After we garage our new van in Alice, we are heading down to Dalhousie Springs and the across the Simpson Desert to Birdsville, travelling with 2 other couples.
Any body done this crossing and have any words of wisdom for us?
blaze said
08:36 PM Jun 30, 2012
travel light, share spares between vehcles, 2 spare tyres, take your time and enjoy. never been across yet , been to both ends and had to pull out for various reasons. Sat up on big red in 2008 and pondered what could have been while watching the sun go down, in 2009 left dalhousie pre dawn only to realise at first stop to watch the day dawn that I didnt quite have enough fresh food (plenty of tinned and dried), had given away more than I realised a couple of days earlier to a strand (broken down) aboriginal family. So the dream is to have a full roast meal out there and I will one day cheers blaze ps water is more vital than food
justcruisin01 said
09:13 PM Jun 30, 2012
We have done this crossing in 95, enjoyed the trip , visited the lone gum tree along the way.
Be sure to have plenty of fuel, if you strike it when sand dunes are very soft & cut up then the going is much heavier. Same after windy periods with sand drifts.
If it has rained beware of the clay pans between the dunes, saw many sections where there had been vehicles seriously bogged, and its a long way between some of the dunes.
Watch for camels, we saw a big mob trying to cross the tracks as the convey was passing, clocked the running at 70kls per hr.
Enjoy.
JC
Gerty Dancer said
09:49 PM Jun 30, 2012
We did it in 2006 as a tag-along trip. The sand was very very soft, but slightly firmer in the mornings when it was cool. The nights will be cold camping there, but its absolutely fantastic, you have million-star accommodation!! We saw only a couple of thin dingoes. Put tyre pressures down, set air vent in your cabin to "intake" to pressurise the cabin and reduce dust ingress. Take spares for everything, but share where you can to reduce your load, and take extra food and water just in case. You'll also need a tow strap and shovel between you! We had experienced guides with us, (which we paid for) can only say they were marvelous, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
landy said
05:01 AM Jul 1, 2012
We done it in 2006. Don't underestimate the amount of fuel you will need as the sand and low tyre presure,s will up your consumption a fair amount.The 1995 v6 Pathfinder we crossed in used 135 litres from mount Dare station. to Birdsvile.
Landy
wendyv said
08:04 AM Jul 1, 2012
Make sure each vehicle has a dune flag to fly - we manufactured ours from an old aerial and red rag. Keep your CB on and listen for other vehicles in range - and double check what direction they say they are travelling in. Some people can't tell east from west and we nearly had a nasty meeting at the top of a dune, as a result. Plan menus that don't need heaps of water for cooking. The usual staples of rice and pasta are not a great idea, for that reason. You need to minimize dish washing up, so one-pot meals are good. Take lots of baby wipes to save on personal washing water. Make sure at least one vehicle in the party has a HF radio, or satphone and or epirb. You will soon learn to tackle the dunes at a speed and gear ratio that gets you to the top - just - because you need to be cautious about what will be one the other side of the crest. The only time we almost came to grief was where some clown had got stuck on way up the other side, dug itself out, and left a huge hole - which we landed in and nearly rolled. Do not tow anything. We travelled the same way as you - van in store in Alice, but we went to Palm Valley, along the Finke through Boggy Hole to the Ernest Giles Road, then across the Hugh Stock Route and into Chambers Pillar, then down the Old Ghan Track and across through Mt Dare to Dalhousie. I recommend a camp at Purni Bore - surreal place at dusk and dawn. We used the Rig Road, then came north from that to the Knolls and the French Line and on to Birdsville. We camped at Dalhousie, Purni, alongside the Rig Road a couple of nights, vicinity of the Knolls, beside QAA track - we took our time. It was a wonderful trip and I look forward to a report of how it went - hint, hint.
pricey43 said
12:43 AM Jul 2, 2012
Thanks everybody for your help. We will take that all on board.
Looked into making our own flag but have alot going on at the moment so surrendered and bought one.
We are just waiting for our Desert Parks Pass to come and hopefully we have all we need.
How much water did you take? We have 2 x 20 litre containers and 2x 12 litre at the moment.
Cruiser has 2 tanks and we will carry an extra 20 litres.
Getting excited and looking forward to relaxing in Dalhousie before we head East.
Will let you know how we go.
jimricho said
02:16 AM Jul 2, 2012
I did the Simpson on a tag-along in 2001, east to west on the French Line from Peoppels to Dalhousie. One comment to add regards tyre pressures. As well as reducing them for the desert (max 20psi) you'll need to reduce them for the seriously rocky roads around Birdsville.
