The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 15

Well, we were up very early to catch the lunar eclipse, at about 3 am, however it had already started. I didn't really get any good shots out of it, but I stayed awake long enough to see the moon completely occluded. I went back to bed for what I thought would be a short rest but I ended up waking up when the sun was up and the moon was well and truly set. We had a leisurely pack up and headed off to the southern end of the bungles to walk into Cathedral Gorge. 

On the way we stopped off at a lookout to take a few photos and I noticed that one of the supports for Blute's nudge bar had snapped, so it was out with the spanners and we removed it and put it in the camper. 

This walk was also about 2 km but the walking conditions were much better than yesterday with far less time spent on river rocks. It was pretty spectacular and we spent awhile just sitting there appreciating the view. We then took a few photos and wandered back to the car park. 

Shane didn't feel like any extra walking today so as we drove out we found a nice little dry creek bed and drove up it for a bit until we found some shade and had an early lunch.

On the way out of the park we dropped into the southern campground and found it very similar to the one we stayed at. We had a good run out of the park with no one to slow us down and stopped briefly at the junction with the main road for a drink and a stretch. I saw another Rhino camper there and had a quick chat the folks as they were heading into the park. The run north on the main road was pretty uneventful until Shane's patrol started to have problems cruising at 100 kph, he thought it would be the fuel filter needing to be changed. We stopped in at Doon Doon roadhouse to refuel and the patrol was a bit better for awhile. The plan was to try and get to the Pentecost River on the Gibb River Road for the evening but it gets dark out here fairly early. We stopped at the junction of the main road between Kununurra and Wyndham. While there was still some day light left Shane changed the fuel filter and hopefully tomorrow it will all be good. There is quite a few caravans and other campers here and a bit of road noise but overall not too bad for an overnight stop. 

I heated up some leftover Spanish Chicken Chorizo and rice from a few nights ago and Shane cremated a couple of sausages when he forgot all about them. We cleaned up and caught up on some internet stuff before heading off to bed relatively early as we'd had an early morning. Tomorrow we hit the Gibb River road.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 14

We had another lazy morning waiting for the shops to open. We did our final shop and Shane refueled before we hit the highway, heading for Purnululu National Park. It was a fairly cruisey run up the highway before we turned off to the park. We were expecting a slow and bumpy trip in but the road must have been upgraded recently as it only took us an hour or so instead of the two hours they advise. 

After checking into the parks office and paying our fees we headed out to the Kurrajong campground after checking the Kungkalanayi lookout and found a shady spot for lunch. 

We then headed off to Echidna Gorge for a walk but timed it badly as there were several tourist buses there. The walk was still pretty spectacular but my knees didn't appreciate the rocky ground. 

I came back to camp afterwards and rested up but Shane went out for another walk. We had some dinner and got cameras set up for later in the evening when in theory there was going to be a total lunar eclipse. Off to bed early after setting an alarm for around 3 am.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 13

We had a pretty lazy morning as Shane didn't need to be at the mechanics until 9 am. So I cooked breakfast and tidied up the car a bit, filled up the water tank and then went and refueled the car and did some shopping. While Shane was at the workshop I headed out along Duncan Road to do some tourist things. I stopped in at China Wall, Caroline Pool, and old Halls Creek. 

However the gem of the mornings sightseeing was a 4WD Track out to an unnamed lake about 40 km out of town. You can't see it from the road and there is no signpost but a Wikicamps entry suggested it was worth a look. There were a few very sharp gully crossings that bent my number plate up at an unnatural angle but the view was well and truly worth it as it is an oasis in an otherwise very dry countryside. 

