Simpson Desert 2016

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

You always can go to Birdsville and stay a day or 2 and go out into the Simpson for a look and a play . eg Big Red is only about 30 km away. You could go a dune or 2 further west and get a good taste of the toughest parts of the desert. From Birdsville north through Bedourie to Boulia is mainly all single lane tar and a good sample of western Qld. Turn west from there onto the Plenty or Sandover hwy to Alice. Or Come back that way. Dreamer -I am close to you so PM me if you want a chat. I have been through all of these areas in the last few years, some of them several times. Neil

I have driven your other route over various trips and several of those tracks numerous times, always towing my trailer. You shouldn't have any dramas with those tracks, well not related to having a trailer anyway. There is lots to see and do along that route as well.

Cheers Andrew

What do you guys use for your trip planning to find the must see sites? Just HEMA maps or any other sources beyond PradoPoint and Google?

I'm keen to get a list of things of possible things to see and do on the way to and from the Simpson 2016 and obviously the 2017 GTG.

[kenny5000 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close kenny5000]

What do you guys use for your trip planning to find the must see sites? Just HEMA maps or any other sources beyond PradoPoint and Google?

I'm keen to get a list of things of possible things to see and do on the way to and from the Simpson 2016 and obviously the 2017 GTG.

Ive been playing with this recently.

https://cloud.hemaexplorer.com.au/ma...r=hemaexplorer

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

Thanks Kenny


For anyone else planning a trip I found this book. It is quite interesting but a bit light on Aboriginal habitation. Its out of print by my local library had a copy. It has got full descriptions of the desert and its past and present flora and fauna, stories of Aboriginal occupation and European exploration

The Simpson Desert - Natural History and Human Endeavour by Mark Shephard

http://www.amazon.com/The-Simpson-De.../dp/0909112118

[Toopy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toopy]

Thats pretty good kenny, pretty much hema maps for free

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

Will a full tank (180L) and 1X20L jerry can be enough fuel between Mt Dare and Birdsville for a 4 speed V6 auto? (Steel bullbar, twin batteries, second and third rows of seats removed, alloy roof basket, 2nd spare, 50L of water, Waeco fridge,) I will not have any passengers and will be packing light apart from the necessary safety gear, tent, chair, food etc.

cheers

Jim

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

What do you guys use for your trip planning to find the must see sites? Just HEMA maps or any other sources beyond PradoPoint and Google?

I'm keen to get a list of things of possible things to see and do on the way to and from the Simpson 2016 and obviously the 2017 GTG.

So Hema is a good start, not just the app but their books as well, such as we got at the Tassie GTG, I am addicted to buying map books

When I went to the Kimberly and the Cape I bought Ron and Viv moons books on those spots, they can be a bit difficult to follow sometimes but there is a wealth of info in such books. I actually ran into Ron Moon in the Pilbara, he was writing a book on the area and was kind enough to give me some really good info on what he had found, he is an extremely knowledgeable bloke as you might expect.

PP is not the only forum I visit, some have great trip reports that can be a great source of info, google will often find more. I was researching a future trip last night, I got the initial idea from a forum, google has found me about 5 hours of reading and pictures and video's to help me out.

Talking to other people on our travels is a huge source of info, a couple of hours around the camp fire with well travelled people can reward you with tonnes of info. Talk to the locals when your out and about as well, they can give you info you will never find elsewhere.

Whilst it is disappointing when you miss stuff because you didn't know about it, It's doubly thrilling when you find something spectacular that you never knew existed, some of our best travelling memories are from the things we stumbled upon that we knew nothing about. So I find that while research is great, over researching things can take away some of the adventure. Missing stuff is also a good excuse to return

Cheers Andrew

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Jim. Yes and I bet that you don't touch the jerry but take it anyway. Drive with a deliberately light foot and you will surprise yourself. A V6 auto eats most of the Simpson in high range 1st tackling the dunes at about 1800 rpm. ie drive it as a manual once you hit the dunes. Low 2 or 3 may be needed occasionally but again idle up the dunes around that 18oo rpm mark. Blasting over the dunes as in some 4wd mags will end in tears. Slow and steady wont. Enjoy. Neil

[Toopy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toopy]

What about a 95 series V6 Man, will the onboard tanks be ample? I still plan to take 1 x Jerry at least.

