Back in NSW!

 We pulled into Broken Hill just in time for the weather to turn foul! This was how we left NSW. Broken Hill caravan park was packed, and the care taker was old and cranky and probably should have gotten out of the tourism industry years ago, as she wasn't real keen with all us travelling folk! We crammed in to a small windy spot and as we were setting up a crowd gathered to see us put together the Tvan. One guy was getting a step by step instructions from James, he was thinking of getting one. James and I are by now well into the routine of setting up so we put on a quick show!

Pro Hart

 The following day we checked out Broken Hill, visiting Pro Harts gallery, a silver show room and of cause the chocolate factory. Broken Hill is steeped in mining history and the buildings in and around town still have that federation charm. We had heard about an old fashion milk bar that had been operating since 1882 and the last renovation was in the 50's, so it was like stepping into the Happy Days TV set! Daniel ordered a spider, James a milk shake and Me of cause, a coffee. We wandered around their museum which was a tribute to the first milk bars in Australia. They were all started by Greeks and it is a shame that Fast food chains have taken over and these classic places are far and few between.
 After re stocking the stores at Woolies we headed out towards Menendie to camp along the river. After the crowds at broken Hill it was a lovely peaceful camp.

Setting up at Tipa Weir.

 Time was running out so next morning we packed again to find a spot closer to Bourke, spend a few days and relax before we start making tracks for home. We were told of a nice camp spot along Tipa weir where you could catch a fish and light a fire so that was where we headed.
 It was a great spot but the roar of the weir was deafening. There was hundreds of birds but for Daniel, the fish weren't biting. We made a great fire and got settled in, happy to spend a few days here.

The weir

 The next morning was over cast and it wasn't long after breaky, a light rain started. Straight away the ground turned to thick mud and it stuck to our shoes and it was like we were walking on platforms! It was then decided to pack up and move on as we thought we could out run the rain, but also, we didnt want to get stuck before the roads became impassable. It took only half an hour to pack up and take off, we, by now, have the set up and pack up down to a fine art! We decided to find some shelter in the Gundabooka NP but the rain followed us. We got there by about 4 and the roads were thick with red mud and by the time we set up we were wet and muddy, and the tent was also splattered with red mud. we knew that we would be there until the roads had dried out, so, after a nice bowl of lentil and vege soup, Daniel set up the Tvan cinema and we had an early night watching a dvd.

Cold, wet and red red mud!

 When we got up the next day the sun was out and we were able to dry things out and go for a nice walk through the Park. Just like a lot of our camping we were on our own enjoying the beautiful bush and all the wildlife around us.
 The next day it was off to Bourke to find yet another tyre place to invert the Tvans tyre, hopefully it will get us home. From Bourke we wanted to find a camp spot for the night before heading to Lightning Ridge. Thankfully, James got the tyre done quickly and we headed off towards Brewarrina.
 Brewarrina is a lovely little town that sits on a river,sorry can't remember the name, and the people are very friendly. There is a very helpful lady in the info centre who let us camp through the gates of a campground on mile creek, allowing us access to the river but best of all no pesty caravaners! she also gave us some great tips on Lightning ridge and we couldn't wait to check it out, but first to camp.
 What a lovely spot, Daniel fished all afternoon, doing his bit for conservation and catching Carp and then disposing them much to the delight of the Magpies!

4 mile River

Pie anyone?

 We had a big warm fire and I made an apple pie in the camp oven and after a game of celebrity heads it was time for bed. I could have stayed another day but Lightning Ridge was waiting for us and time was against us.
 As soon as we pulled into Lightning Ridge we knew this was going to be a quirky town. Everywhere there are crazy paintings, sculptures and piles of rocks and rubble. The towns population sign was a ? , and the houses! I don't know how half of them are still standing. We couldn't wait to explore.

Piles of rubble along the streets of Lightning Ridge, you can find opals by just kicking dirt on the streets.

