Hay River Track - Simpson Desert trip report

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

I recently tagged along with Great Divide Tours Hay River Track trip and now that I've managed to look through all my photos and upload a few I figured that it was time to write up a bit of a trip report.

As mentioned the main target of the trip was to traverse the Hay River track, which runs North-South through the North Simpson desert between Jervois Station on the Plenty Highway and Poeppel Corner (or vice-versa of course), as well as cover a bit of North-western NSW and SW Queensland on the way, and then after the completing the track head to Kings Canyon and Uluru for the end of the tag-along section of the trip.

Of course, best laid plans... About 6-8 weeks prior to the trip, it started to become clear that it was unlikely the Eyre Creek crossing was going to be open in time for us to complete the original trip, which was to undertake the Hay River track South to North, heading out of Birdsville. The proposal that GDT put forward, was to still do the Hay River track, but come in from the North and then exit desert to the West, via the French Line. Well, I was certainly happy with that option, as it meant even longer in the desert, and the chance to cross the Simpson North-South and East-West in one hit. Two for the price of one! :-)


The trip started in Cobar, with a total of 8 vehicles:
my 120 Prado (D4D)
2 100 series 'Cruisers
1 90 Series Prado (the only petrol vehicle)
2 GU Patrols
1 Hilux
1 70 Series 'Cruiser
A Pajero joined us later in Birdsville.

My Prado, all clean and ready to go at my parents place in Dubbo before heading off to Cobar, having stocked up on fresh food and cryo-vac'd meat:




Naturally it rained most of the way between Dubbo and Cobar, luckily this wasn't a sign of things to come for the rest of the trip...unfortunately it was enough rain to close the dirt roads around the Cobar. We were booked into the Underground Motel in White Cliffs for the first night and our initial plan was to drive there via Louth and Tilpa. So with the road closures we were forced to take the tarmac all the way into White Cliffs.

This meant we got to White Cliffs relatively early, so having checked in to the Motel, we ventured out of town to Peery Lake, which is still full of the water from the St George area floods from early last year that flowed down into NSW:

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The view from the "Roof" of the Underground Motel:


The aim for the next day was to get up to somewhere near Noccundra, so we set off from White Cliffs and headed west to the Silver City Highway, via the "Tool Tree":


From there it was a quick stop in at Milparinka for some morning tea before heading on to Tibooburra to fill up the tanks:

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Peak hour along the main street of Tibooburra:


After lunch in Tibooburra we headed towards the Queensland border at Warri Gate:

(Note the dog fence, which has also managed to keep the State of Origin trophy from crossing the border for the last 6 years)

After crossing the border we drove on for a couple of hours, although the road wasn't too bad we looked on enviously at the perfectly graded new road that was being constructed adjacent to the existing track!

Flat...


Eventually we decided to find somewhere to camp for the night and found a nice little clearing to set up our first bush camp of the trip:

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

The first stop the next day was at Noccundra, where the 2 Patrols hoped to fill up with fuel as they were having some doubts as to whether they could make it the rest of the way to Birdsville. Unfortunately the bowsers at the Hotel don't open until 10:00 in the morning, and as that was more than half an hour away, some calculations were made and the decision made to push on rather than hanging around.

Noccundra Pub, no fuel before 10!:


The next destination was the famous Burke and Wills Dig Tree by Cooper Creek:


The dig tree, most of the carving is now difficult to see, and tree seems to have overgrown it a bit too:


We had flocks of these birds (Kites/Hawks??) seemingly following us wherever we went. It seemed that whenever we stopped for morning tea/ lunch or camp it wouldn't be unusual to see flocks of 50+ birds circling overhead. They've obviously had a few good breeding seasons with all the water and the prey that brings:

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That night we had a great little camp next to a Billabong on Arrabury Station. Although the ground was a bit rocky. the surrounding country-side certainly made up for that:




The first stop the next day was Haddon Corner, we also got out first taste of sand dunes for the trip, with a couple of smallish dunes on the road into the corner.





It was on our way back out from the corner that we had the first vehicle mishap of the trip, with the 70 series shredding a tyre. This was quickly replaced and we continued our way.

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The rest of that day was spent heading for Birdsville. We stopped off at this fantastic lookout on the Developmental road, which gave a great view of the Channel Country:




Once in Birdsville, we headed for Birdsville Working Museum. This is a great little museum, crammed full of all sorts of weird and wonderful things. It's a shame to hear that the owner isn't have any luck in trying to sell it someone that will keep the collection together and in Birdsville. Hopefully the right buyer can be found.





(This four image per post thing is a real pain in the ar$e...)

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

Great pics and report Jeff. Keep 'em coming. I love this part of the country.

[don1 Member Find all posts View Profile Close don1]

Great trip report jeff. How many k's did you travel all up?