Then it was back to town were I met up with Shane at the Bakery for quite a nice Steak and Pepper pie. Shane's car wasn't going to finished until later in the arvo, so I headed back to the caravan park to pay for another night and stake out spots for our cars. Since I'd refueled, the leak was seeming to be worse, so I climbed under the car back at the caravan park and cleaned up the leaked diesel and saw that the leak site wasn't any bigger but the pressure of the full tank must have been forcing it out. While I was under there I decided to try the soap trick and sure enough it stopped the leak, not sure for long but I'll keep an eye on it. Then I needed a shower to get rid of the diesel smell and finally I put everything in the washing machine. 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty lazy sitting around camp, reading and doing small chores. Shane came back at about 4:30 pm and I almost didn't recognize his car because there was no knocking noise. In celebration of his car being fixed we wandered over to the caravan park office for a magnum. Then we sat around chatting for awhile before heading off to bed early.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 12

It was quite warm this morning when we got up, had a quick coffee and then hit the road north. We stopped for a quick break and snacks at the border sign and then stopped for photos at the real border, a couple of Kms down the road. 

Then we gained 90 mins as we were then on WA time. The road was really in quite good condition and we cruised along at 80-90 kph with no worries. At the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater we stopped in for some lunch and then had a quick walk up to the top of the crater for some photos. Shane went for a walk out into the middle of the crater while I put the drone up in the air for a few photos, unfortunately it was a bit windy but I ended with some nice shots. 

The last bit of the Tanami was probably the worst of the lot with more rough surface and corrugations then previously. Finally we came out onto the Great Northern Road and it was an easy run  into Halls Creek on the bitumen. We had a quick look for the mechanic that Sue and I had used last time we were in Halls Creek but it appeared he was no longer there. So we went and checked into the Caravan Park and setup for the evening. Shane talked to the caravan park people and found a mechanic or two to go and talk to about his car and it turns out that one of them can look at it first thing in the morning. Then I cooked up a Spanish Chicken and Chorizo rice dish for dinner using the thermopot. We had entertainment at this time as a bus load of tourists pulled in and they had to set up their tents, I don't think it was for the first time but they didn't really seem to know what they were doing. We sat around and caught up on the internet for awhile and after a shower headed off for an early night in bed.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 11

For the first morning of the trip we woke up to clouds covering the sky. They weren't threatening rain but just made the morning a little duller and warmer. We packed up pretty quickly and were on the road west by 8 am. We turned north onto Haast's Bluff road as Brett had organized permits for us awhile ago. The sky was still cloudy but there was one round hole in the clouds that was lighting up selected hills around us. 

We stopped off at a memorial and took some pictures of the Bluff and while we were there the round hole in the clouds lit up the Bluff perfectly, producing some wonderful photos. 

We continued north then east to loop around onto the Tanami Track where we headed north, stopping off at Tilmouth Roadhouse to refuel the cars and have an early bit of lunch. We had about 830 Kms to go until Halls Creek, so the extra fuel was needed. The bitumen ran out about 80 Kms north of the roadhouse but the dirt road was wide and in very good condition and we could cruise on about 90 kph pretty easily, although I had to drop back quite away to avoid Shane's dust. Unfortunately, a bit later on Shane was a bit quick through one of the random bits of bitumen marking a flood crossing and he dented his sump guard on the diff causing quite a bit of knocking from the engine. Unfortunately, he couldn't fix this as he had done before with a few good hammer blows. 

We stopped a few times beside the road for drinks and to see if the knocking noise from his engine had gone away, but no such luck. We stopped at around 5'ish at a nice little camp site called Quartz Ridge and set up camp for the evening. 

There wasn't much wood around for a fire so it will probably be a relatively early evening in bed.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 10

I got up fairly early and cooked up some bacon and eggs for breakfast. While cleaning up I realized that I had a slow diesel leak from under Blute. Probably only a couple of mls overnight, but enough to be worrying. I backed Blute up onto a nearby rock so we could get underneath for a good look and after wiping down the dust and diesel we found a very small spot where the fuel was very slowly escaping. It was on a weld but not something that was structural, so shouldn't get any worse. This was something to add to the demise of my UHF antenna which although structurally still fine had gone to producing static on every channel, so the internal wire connecting the antenna to the radio must have been damaged. Time for the hand held radio. 