 We stayed in a small caravan park and the owners were lovely and had an old timer come by to give Daniel some tips on specking for opals. There is a free pit to fossick in and one year a lady found a black opal worth 20 grand, so Daniel was super keen to find his fortune. He didn't, but he did find lots of small pieces of different colours. enough to put in a few jars for keepsakes.

Looking for the big one!

 We spent 3 days sight seeing around town checking out mines, weird but wonderful houses and looking for that elusive black opal. When we left, James and I had miners back!

A house, and the dog house made of glass bottles!

This is an on going man made castle since the early 80's.

Daniel working on his opals.

 We really enjoyed our visit to Lightning Ridge but we had one more spot to check out before we head home. I wanted to go Koala spotting in the Pilliga state forest, a place where they are in abundance. For years we have had a running bet on, anyone who can show me a Koala in its natural environment wins $20. So far no one has been able win it and I still have yet to see a Koala, the dead one on the road James found did not count! We said goodbye to the mad Ridge, and headed off.
 It took 2 days to get to the Pilliga, we had a stop over at some hot baths, not as nice as the ones at Dalhousie, but it did wonders for our miners back.

 We Spent the next morning driving around the State Forrest and it was beautiful. We bumped into a ranger who gave us some tips on where to find koalas, but he said that the drought and recent fires has wiped out many and he hadn't seen any. He also gave us directions of a new camp ground that had new facilities and along the gorge walk there were sculptures. It sounded great and certainly worth a look.
 We headed off to find koalas and unfortunately we had no luck. A farmer saw us and said that he hadn't seen or heard them in a while. I was disappointed but would keep trying tomorrow. We headed off to find the camp spot and we were very impressed when we found it. This must be the nicest  national park camp ground we have been to. The facilities were spotless and well designed. The camping areas large, private with great big fire pits with wood! We were going to stay for two days, our last two days camping before we headed to Walcha to see other family, Adam, Sarah and Bonnie.

 The weather was beautiful, but the nights very cold. We went on the bush walk along the gorge and the sculpture were beautiful, and set so well against the natural back drop. It was a combination of local indigenous and selected other artist to make something special and significant to the area. The result being several very different pieces of art which I hope will be admired and cherished by all those who go there. Very well worth a visit and a wonderful way to finish what has been a truly amazing family adventure.

Dream time spirits watching over the valley.

Tribute to the dreamtime story of creation. The stone has been polished so it catches the rain and flows over the Emus eggs, in dream time this was the beginning. Beautiful.

Looking up from the bottom gorge to a life size sculpture of a father teaching his son to hunt.

Axe heads, indigenous and European. A tribute to the traditional and historical lumber industry of the area.

Getting our last fire for the trip started. It's going to be huge!

Our last night in the bush.

 It was a strange feeling to pack up for the last time. We set about our tasks not sadden that our holiday was all but over, but filled with satisfaction. We have seen so much, met and succeeded in the challengers we faced and went off the beaten track to really explore and experience this ever changing country. We have had great times together as a family, something we will always cherish, and memories that will always stay with us. Don't wait too long to explore Australia, get out there, it is more than worth it.

Finding our peace of mind.

 The camping at Innamincka is very special. There are plenty of spots along Cooper creek which is home to so many different birds. even the corella's here are more relaxed. We spent a few days here to recover from Birdsville.

 We fished, read, bird watched and checked a few places. It was very peaceful and just what we needed.

We caught 8 fish with live bait that Daniel caught

Breakfast fit for kings.

Bourkes grave.

Peace of mind.

  As with everything, our time here came to an end and we headed out towards NSW via the Strzelecki Track. This was a great trip, not as ruggard as the Simpson but still beautiful. It was Daniels kind of place counting over 150 Bearded Dragons.

On the corner of QLD, SA & NSW.

That night back in NSW we camped in the Sturt NP for another peaceful night.

