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.