The Simpson Desert Trip.

In May 1999, I decided to go on a trip to Birdsville and the Simpson Desert. I prepared the Landcruiser and the trailer to take the trike, as I needed a back up in case the weather turned bad or for some unforeseen problem. As it panned out, I was lucky that I had the trike as this helped out more.

I lived in the Outback at Bourke, and so we were right on the doorstep of some magnificent country. I wanted to check out different landing areas on our trip, as I was interested in organizing a trip next year. This was basically a search and discover. I have been to Birdsville a number of times but not with the trike.

Anyway, our first day was a leisurely trip to Tilpa on the Darling River and then onto White Cliffs. This is a very unique opal-mining town where everyone lives underground. The next morning we set up the trike at the airport, which is excellent, and we had a good look around town. It just looked like a moon landscape, there were so many mining craters you could not count them.

After this we packed up and headed for Milparinka and Sturts Depot Glen. This is where the explorer Sturt was stranded for six months because of drought. We found a good pub and excellent airstrip as well. Then we were off to Cameron's Corner, but first we had to get to Tibooburra. We fuelled there, and chatted with some of the locals, then on the dirt again to Cameron's Corner.

We reached the corner at sunset, and if some people do not know, there is a store there called the Corner Store. This is where the NSW, Qld and South Oz borders meet, as well as the longest fence in the world which takes a detour along the Queensland and NSW border. We set up camp, and I was looking forward to setting up the trike and flying the three states in a very short time.

Next morning, we found the airstrip which had just been freshly graded and set up. Conditions were great. We flew up to 4000 ft, and glided around in the beautiful warm air. The view was spectacular, as this country is part of the Strezlecki Desert. After a good flight, we were off to Marree, and the start of the Birdsville Track.

We reached Marree at sunset, and found out that the crossing that we were going to take to the Simpson Desert was closed. I then decided to go the opposite way, and head to Oodnadatta and across the Simpson Desert from west to east.

On the way, we had a look at the Marree man. This is a carving into the earth, just south of Lake Eyre. It is unknown who carved this figure, but it is roughly 3 km long, and I km wide. It is the figure of an aboriginal man throwing a spear and it is one hell of a sight. After this we reached Oodnadatta in the late afternoon, and filled up with fuel and supplies, as we would not see another store for another 5 days or 800 kms.

We reached Dalhousie Springs after traveling on the roughest roads that I have ever been on. It took us 5 hours to travel 105 kms. The trike was still doing OK, as I had built the trailer for these sorts of roads. Our main objective now was to get to Poeppells Corner, and this is where the Northern Territory, South Australian and Queensland borders meet. It is right in the Simpson Desert.

The first day was quite uneventful, as we found we would not be able to do the French Line crossing as the sand ridges were up to 50 meters high, and I did not want to risk damaging the trike. We decided to go via what they call the Rig Road.

On this track, we met some very nice blokes from Hong Kong and we teamed up with them. I was still checking out landing sites, and it is amazing how many airstrips there are in the desert. You see, in the sixties there were oil companies doing exploration in the Simpson, and they graded airstrips are all over the place - wherever you look you can always see one.

The trailer was starting to feel the effects of the first day in the desert, and I had to get the welder out and patch it up a bit. On the second day, I decided to unpack the trike, and fly it, as the road was getting worse, particularly the patch where we were bogged for 5 hours. That day we covered only 60 kms but I flew the trike flew all over the place and it was a magnificent view.

I decided the next day to fly to Birdsville and get some more fuel for the Cruiser, as we were now going to be short. I had 220 litres of fuel for the trike, so everything was fine there. I took off from a place called the Lone Gum Tree, and followed the track west to a junction, then headed north to the Aporodina Atora Knolls, which are a distinctive gypsum outcrop in the Desert.

The view from 4500 ft was truly awesome. The sand ridges go for hundreds of kilometres, and the red coloured sand is unbelievable. I reached the French line, and then onto Poepels Corner. Here I landed on a disused airstrip. It was amazing to see the stunned faces of the people who watched me land, unable to work out what the hell I was.

A couple of photos and then off to Birdsville. The trike was performing beautifully, the GPS was spot on,and it was great being able to talk to everyone on the ground with my UHF. As I got closer to Birdsville, I switched over to the CTAF and made all the appropriate calls. Birdsville has a great airport, and the main strip and parking area is right next to the famous pub. Kerry the publican came straight out and offered fuel. You don't get better service than that.

I went off to have lunch and get some diesel, and after buying some amber supplies and fuel, it was off to Poepels Corner again which is 85 nm from Birdsville. We stopped there for some more photos, and then took off from Poeppells to try and find my vehicle. I was able to contact them on the UHF from 5000 ft. They were bogged again. In all the time that I had been gone, they had only traveled 30 kms.

I got them to give me a GPS position, and I found them within 1/2 an hour. We got the vehicles unbogged, and I headed off to a rendezvous point where I would meet them at sunset. I reached that point, but they got bogged yet again. The problem was that it was getting dark, and I could not fly, so I had to camp the night with the trike. It was lucky though that I had packed water and food. I was alright for the night.

At first light I was up and flying, and had arrived at their site in 45 minutes. All up, they were bogged for 14 hours. We got out and then I flew ahead checking out the sand ridges and landing at each one that I thought would be difficult. It would then take us 1.5 hours to get over all the hard ones.

It is of some note that we were told that this was the easiest road before we left. We later found out that it was indeed the hardest due to the strong easterly winds blowing the sand onto the top of the sand ridges. We did not see another vehicle for three days. We finally reached what is called the Kl Line, and this is basically where all the sand ridges stop. The plan was to reach the Birdsville Track at the Warburton Crossing, and then re-load the trike and get to Birdsville. As we found though, the trailer was not looking too good. So out came the welder and another patch-up job. I took off, and headed to the Warburton Crossing following the road, as this was the safest option. This is what anyone should do, as this country is very desolate. If you have a problem away from a road, you are going to have a lot of problems getting back. I stayed in contact with the road crew and then came the message. The trailer's suspension had died, and it would not be able to go on. I told them to strip the trailer and leave, and I would then fly another 180 km to Birdsville.

I was a bit low on fuel, so I landed at one of the cattle stations where I purchased some fuel from a nice bloke and then proceeded to Birdsville. I was able to do the 180 km in 1.6 hours which wasn't bad going, but I was happy to be there, as 8 hours of flying starts to wear you out a bit. The crew reached Birdsville the next day, while I searched for another trailer.

The trip was a great experience, and I met some great people on the way. I found a lot of great landing and camping areas, and some good guides as well.

One day I will head back there for more exploration but I probably will leave a back up in Birdsville as this was our main problem.

Happy Adventures!!!




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