We navigated back over the rocky sections slowly and Shane and I decided to head to Alive Springs to see if TJM could do anything for me while Brett was heading home for work later in the week. . We followed the Binns Track and stopped off at the Arltunga historic area for a look and a few photos. 

We stopped for lunch where the Binns Track headed north towards Gemtree and Brett headed off this way following a chatty motorbike rider, while Shane and I continued onto towards the Stuart Highway. Once on the highway it was an easy run into Alice. A quick stop at TJM and they really couldn't help much as even though the tank is still under warranty they would have to send out for parts or a replacement so nothing was going to happen for at least a week. So Shane and I droped into Repco just across the road and picked up some fuel tank repair stuff. He got some stuff that you need to knead while I got a packet of epoxy resin that is supposed to bond to anything, hopefully one of the two will seal up the small leak. 

We then convened at trip meeting at Hungry Jacks for afternoon tea and planning. We decided to head out to the free camping area opposite Glen Helen Gorge on the Finke River and tomorrow we would head out to Haast's Bluff then loop around to the Tanami Track and head to Halls Creek. We got to camp about 4:30 pm and set up quickly, there was no fire wood around so I had to break out the bag of emergency service station firewood. As we'd had a late afternoon tea neither of us needed dinner so we sat around the camp fire writing up our respective blogs. It was not too chilly and thankfully there was no mozzies. We ended up going to bed relatively early.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 9

It was relatively warm overnight but sometime in the early morning a chilly breeze sprung up, making it tough to get out of bed. We had a relatively quick pack up after some coffee and headed into Alice to refuel. Then it was off to explore the East MacDonnell range. It was a nice drive out along the Ross Highway. We stopped off at all the tourist spots - Emily Gap, Jessie Gap, Corroboree Rock and Trephina Gorge. 

At Trephina Gorge we went for a drive out to John Hayes Rockhole on the 4 WD Track. Once there we went for a walk to see the waterhole and then climbed up to a nearby lookout.

 At Trephina Gorge itself I took the easy gorge walk while Brett and Shane went for the moderately hard walk around the gorge rim. We then had a bit of lunch before heading off on the drive to Ruby Gap Gorge. 

This was a nice little drive to the entrance of the park with the road deteriorating the further along we got while the view and scenery just got better and better. We paid our camping fees at the entrance and then drove down the dry river bank a bit following the existing track. We came to the end of the relatively easy bit of driving and there were quite a few people camped there so we decided to go over the rock bar and head further down the river bed. This lead to a few problems as while there was a fairly defined path there were quite a few places where good clearance was needed. 

Shane, of course, made this all look very easy but Brett and I needed to be very precise  with our wheel placement to make it work. After we got across the hardest part there was a patch of very soft sand which claimed Brett first and then me later. Brett had forgotten that he had to have the cruiser in Neutral (not Park) to engage low range and all the traction tricks and was worried that it wasn't getting any power or drive. A quick snatch out by Shane (after a photo of course) and Brett's car seemed fine. Then it was my turn and I tried giving it a lot of acceleration in low range but I also got stuck in the sand, however some quick work with the MaxTrax and engaging the rear diff lock saw me out without any further problems. As there we no photos of me being stuck and I was able to self recover, it didn't really happen and there is no evidence to the contrary. 

We continued on only a hundred metres or so around a corner to a nice isolated spot where we setup camp for the evening. 

Shane had collected some wood before the Park so we had a nice roaring fire and then some dinner. Afterwards Shane and Brett were doing some spectacular night photography before we headed off to bed.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 8

We were up early as we were wanting to make it into Alice Springs while the shops were open. Shane need some bump stops for his front suspension and my UHF Antenna was failing apart. The run is was pretty easy although there was still plenty of Bull Dust meaning we were well and truest spread out on the road. The rising sun hitting the hills along the road was pretty spectacular. 