In 1974 a massive flood killed all theses trees, the are called ghost trees and what a sight.

Daniel spots another reptile, a Shingleback lizard. He also spotted a Malle Dragon.

The road to Broken Hill was long and Barren.

 We are on our way to the big smoke of Broken Hill, slowly making our way home. There is still time for some more adventures.

Busted,broke and bored at Birdsville. .

 After saying fare well to Dave, we decided to say on another day to regroup, clean and do any repairs, also, Daniel needed to catch up on some school work. The town was gearing up for the races and we wanted to be long gone before the mayhem started. The Birdsville races are the second biggest single race, other than the Melbourne cup, in Australia. In a space of days, Birdsville goes from a population of 70 to thousands.
 So once ready we packed up and headed out towards Innamincka, about 420 K's out from Birdsville. At about 120 K's out of town we heard a clunk clunk, smelt smoke and then the car lost all acceleration. We were in the Sturt Stony desert with car problems, not a good start to the day! After a few checks, James was able to put the car into 4 wheel drive, and with only the front drive working, we were able to limp back into Birdsville. Daniel got the most of the return trip, spotting over 25 of his beloved bearded dragons sunning themselves in the sun along the side of the road.

 Once back in town, we found out that the back bearing had gone, taking with it the axle. It needed to be re built, the mechanic said we were lucky to get back at this time as he was just placing his order. Any later we would have to wait for 2 weeks!!!! It was Thursday as it was we would have to wait until Monday for our part to arrive. Fortunately, our top spot was still there, hidden amongst trees for shade and privacy. We still had to find things to do in a one pub town, with a population of 70 for 3 days!

School's in.

 The next few days, Daniel did some more school work, I worked on my blog and James did some maintenance on the van. We went for a walk looking for more "bearded ones". We checked out the information centre and watched a 10 minute DVD on the area. We walked to the bakery, $6 for a loaf!! James took Daniel to the working museum, this is filled with old collectibles of rural life..very cool. The guy who owns this is a local legend but sadly wants to call it quits. he has a the biggest collection of old Australiana we have ever seen. We saw an old hospital with all the old medical equipment still there. Soon enough it was Sunday night and I became worried we might get trapped here and began to unravel. I didn't want to spend our last few weeks in Birdsville.

The working museum, a real treasure.

The old hospital.

 Monday morning James was up and at the mechanics first thing. I went for a shower, and on my return there's James AND the car! You won't believe it but the truck that had our part on it broke down and it will take another 3 days to get here! We were stuck here until then.
 A couple camping next to us heard of our plight and that night we woke up to someone in our camp. Getting up, it was our neighbours dropping off some wood they collected for us. We couldn't get some so they did. That was such a nice thing to have happened after such a shitty day!
 On the up side, Birdsville was getting busier and busier as the town began to prepare themselves for the races. The carnival  folk were setting up and there was some real characters amongst them. One we had met with Dave who was in town to organise the Fred Brophy's boxing tour. His name was Artie, known and loved as the Wizard. He came back to town a few days later and he was happy to see we were still here. Artie would pop in every morning with his dog, Krushti, and have a coffee. he would have us laughing at all his tales of show life and any thing else. A big bloke who has travelled the world and seen and done a lot. He told us he killed a brown snake and kept it to cook up, but before he did that he wanted to play a trick on some young blokes camping near by. He cut off its tail and put it in his mouth and pretended that he had swallowed one hole. However his trick back fired when he felt very unwell, the tail had a bit of venom on it and he poisoned himself! This was one of many wild and funny tales.

Artie in full story mode.

Krushti has hear it all before!

 As the days went by, Artie was trying to get us to stay for the boxing, James and Daniel were keen but it was all about the timing, we didn't want to stay in town any longer than we needed to. Not only were we wanting to get back on the road, but Birdsville was very expensive and because of the growing crowds, fresh food was very limited.

Outside the boxing tent.

