Logistics of 5 in one vehicle across the Simpson (2 adults x 3 kids)

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

How did it go

Unfortunately we only got as far as Alice Springs..

As we came off Binns Track into Alice and came into phone reception we got the message that my father in law had been rushed into hospital in Sydney the day before. Diagnosis wasn't good so we decided to call it a day. My wife flew back from Alice with the youngest (Take my life savings why don't you QANTAS?) and I came back via the Stuart over the next 4 days.

We thought about continuing the trip with just me and the 2 eldest but I wouldn't have been back for two weeks and wanted to be home to support her should the worst happen. The trip up until then was awesome. I'll do a write up soon but things are a bit hectic at the moment with daily trips to the hospital and so on. Very disappointing as we have been planning this for about a year but there will be another opportunity to do the trip - maybe next year.

Looking forward to your trip report in a few days.

I'm looking to do Simpson with 5 in the car next winter (2017). Just curious if anyone knows if you can get other food at Mt Dare - like tins of spag, vegies, eggs, bacon, milk? Would save me a lot of space.

Basically what we did was eat evening meals at the roadhouses and pubs up the track so we only had to cater for 6-8 days in the Simpson itself. We were going to use powdered milk once the fresh ran out. My kids are happy with Peanut butter wraps for breakfast


There wasn't much in the way of fresh stuff that I could see, but I wasn't really looking. I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting items there.

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Bit of a montage of the trip - Sydney, Droving and Caravan crash near Hay, Renmark, Flinders Ranges, Maree, Oodnadatta, Mt Dare, Alice, Coober Pedy, Flooding around Narrandera.

[Polardan Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Polardan]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but as you have likely worked out, yes it's possible. We crossed it in an old Disco a couple of years ago with our three kids then 2,4 and 6.

Not directed at you, but from what I see people can save a LOT of weight and room with the tent. Ditch the heavy canvas and get two lightweight hiking tents (our are pretty good quality but $$, but you could just use those 2-3man 6 foot square silver fiberglass poled dome ones for a bit over $100 each), thermarests and lightweight compact down sleeping bags. For a stove we used a hiking MSR fuel stove that burns diesel or petrol.

Remember for brekky UHT litre milk is good too. It's effectively part of your emergency water ration too, and it's square to pack.

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but as you have likely worked out, yes it's possible. We crossed it in an old Disco a couple of years ago with our three kids then 2,4 and 6.

Not directed at you, but from what I see people can save a LOT of weight and room with the tent. Ditch the heavy canvas and get two lightweight hiking tents (our are pretty good quality but $$, but you could just use those 2-3man 6 foot square silver fiberglass poled dome ones for a bit over $100 each), thermarests and lightweight compact down sleeping bags. For a stove we used a hiking MSR fuel stove that burns diesel or petrol.

Remember for brekky UHT litre milk is good too. It's effectively part of your emergency water ration too, and it's square to pack.

I hear you about the tent, I have a very good quality hiking 2 man hiking tent that I would use. I tried to convince SWMBO to use the popup tents but she refuses to use thermarest style ones. Swag's were the compromise

Our 3 swags including bedding come in a touch under 30kg (our double had a doona, lambswool, three pillows and a 50mm mattress and was incredibly comfy). Its not all about the weight for us, by the time you've rolled up 5 mats, stuffed 5 sleeping bags, and packed two tents the set up time is comparable vs 3 swags. Doing that every day for two weeks gets boring very quickly too. Rolling up 3 swags is nowhere near as much of a chore and my boys don't mind doing it. It takes me 2 minutes a swag to pack up if I'm going slow

Our kids are all on Rice milk so makes it easier to carry, like UHT. We do use UHT and when that runs out milk powder - very light and easy to pack. Our brekkies aren't all cereal - usually also peanut butter wraps/crackers/spreads/dried fruit/ tinned fruits etc. The boys love the Vegemite that comes in a toothpaste tube. I'll see if I can dig out the meal plan but we had all the food for the two weeks in one drawer and the fridge.

Lunches mostly wraps\ham\cheese\crackers\spreads\tins of tuna etc.

Dinners are mostly boil in the bag (home made and vacuum packed). Water used to boil the dinner then gets used for washing up or can be drunk.

[Polardan Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Polardan]

Sounds like we have similar eating habits for the kids. Our other secret is dehydrated spaghetti Bolognaise. We cook up a huge batch in advance, then dehydrate it in a Sunbeam Food Drier and it weighs nothing and feeds the family very very quickly on those long days where you push on into the witching hour....

Our single favorite item for family camping is this cookset, the MSR Flex4. http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/co...system/product

It ain't cheap (especially here) but it has a pot big enough for spag for the family, and another saucepan. Four plates and mugs. We ditched the mugs as the kids don't do hot drinks or soups and the mrs loves her big separate thermos mug, and put another metal bowl inside. The Strainer lid is awesome (it's clipped on so you can't spill it). Packed up into itself, it's seriously compact, lightweight and so neat to pack. We even take it when we do overnight hikes (pic here with the stove).



We've got the gear thing it fairly sorted these days; the 5 of us did 25,000kms up and down the Andes last year - camping for the most part - in a 2008 Toyota 4Runner.