. I have heard of a sweet tasting bore. Did you drive out to Halligan Bay at all. If so how was the road.

Nope - it is a desert to the East. Purni Bore is pretty dry these days, though the adjoining campground/carpark has "hot" showers. I guess that could be called drinking water. (It says to boil it first)...

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

Good to hear you had a "uneventful" trip. Like the photos. Where is the first photo (in photobucket) taken with the water over the track. Do you know if there is any drinking water east of Dalhousie. I have heard of a sweet tasting bore. Did you drive out to Halligan Bay at all. If so how was the road.

Actually... there is a water tank east of Mt Dare..... called something I cant remember at the moment. They told us at Mt Dare that their water was ok to drink..but had a bit of a taste.. however this tank (which is easily seen.. right next to the road)..has good water with no taste. Quite a few people filled up there. We had plenty of water from home.. but used this as washing up etc etc..and it was fine. Didnt get on that Halligan Bay road... but all roads around Dalhousie/Mt Dare are C*R*A*P ! gibbers like bowling balls!

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

Some stunning pics there Masso! Well done mate.

Which line did you take to cross the desert? The amount of traffic you describe makes me think it was the French Line.
Do you know how much fuel you used crossing the desert?

LFaR.

We went down the Rig Road to Colsons Track.. then back up to French line. Traffic was everywhere.. mainly the Nissan Groups. Their 50th Anniversary of the first 4x4 crossing... even found a couple of Drums of Avgas at the back of our campsite with a note to plead not to touch as Chopper was due next day to film the trip. (not much good in the D4D anyways!)

Averaged about 12.4l/100km so with 150 litre tank..used a bit over half.. so no real fuel issues there.. as long as you plodded along in high range.. not like some of the "tossers"we passed screaming along at 15kph in low range....

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

Good to hear you had a "uneventful" trip. Like the photos. Where is the first photo (in photobucket) taken with the water over the track. Do you know if there is any drinking water east of Dalhousie. I have heard of a sweet tasting bore. Did you drive out to Halligan Bay at all. If so how was the road.

First photo in Photobucket is Windorah to Birdsville. That road cops these long puddles every time theres a local shower..we had a few mm of rain the day before.. so these puddles fill.. no real issue if you cruise on thru...