 Finally, the car was ready. We were free to leave, Artie came by that night for a drink to send us off and then came back the next morning for a last coffee. This huge man in size and personality, had become a real gem to our stay in Birdsville
 When it was time to go, he read us his favourite poetry to send us off, well James had to read it, poor Artie was to moved to read.! We left Artie to deal with the madness of Birdsville but we will always remember him fondly. A crazy man with a huge heart and a taste of adventure.

Artie sending us off with some poetry. God bless him!

  Although, we missed the boxing we were glad to be on our way. Birdsville is a very noisy place with hundreds of highly strung Corella's nesting in the camp ground every night and the camp ground filling up for the races, we were looking forward to finding some peace and quiet at Innamincka.

The crazy Corella's coming in to nest.

   Once on the road we couldn't believe how much traffic was coming towards us. On the rocky, country roads it was very stressful as they drove fast and didn't keep to the side. We had a 120 K's to the turn off and when we got there we had a multiple cracked windscreen and front light. We weren't the only ones either. On the CB we could hear other drivers having the same problem and a lot was said to those reckless drivers.
 We left Birdsville, bruised, battered and financially lighter, but we did have a colourful 9 days. Now it was time to rest.

The Simpson Desert & our mate Dave!

 Leaving the crowds at Ularu behind us, we set off to tackle the Simpson Desert, across the French line. This was something that James had always wanted to do and myself had no idea what to expect. We drove and drove until dark stopping to camp in a paddock some where between Finke and Mt Dare. The wind was howling and we were lucky enough to find a break with some trees, making for a comfortable camp. The next morning we woke getting a nice surprise as to where we were. We couldn't see the night before but we were in a lovely paddock with shrubs all around. The wind was still up but not as bad as last night, and we headed to Mt Dare to fuel and invert the wheel, again, of the Tvan.

 The couple who ran the Mt dare road house were very helpful and friendly in getting us ready for the Simpson. Our concern was the trailer. It is not recommended to take trailers, although people do, and we were prepared to leave the van and go across with the tent. The owner at Mt Dare thought that the Tvan would be OK as he had seen them and other heavy duty trailers go through successfully. A traveller who had just came through said that a caravan had gone through, getting stuck every 500 metres and pissing other travellers off as they had to stop to tow it out! This was something we didn't want to happen to us or worse still, damage the car or trailer and have to get it towed out for over $5000!
 We met a bloke called Dave, who had done the French line last year and this time was doing the Rig road. He said it would be hard going but gave James great advise, he wished us well and then he headed off.
 After a quick call to John to give him details of our trip and instructions to call Birdsville police if he doesn't hear from us we set off to Dalhousie Springs, the entrance to the Simpson Desert. James deciding to take the Tvan with the advise that the Roadhouse owner believed it would be OK. We got into Dalhousie Spring and even though it was windy and a bit cool, we couldn't wait to swim in the hot artisan waters of the springs. It was beautiful, surrounded by desert and salty ground, these springs are a real oasis. Daniel spent hours in them, and James and Daniel went again at night, star gazing while floating in the warm water.

My get up to go for a swim, did I mention how bad the flies were, you couldn't speak without swallowing one!

 James chatted with a lot of other travellers to get as much information as he could regarding taking the Tvan across the French Line, we had noticed that we were the only ones taking one across, but every one had their own opinion and different view on the tracks, so we were still unsure which way to go.
 The next morning we woke to a beautiful day and it was our 21st wedding anniversary. After surprising each other with a small gift and a quick kiss and cuddle, (that's all a 12 year would allow), we started to pack up and get ready to leave. James had another chat with Dave and decided that we would tack the rig road too, most people saying that even though it was longer, the dunes weren't so radical.

Boomerang Dan!