We got into Alice at about 9:30 am and Shane went straight to Repco but no luck, he believed that the bump stops off a Toyota 80 series would also fit so off to the Toyota dealer, but there were none in Australia and would have to be imported from Japan. Meanwhile I went to TJM and while they would sell me an antenna they couldn't fit it until Monday, so I'm going to have to some dodgy repairs to it. I have a hand held 5 watt unit so I could be with that it it is not fixable. 

Shane then tried the wreckers and couldn't find exactly what he wanted but ended up with bump stops off a 100 series landcruiser that he thought would do the trick. I waited for he and Brett at the Hungry Jacks where we had an early lunch and coffee. We decided to check into a caravan park for the evening so headed off to the Big4 Park and checked in. The hot shower was great and while doing my washing I cooked up a Masaman curry in the Thermopot so we would have a dinner ready to go a bit later on.

 I also topped up my water tank and had a Magnum at the caravan park shop. 

We were going to go out and refuel and do some shopping but we were too lazy.

Shane ended up fitting his new Toyota bump stops so he is ready to test them out tomorrow when we head out to Haast's Bluff. Brett is going to have to head back to work on Monday so tomorrow will be our last day touring together for this trip. The dodgy job on my antenna probably won't last long but hopefully will be fine on good roads. 

The curry was great and I have leftovers for another easy camp dinner. With no camp fire to sit around we ended up going to bed early.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 7

We woke up about 7'ish and it wasn't too chilly. After some coffee and a few Sao's for breakfast we decided to have a last minute soak in the spring. And it was an excellent way to start the day. Sometime after 9 am we headed off for Mount Dare to refuel. Parts of the road were good but the last 9 or 10 Kms into Mount Dare were pretty rocky and rough and it was hard to find a comfortable speed to drive. Fuel was expensive ($2.40 per litre) but you have to expect that out here. I needed just over 100 litres for the 580 Kms (601 km according to the gps) from Birdsville. I was quite happy with 17.4 litres per 100 km across the Simpson. 

We had a quick rest and a Magnum there before heading north along the Binns Track stopping occasionally to take photos. 

The road was mostly good but there were some patches of Bull Dust that almost swallowed the cars. We also stopped at Old Andado station for a look at the old homestead and then later we called into Mac Clark Conservation Area. 

We continued north towards Alice Springs but as the sun was going down and the dust was making it hard to see we pulled off the road and found a nice little spot to camp for the evening. There was tons of wood around so the evening camp fire was nice and warm. It wasn't too chilly but it was definitely noticeable when you walked away from the fire.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 6

Not quite as chilly this morning but we still had a leisurely coffee and breakfast around the camp fire. We headed off around 8:30 am west along the Rigg road. The track wasn't too bad and we cruised along nicely. The road then turned northish and at one point I think I actually got up to 60 kph. At The abandoned Mokari 1 oil well we stopped and hid behind some dunes , using them as a windbreak and had some left over roast lamb wraps for lunch. 

Then it was onto towards the French Line where the traffic got bad for awhile and the road even worse. We cleared the traffic and then it was only occasional eastbound cars that got in our way. The road got a bit better as we went on and ended up stopping at Purni Bore to stretch our legs and take a few photos. 

After that the track improved significantly and parts of it were nearly Highway like as we got closer Dalhousie Springs. 