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

It was shortly before sitting down for tea in the Hotel that we learnt that the Eyre Creek crossing was now open via a detour to the North. This raised the question, do we revert to the original planned trip and cross the Creek and drive the Hay River track South-North, or continue with our changed itinerary? After a short discussion, and by unanimous verdict, the decision was made to continue on with the revised trip as we were all set up for the longer distance between fueling and, well, it was more fun!

After great meal and night spent at the Birdsville Hotel it was time for the obligatory "car parked in front of Birdsville Hotel" photo:


Then off to Big Red:

(Hard track left, chicken track (not used) to the right).

I'd love to say that I sailed up Big Red first attempt...but I didn't...or the second time...third attempt...Yes!

The last 5-10 metres or so were a bit chopped up and quite soft, and combined with my relative lack of experience on big, soft sand dunes it took me three goes to get it right and clear the crest (luckily I wasn't the only one!).
Eventually we all made it the top of Big Red, and no-one had to take the chicken track up.


There's still a massive lake on the eastern side of Big Red, which meant taking the detour track to the south to get around it and approach Big Red from the West:

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

Great trip report jeff. How many k's did you travel all up?

Hi Lindon, The final total was 8797km's in 30 days.
A lot of driving, but worth it!

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

I notice a new rear wheel carrier. Was that purchased specifically for your trip. What trip preps and new purchases did you do to your car.

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

After Big Red, we struck off to the North, with the aim of making it to somewhere short of Boulia for the night. The road wasn't in too bad condition so we eventually found a another great camp (although with a few too many burrs!) by Eyre Creek:


The next morning we stopped in Boulia. This was our last chance to pick up any food and other supplies we may need, as our next visit to a "supermarket" of any sort would be at least 10 days away. I also took the opportunity to fill up my 2 Jerry Cans and top off the tanks.


Then it was time to head west and into the Territory. The Donahue/Plenty Highways started out in OK condition, but that soon deteriorated when it became clear that heavy vehicles had been using the road when it was muddy and chopped sections of it up. It made for interesting driving moving from one side of the road to the other to chase the "smooth" line!

Only in the Territory!:


We found a waterhole to setup camp for the night, and after sharing the evening with a herd of cattle we had the place to ourselves for the night.

The waterhole is marked as Cockatoo Waterhole on the HEMA maps, but apparently is known to the locals as Cockroach waterhole.

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

I notice a new rear wheel carrier. Was that purchased specifically for your trip. What trip preps and new purchases did you do to your car.

Yeah the dual wheel carrier was bought for the trip. I really didn't like the idea of carrying the extra tyre on the roofrack, as along with the additional extra weight of the 2 Jerrys it would have been a lot of weight up top. I also needed a proper recovery hitch on the back (no standard towbar fitted) so decided to kill a few birds with one stone and go all the way and get the rear bar (besides, I've always thought they looked awesome, and isn't that the real reason we do any mods to our cars...?!).

Other purchases for the trip included the roofrack (and jerrys, maxtrax etc), also 4 new tyres, and new storage boxes and spacecase for the boot for food, spares etc. oh and the shovel and shovel holder on the rear tyre. Luckily the rest of the car was mostly setup already, so I didn't have to completely bankrupt myself for the trip.

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

We awoke the next morning with the knowledge that this would be the day we ventured into the North Simpson Desert and reached the Hay River. This was our shortest driving day of the trip so far as we had just over 100k's to reach Jervois Station, where we were able to top of our tanks so that they were full for the Simpson and we had the fuel for the 1000K's to Mt Dare. Then it was another 80Km's or so down "Lindsay's Driveway" to reach Lindsay Bookies camp at Batton Hill.

A permit from the Aboriginal Land Council is required to undertake the Hay River Track, and as a condition of that permit you are required to spend at least one night at Batton Hill camp, which isn't a bad thing as the camp is set up with hot showers (wood heated) and BBQ and oven. The last bit of luxury before entering the desert, or the first since leaving it.



The road into the desert :-)


The view from the top of Batton Hill:





(wtf, a smiley icon counts as a picture in the 4 per post limit!)

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

We booked in to stay at Batton Hill for 2 nights, so this gave us the next day to go on the fabled "bush tucker tour", which involves driving around the property following one of the aboriginal guides around and stopping to sample some of the bush tucker that grows in the area. This included "Bush Bananas", Bush Coconut","Bush Honey" and "Bush Berries".

Bush Banana:


The traditional aboriginal method of cracking open a Bush Coconut:


We were told that if we saw a Kangaroo, they would be able to shoot it so we could cook it up that night in the fire, unfortunately the Kangaroos obviously heard this message as well, as none were to be found during the entire day.

We did however see some other strange animals:

Elephant rock, with the "Elephant" centre frame and a "Camel" to the left.

Luckily our disappointment over the Kangaroo was set aside that night when we returned to camp to find a Goanna cooking away in the coals. Whilst not much of a meal, it certainly tasted really good, and yes, kind of like chicken...