 We left Dalhousie and entered the Simpson Desert, excited but I must admit I was a bit apprehensive not knowing what would lay ahead of us. We had plenty of fuel and food and water and it was only about 450ks to Birdsville, even though it would take a few days, I was concerned about Daniel's quest to find as many reptiles that he could. He creeps around looking for them,taking photos then looking it up in his reference books. The problem is, snakes also creep around looking for lizards and out here is home to all our most deadly snakes, so you don't want to come across one!

Entering the Simpson Desert.

 We passed Dave on our way out and agreed to meet at Purni Bore for lunch before continuing on. That was 70ks away and the going was easy. There was quite a crowd at Purni and James quickly went about getting more info on the conditions of the tracks. A group of 6 blokes had just come through the French line and told James that the Tvan would have no trouble getting through. the dunes from west to east were not as steep as coming east to west, the way they had just come. Another Bloke said that it's all about pacing your self and taking time will see you through. With all this new information and more discussions with Dave, we felt confidant to go ahead and take on the French Line.
 We said our good byes and headed off and immediately we were delighted by the beauty of the sandy
Simpson desert. Due to a lot of rain, the desert was alive with flowers, birds and much to the delight of daniel, lizard dragons, hundreds, the size of a pencil, running to get out of the way of the car!

A dingo and her pup checking us out.

One of hundreds of little dragons we saw.

Big, and beautiful and it was all ours!

 The car and Tvan traveled with ease over the dunes and we got into the rhythm of the day. We drove on in awe of the beauty around us and decided to go on to about 3.30 then find a camp. We didn't want to rush this experience. we found a great spot in a valley, surrounded by dunes in full bloom. We climbed the hill and watch the sun set over the desert, a beautiful way to finish off our anniversary.

Perfection.

  Day 2 and we woke up to a beautiful sunny, chilly day and quickly set off full of confident excitement. As we chugged along, we noticed that the dunes were becoming steeper and more challenging but the cruiser was getting us and Ivan through.

 With every dune we went over, the view from the top was breath taking. The valleys below us were vast and the dunes alive with colour, each time was a photo opportunity! We were constantly amazed by the beauty of it all, it was not what I had expected a desert to look like at all.

 The going was slow, rarely getting above 20 ks and hour, but it didn't feel like it. the time quickly flew and soon it was time to look for another camp spot.
 We came to a steep, soft sand dune and we were faced with our first challenge. The car could not quite get over the top and there was nothing to winch ourselves out with. We tried a few times, luckily we weren't getting bogged, but we were just too heavy. We unloaded food, wood, wife and child and James let more air out of the tyres before giving it another go. With fingers crossed, we watch James charge up and over the dune, it took us over an hour, but we did it! Now, we were exhausted and found a nice spot to camp over the other side of the dune, so we called it a day.

 That night, James and I had our own worries, mine was Daniels passion for lizard spotting. He creeps around searching for, and finding all, types of lizards, but snakes also sneak around looking for lizards and we were so remote the thought of him being bitten was too awful to contemplate.
 James' worry was that the car and Tvan were beginning to struggle over the dunes and he was concerned about the type of dunes ahead of us, but, all we could do was to continue on, tackling the challenges as we go in true Scarpias style.

 With yet another talk on snake danger, we set off, a little more subdued than before. Now, when we got over the top of the dune, we held our breath in anticipation on what layed ahead. Once on the ridge, you could see the up coming sand dunes and some appeared to be very steep, and some were! We chugged along, cheering as we continued over the dunes and still being mesmerised by the beauty of it all.

 After lunch we came to quite a big sand dune that had 3 different steep, soft and lumpy tracks to the top. What to do, they all looked as bad as each other. We tried each and every one of them and they were just too soft for our heavy rig. James backed down and kept trying. We tried winching ourselves over the top but there was only a dead tree to use, which we pulled out of the ground! Then disaster struck. The Tvan jack knifed as James tried to reverse down. Now we couldn't get up or down and we hadn't seen any one for 2 days! We had two choices, wait for some one to come and winch us out or disconnect the trailer and try to get the car out and winch the van up. James unhitched the van [no easy task], then with "gentle" persuasion, James got the car free and easily got it up the dune.