We pulled into Dalhousie Springs camping area and found a spot in the dry dusty area and immediately headed off for a soak in the warm springs. This was great after several days in the desert. We came back to the cars, setup camp, relaxed a bit and then put some air back into the tyres for the rough road to Mount Dare. The camp host came around and explained there were to be no fires and don't leave anything out as the dingos will steal it and run away with it. Sure enough before the sun had disappeared completely we had seen two dingos wandering around. We had a bit of dinner but as we were sitting around talking there was a onslaught of mozzies come to suck our blood.  So we quickly cleaned up and retreated to our screened beds for the evening.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 5

It seemed much warmer overnight but it was still chilly getting out of bed in the morning. We had coffee and leisurely pack up, hitting the track around 8:30 am. We had about a half an hour of crappy humpy track before the turn off to Knolls Track which we head south on. The track was noticeably better and the driving much easier. We stopped to look at the Approdinna Attora Knolls and climbed up to the top and took some photos. 

We continued south down Knolls Track until it met the Rigg Road and we turned west onto it.

Not long after passing a group of eight cars with a couple caper trailers we stopped for some lunch. Then it was onto the the Lone Gum, once again stopping for some photos. 

We made camp early to set up for a roast lamb in the cap oven. On stopping I found that my fire extinguisher (which I carry in the camper) had worked it's way loose and set itself off. Luckily it was confined to a small compartment and a quick dust pan and broom cleanup had it all sorted out. 

This topped off a couple of other problems from the rough roads. They were a spillage of olive oil, which was relatively easily cleanup and the breaking of a small bottle of cumin in a plastic storage box, this box also had a bottle of lemon juice that managed to leak, so I needed a more extensive cleaning exercise for that problem. While we were whiling away some time I got the drone out and started to take some photos and videos. 

Brett was taking some product shots of his new roof top tent so we did a couple of fly arounds to get some video. Unfortunately, it went a little wild while trying to do a preprogrammed circle around the car and crashed into the back of the car. There was no damage to either the car or the drone so all was good.

PS. The roast lamb and veges done in the camp oven was sensational. There is enough left over lamb for lunch tomorrow.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 4

It was even warmer this morning when we got up, around 4 deg C. We had a relatively slow start packing up and making use of the civilized bathroom amenities. We eventually left a bit before 9 am and headed west towards Big Red. We aired down (16 psi front and 18 psi rear for me), turned off stability control and put the sand flags up. Then climbed Bid Red without any worries. We stopped on top for a few photos and then drove off the steep side for a fun trip down.

 

Then it was off west on the QAA Line Track over the dunes, we travelled behind another car for awhile and he did all the radioing ahead as it was quite busy. The dunes weren't particularly hard except for a few scallop holes near the top and the main problem was some humps between the dunes which needed to be taken slowly. The other car eventually dropped off and we continued on with Shane up front, me in the middle and Brett coming along behind. 

Lunch was at a spot where a Shane thought was the Hay River Valley, or that's at least what his GPS told him. The traffic got less as the day wore on and we stopped for some photos by one of the salt lakes.

 I was going to put the drone up but it was too windy. We eventually turned south towards Poeppel Corner and drove along side one of the salt lakes, it was probably the smoothest section we had driven all day. We got to Poeppel Corner and eventually got to take some photos after the previous group had finished taking their million photos. Just as we were leaving a red helicopter arrived and landed so the passengers could look at the marker. 

After that, the track (French Line) went down hill badly and got very bumpy with continual small humps, although the dunes weren't as high. This was very tedious and tiring and we were lucky to average about 10 kph. We were aiming for Knolls Track but we ended up about 10 km short of it as the sun was getting low and making it hard to see the track ahead. We found a nice spot off the road with tons of fire wood and setup camp for the evening. After relaxing around the camp fire for awhile we cooked some dinner and sat around the fire until about 9 pm, when we all went to bed quite tired.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 3

It wasn't as chilly this morning, only about -1 deg C. We were up relatively early, had some coffee and a light breakfast before heading up to refuel at the Innamincka General Store. The timing was perfect as three of us had a bowser each, no waiting. Shane and Brett then got their Desert Parks Passes and we headed off towards Walkers Crossing as the was no sign saying road closed. However about 13 km down the road, just past the last camping area the road was indeed closed. So back to Innamincka where a quick chat to the General Store people suggested our only real option was to go north to Birdsville and cross the Simpson Desert from there. We had wanted to avoid that as there still may have been crowds from the Big Red Bash a couple of days ago. 