[Brisey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Brisey]

Will a full tank (180L) and 1X20L jerry can be enough fuel between Mt Dare and Birdsville for a 4 speed V6 auto? (Steel bullbar, twin batteries, second and third rows of seats removed, alloy roof basket, 2nd spare, 50L of water, Waeco fridge,) I will not have any passengers and will be packing light apart from the necessary safety gear, tent, chair, food etc.

cheers

Jim

Hi Jim,
We did the crossing in Sept just gone, 2008 petrol V6, west to east, pretty heavily laden at 3250kg.
Used 133 litres out of the 180 litre tank. We took a jerry just in case but it wasn't needed, mind you when I do the crossing again I will still take a jerry, just in case
We took a steady pace but did play on the dunes a bit trying every different option.
Cheers
Brian

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

404pug/Brisey

Thanks for the feedback. Slow and steady sounds like the way to go.

Cheers

Jim

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

Heavy trailer, limited experience and solo travel. Caution would definitely be a good idea.

I just went from Warburton Crossing (Birdsville Track) to Poepell Corner to Birdsville by myself towing a Tvan. When things are going well it's all great. But... when you get stuck going up then the trailer jack-knifes as you reverse (because it got caught in a different set of ruts somehow) it suddenly becomes a bit more "exciting". Can't go forward, can't go back...

If you're going by yourself make sure you have some way to "recover" if you get stuck. For us, that was a winch + 4x MaxTrax. Thankfully I straightened things up enough with the MaxTrax that I could do a 3 point turn on the dune and escape. The alternative would have been to bury the spare tyre in 40C + temperatures and winch of that - something we really really really wanted to avoid. There aren't any trees I'd trust enough to winch off at the top of the dune!

My other suggestion is to be careful taking "alternate" lines over dunes if there is any sort of a corner - that is where we got stuck. It wasn't so much the going up that was a problem - it was more trying to reverse back down the dune around a corner when there were multiple sets of ruts for the wheels to follow. Reversing straight back down was reasonably easy when we had to do that.

I think the time of year that you go also makes a difference. We went in earlyish October during a bit of a heatwave. It was really hot and the track was really cut up - the tour guide we saw at Mungarrie Pub said it was the worst he'd seen for ages. Perhaps earlier in the year the track would be a bit smoother, making it easier to carry some momentum on the approaches without shaking everything to bits.

Peter

[jonoxplor Member Find all posts View Profile Close jonoxplor]

I just went from Warburton Crossing (Birdsville Track) to Poepell Corner to Birdsville by myself towing a Tvan. When things are going well it's all great. But... when you get stuck going up then the trailer jack-knifes as you reverse (because it got caught in a different set of ruts somehow) it suddenly becomes a bit more "exciting". Can't go forward, can't go back...

If you're going by yourself make sure you have some way to "recover" if you get stuck. For us, that was a winch + 4x MaxTrax. Thankfully I straightened things up enough with the MaxTrax that I could do a 3 point turn on the dune and escape. The alternative would have been to bury the spare tyre in 40C + temperatures and winch of that - something we really really really wanted to avoid. There aren't any trees I'd trust enough to winch off at the top of the dune!

My other suggestion is to be careful taking "alternate" lines over dunes if there is any sort of a corner - that is where we got stuck. It wasn't so much the going up that was a problem - it was more trying to reverse back down the dune around a corner when there were multiple sets of ruts for the wheels to follow. Reversing straight back down was reasonably easy when we had to do that.

I think the time of year that you go also makes a difference. We went in earlyish October during a bit of a heatwave. It was really hot and the track was really cut up - the tour guide we saw at Mungarrie Pub said it was the worst he'd seen for ages. Perhaps earlier in the year the track would be a bit smoother, making it easier to carry some momentum on the approaches without shaking everything to bits.

Peter

Mate, you've got the AFN bar yes? And a T-van with green on it? I saw you coming back down towards Richmond a few weeks back. Great looking rig!

I'm headed to the Simpson in the start of June next year. Current plan is for swag camping, 150L onboard fuel, with 20L spare on the roof, dumped in at first chance. Just need to get the cooking thing happening!

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

150lts of Deisel is going to be more than enough for a Simpson crossing, I would forget about the extra 20 litres.

Cheers Andrew

[Toopy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toopy]

It's petrol, still enough

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

I'll probs head across with 170L or so depending on weight. Gives me a little more room to have a play around. If I leave Alice with full tanks I should only have to put in 10L or so at Mt Dare to come to that figure.