Oh dear!

 The next step had to be thought through carefully as we didn't want to damage the van or get bogged again. As James thought about the best way to winch the van, there was some chatter coming over the radio, when we heard a voice on the CB "Single east bound vehicle" James said it sounded like Dave. When the call was acknowledge by another, we heard, "has anyone seen a Toyota pulling one of those Avan type thing?" James grabbed the CB and answered, "Dave! Mate, where are you?" Before long, we saw the familiar hilux on the dune behind us. By this time James had already started winching up the Tvan when Dave pulled up and grabbed a shovel and helped us get back on the road quicker. It was now getting late and Dave knew of a good camp spot so followed him glad he had appeared on our horizon.

A well earned rest.

Sun set over the salt lake.

 That night around the camp fire, Dave told how he became to be on the French line and not the Rig. He said that the road was really rough and looked like no one had travelled through it very often. having nearly rolled his car in some deep ruts in the road, being by himself he decided to turn about and take the French line. Lucky for us. He said he was happy for us to tag along with him, he wasn't in a hurry and we were unable to so it was perfect. For us it was a great relief to have another car to travel with, but better still, Dave was great company and a nice bloke to be around.
 The next day we packed up and left early as Dave said that the earlier the better before the sand gets too soft. That was one of the reasons why we found it difficult getting over the dunes late afternoon. We were feeling better having another car with us in case we needed a hand getting over the crests, however, we were still worried about Ivan. With getting up the dunes, James would have to gun it up the hills, and they were full of ruts and pot holes so the car and van would bounce and thump up the hill and all we could do is hold on! Dave said the Tvan looked like a flag flapping in the wind behind the car! With each steep dune all we could do was hold on and brace ourselves, hoping that Ivan was still following behind us when we got over the crest!

Tvan still following behind.

Just a little help over this one.

 The going was slow but exhilarating and we were managing to get car and van over each dune, only a few times did we require Dave to stop and let us use him as an anchor to winch ourselves over the top when the cruiser couldn't quite get over the top of the dune. Once Dave hit a steep dune and didn't get up enough speed to get over the top so he had to come back down and try again, with more speed easily getting over. Speed is something the cruiser doesn't have with the weight of Ivan behind it so James gave it a boot full and we got over the top. Dave came over the radio, "now you're showing off!"

 As we travelled the desert would shift and change around us. Sometimes it was bright red ochre sand covered in bundles of coloured flowers, to dry grass and tumble weeds, large salt lakes with gnarly old malley trees scattered around, then back to red dunes again. It is such a beautiful place.

 We stopped for lunch under the shade of  some malley trees and as we put the billy on to boil, Daniel went off to find some lizards. Not long after we heard him scream like you wouldn't believe and he came running. Frightened we rushed over and right there where he had been walking was king brown snake , over  one and half metres long. Daniel very nearly trod on it and because he was looking down for lizards when he saw its head move and ran away. The snake calmly slithered along in now hurry and we decided to quickly move on.  We all had a dreadful scare and Daniel decided to not look for lizards for the rest of the trip.

 In the desert there is no shortage of finding a great camp spot and luckily, plenty of timber for a fire. We gave Dave an introduction to a "James" fire in our trusty keg, [thanks to P.A, another legend] and by the second night, Dave impressed us with his huge collection of fire wood, knowing how big we like it! Each night we would have big, warm friendly fire and we would swap stories, have a laugh and re hash the days events

It was how big Dave?

Salty lakes.

 It was our fourth night in the desert and we were getting close to the finish and we didn't want it to end so around the fire, where all grand plans are made, we decided to find an early camp the next day and chill out for an extra night before getting into Birdsville.