So we headed up the Cordillo Downs road and certainly saw a few more vehicles than we would normally have expected. The road was rough and sandy in patches but we could generally do 70-80 km per hour so it wasn't too bad. There were several washed out and wet patches that kept us on our toes. We stopped in at Cordillo Downs Station and made some lunch and had a look at the old shearing shed. 

Then we continued north finding a poor dead Prado sitting on the wrong side of the road with its front drivers side suspension completely broken. No one was there, so they must have got a lift to civilization. 

Further on we stopped into the Cadelga Outstation ruins for a quick look and took a few photos. 

At this stage we were separated by a couple of Kms on the road as the dust wasn't settling at all quickly. 

Once we crossed the border into Queensland the road immediately improved and we could cruise at 90-100 kph. The dust was still a pain and we were probably further apart on the road. Then a good run in on the Birdsville Development Road saw us in Birdsville around 5 pm. We decided to stay at the caravan park in town so we could avail ourselves of the hot showers and flushing amenities. Nearly all the crowd from last week had cleared so we got a nice spot by the billabong. 

We also refueled as there was no lines, this way we can head out first thing in the morning. Brett and Shane went off to the pub for dinner but I stayed back at camp resting up. It was another cool very clear evening and it got colder as the night went on. 

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 2

It was bloody cold in the morning definitely less than zero, although I was nice and warm under a blanket and a sleeping bag, except when I needed a quick toilet break outside. I stayed in bed until I saw Shane getting the fire going and once it was roaring I ventured outside. We had a leisurely coffee and light breakfast but continued to sit around the fire for awhile. Finally we got packed up and headed off a bit before 9 am. 

We drove west towards Thargomindah and stopped briefly for a look at Lake Bindegolly but there was no water to be seen. In Thargomindah we had a quick toilet stop which turned into an early lunch when we found a food caravan setup across the road which had very decent pies and burgers. They had only been open a couple of days and didn't have proper signs yet but the food was excellent. 

We continued west but the country side was pretty boring and had a quick stop beside Cooper Creek to stretch our legs. 

The road got quite narrow in places and both Shane and Brett ended up with chips in their windscreen from passing cars. Twenty or so klms from Innamincka we stopped by a dry creek and loaded some firewood onto Shane's roof rack. 

In Innamincka there was a line up for fuel at the local store so we continued onto the camping area and found a spot for the evening. We relaxed around the fire for awhile before cooking dinner and then sitting around the fire again as the temperature dropped. 

It wasn't as chilly as the previous night but still quite cool. We headed off to bed relatively early and settled in for a good sleep.

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The Simpson and Kimberleys trip, 2018 Day 1

Got up at 5 am showered and did the final car and fridge packing. Noticed that the camper battery was pretty flat, so I put the spare AGM battery and dc2dc converter in the back footwell replacing a 10 litre Jerry of water.  Headed off just before 6 am and had a smooth run up the M1 to the Logan Motorway and then onto to Toowoomba. I stopped for brekkie at Maccas and it took them ages. As I was passing the next Maccas I noticed Brett waiting in the drive through. I got to the Bowenville Reserve camping area a bit after 9 am and met up with Shane, with Brett rolling in a little later. 

We headed west to Dalby where Brett made a quick stop at Supercheap to pick up a tyre gauge. Then after a fairly boring drive we refueled in St George and had a late lunch. Continuing west we had a few close encounters with kangaroos and emus before stopping for a quick refuel in Cunnamulla. As it was close to sundown and there were more Roos in evidence we turned off the main road and found a quiet spot to camp for the night. 

The camp fire was excellent with lots of dry wood around and we had a quick drink and a bite to eat before retiring relatively early as it was getting very chilly away from the fire.

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