The tyre "wallah" in Birdsville strongly recommended to us a maximum of 28-30psi. Obviously you'll need to increase them to normal once you hit the black stuff. Tyres ain't cheap in Birdsville as I found out on that trip. If your tyres don't have at least 50% tread life left you'll need to replace them, spares too.
Gerty Dancer said
02:20 AM Jul 2, 2012
Re: water... From memory we were told to carry 10 litres per person per day. It was plenty.
pricey43 said
05:55 PM Jul 21, 2012
Our trip across the Simpson has been delayed due to an injury to one of the others in our group. Will fill the 4 weeks quite easily and then return to Alice later in August.
Cruising Granny said
12:56 AM Jul 22, 2012
In 2002 I sat on the top of Big Red and pondered the desert, then returned to the Birdy pub. It was race week in the Year Of The Outback and every man and his dog, missus and plane were in town. It's certainly great to get out there. Have a safe, happy time.
After we garage our new van in Alice, we are heading down to Dalhousie Springs and the across the Simpson Desert to Birdsville, travelling with 2 other couples.
Any body done this crossing and have any words of wisdom for us?
cheers
blaze
ps
water is more vital than food
We have done this crossing in 95, enjoyed the trip , visited the lone gum tree along the way.
Be sure to have plenty of fuel, if you strike it when sand dunes are very soft & cut up then the going is much heavier. Same after windy periods with sand drifts.
If it has rained beware of the clay pans between the dunes, saw many sections where there had been vehicles seriously bogged, and its a long way between some of the dunes.
Watch for camels, we saw a big mob trying to cross the tracks as the convey was passing, clocked the running at 70kls per hr.
Enjoy.
JC
Put tyre pressures down, set air vent in your cabin to "intake" to pressurise the cabin and reduce dust ingress. Take spares for everything, but share where you can to reduce your load, and take extra food and water just in case. You'll also need a tow strap and shovel between you!
We had experienced guides with us, (which we paid for) can only say they were marvelous, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
We done it in 2006. Don't underestimate the amount of fuel you will need as the sand and low tyre presure,s will up your consumption a fair amount.The 1995 v6 Pathfinder we crossed in used 135 litres from mount Dare station. to Birdsvile.
Landy
Keep your CB on and listen for other vehicles in range - and double check what direction they say they are travelling in. Some people can't tell east from west and we nearly had a nasty meeting at the top of a dune, as a result.
Plan menus that don't need heaps of water for cooking. The usual staples of rice and pasta are not a great idea, for that reason. You need to minimize dish washing up, so one-pot meals are good.
Take lots of baby wipes to save on personal washing water.
Make sure at least one vehicle in the party has a HF radio, or satphone and or epirb.
You will soon learn to tackle the dunes at a speed and gear ratio that gets you to the top - just - because you need to be cautious about what will be one the other side of the crest. The only time we almost came to grief was where some clown had got stuck on way up the other side, dug itself out, and left a huge hole - which we landed in and nearly rolled.
Do not tow anything.
We travelled the same way as you - van in store in Alice, but we went to Palm Valley, along the Finke through Boggy Hole to the Ernest Giles Road, then across the Hugh Stock Route and into Chambers Pillar, then down the Old Ghan Track and across through Mt Dare to Dalhousie. I recommend a camp at Purni Bore - surreal place at dusk and dawn. We used the Rig Road, then came north from that to the Knolls and the French Line and on to Birdsville. We camped at Dalhousie, Purni, alongside the Rig Road a couple of nights, vicinity of the Knolls, beside QAA track - we took our time. It was a wonderful trip and I look forward to a report of how it went - hint, hint.
Thanks everybody for your help. We will take that all on board.
Looked into making our own flag but have alot going on at the moment so surrendered and bought one.
We are just waiting for our Desert Parks Pass to come and hopefully we have all we need.
How much water did you take? We have 2 x 20 litre containers and 2x 12 litre at the moment.
Cruiser has 2 tanks and we will carry an extra 20 litres.
Getting excited and looking forward to relaxing in Dalhousie before we head East.
Will let you know how we go.
The tyre "wallah" in Birdsville strongly recommended to us a maximum of 28-30psi. Obviously you'll need to increase them to normal once you hit the black stuff. Tyres ain't cheap in Birdsville as I found out on that trip. If your tyres don't have at least 50% tread life left you'll need to replace them, spares too.
Our trip across the Simpson has been delayed due to an injury to one of the others in our group. Will fill the 4 weeks quite easily and then return to Alice later in August.
It's certainly great to get out there. Have a safe, happy time.