 We got up the next morning and it was busy! We hadn't seen many cars at all but today there was a steady procession of cars and motor bikes making their way to Birdsville. we hadn't seen many vehicle at all in the previous days so we quickly got our skates on and got on the road.
 We came to a fork in the road with a sign saying side track and then underneath was written at your own risk. We knew there was a detour on the road somewhere but know what to make of this sigh. The boys checked the track and we followed the road with the fresh tracks. James though it was a locals sick joke as it became the detour of the detour, the original detour got flooded too! Pretty soon we started to get a lot of chatter  on the CB and not long after, we started passing quite a few cars. Birdsville wasn't that far away.

Having too much fun.

 We passed through so many salt lakes and the amount of bird life was amazing. Hundreds of Kytes and Crows, Dave reckoned they were waiting for us to go belly up! The lakes also attract feral camels and we could see their huge prints in the salt. We did see some in the distance but they didn't hang around for long.

A Wedgetail eagle taking flight.

 As we came close to the end of the detours detour, the scenery change quite dramatically. It became so green and lush.Valleys of grass, clover, trees, and flowers every where, you could easily run a herd of cattle. What was amazing was that these valleys were hidden by red ochre sand dunes!

Paddocks of green.

Eyre Creek.

Up and over!

 We got to the creek and it was beautiful. So much bird life and the trees growing in the water provided wonderful photo opportunities. We crossed the Creek, the first in a while, and you could almost hear the car sighing with relief to have some of the sand washed off it! We pulled aside and cafe Ivan was opened for business. A nice hot cappuccino, a sandwich and we decided to find a nice spot to camp further along the creek.

Lunch stop at eyre creek.

 We found a great spot further down along the creeks edge and we set up camp early. I wanted to do something special for our last dinner in the desert so I had pulled out a lamb roast. However, it still wasn't defrosted so I put it on a crate in the sun to speed it up a bit. well, I might as well have rung the dinner bell because dozens of kytes had begun to show an interest in my roast! Having just shooed one away in time, I had to sit and guard the meat! It was worth the effort.

My Roast at risk!

Our last camp spot for the Simpson.

 Meanwhile, the boys had their own entertainment. They had pole position in watching bikes and Cars attempt to get over the dune in front of the camp. Many didn't make it, getting bogged and making a mess of the track and all struggled. Needless to say we were concerned about how we would manage the next day, but at least we had our mate Dave!
 That night we had a great time around the fire, a good roast with gravy, great company and Dave had the cadbury for dessert! Perfect way to spend our last night in the Simpson. We would get into Birdsville around lunchtime and we couldn't wait for a hot shower. It had been 6 days, my hair was so greasy it caught alight! I kid you not.

Relaxing, getting the fire ready.

 The next day we took on the dune that challenged people the day before and in true Scarpias style we nailed it! The dunes now where not as many but they were steep and we needed Dave's help for only one or two. Soon all we had left was Big Red. The famous huge dune just west of Birdsville. A crowd had already began and we were doubtful. Dave in his calm, cruisey style got up to the top with little problem. We gave it a go and almost did it! That was good enough for us, we had made it out in tact and had made a good friend along the way. You can't ask for more than that. We climbed Big red, took our photos then headed out towards Birdsville, via a wrong turn by Dave, we got into Birdsville in time for lunch.

Big Red.

Getting cheered on as we tried to climb the mountain!

Almost, but we were stoked!

 What an adventure, we had crossed the Simpson Desert. We saw some amazing, truly beautiful landscapes and we have some wonderful memories of a very special place.
 That night we went off to the Birdsville Pub for a drink and to spend some time reflecting on what we had just achieved.

Birdsville pub.

Tomorrow we said good bye to Dave as he continues on his travels. We will stay to regroup, repair and cleanup a bit. we felt a bit sad to see him leave, we enjoyed his company so much. A great bloke, funny, kind and a real gentleman.
Thanks Dave.

Our mate Dave.