to the Australia 2002 photo album
Across Australia in a Series 3 Land Rover
Part 2 - Challenging the Simpson
Text and photography by:
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to the Australia 2002 photo album
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Across Australia in a Series 3 Land Rover Part 2 - Challenging the Simpson
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Text and photography by:
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The parallel sand dunes of the Simpson Desert
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In my previous article I have told you about equipping a Series 3 for a trip across the central deserts of Australia. The outback is a hostile environment and a 4wd adventure of this sort requires careful planning and preparation. This article describes the first part of our journey: the crossing of the Simpson Desert.
The Simpson Desert is one of the most desolate areas in Australia. It stretches out over an area of roughly 200.000 square kilometres and is about the size of the UK. More than 1100 sand dunes run parallel in a North - South direction. With its remote location and temperatures even in winter reaching 40 °C, this is definitely one of the toughest desert crossings in the world.
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Aboriginal people have lived in this harsh area for thousands of years, but the population was decimated by influenza, introduced by European settlers in the early 20th century.
The first European to see the Simpson Desert was explorer Charles Sturt in 1845, but the first successful crossing by a non Aboriginal wasn’t until 1936, when local Ted Colson traversed the desert with his camels, albeit accompanied by an Aboriginal named Peter Ains. Geologist Regg Sprigg was the first man to cross the Simpson by car in 1960 and in 1963 the Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (CGG) started the construction of a series of tracks for a French oil company. Among the equipment that the CGG used were a number of Land Rovers. The first track across the Simpson was called Line B, now known as "The French Line".
The oil in the Simpson was of poor quality and the production was only short lived. However, the network of tracks left by the CGG are now used by researchers and scientists and form an attractive challenge for many 4wd enthusiasts.
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Well, so much for history. It’s time to sample the desert ourselves. After weeks of eager anticipation, I am finally the proud owner of a Series 3 Land Rover and we are keen to get underway.
Apart from the auxiliary fuel tank, our Series 3 is fully standard, and the car has some hard work ahead. Therefore we have decided to check out the car for a couple of weeks, and have included a trip to Tasmania. It enables us to and sort out any hidden problems with the car, before venturing out into really remote territory.
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The first major stop on our itinerary is Kangaroo Island. After the long transcontinental flight and the work from the last couple of days, this is a perfect destination for a few days of short walks and a bit of relaxation. There is plenty to see on this small island. The rocky coast line is very impressive, with the Remarkable rocks being the most famous icon. You can observe sea lions, penguins and koalas from nearby, or attempt a descent on a sandboard from one of the huge dunes. If you’re lucky you may find your campground surrounded by hungry kangaroos during breakfast. But don’t be tempted to share your cereal with the local wildlife, no matter how cute they look! Kangaroos, as well as other native wildlife, cannot digest processed food made for humans. They will incur infections which kills them slowly. The highway from Adelaide to Melbourne is very scenic and you shouldn’t miss the famous Great Ocean Road. The waves of the Southern Ocean have carved a rugged coastline and the erosion process is extremely quick. One of the famous landmarks, the London Bridge, collapsed in 1990, leaving two tourists stranded. Luckily they were unharmed. You are advised not to stand too close to the crumbly edges of the cliffs.
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Penny checks out the cliffs along the Great Ocean Road
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If you want to take a car across the Bass Straight into Tasmania, the easiest way is to use the ferry from Melbourne. It’s a very economic solution because you can take your car free of charge in the off peak season. Fares start at around £ 36 per person, one way. Reserve your passage at least a few weeks in advance, because space for large four wheel drive vehicles is limited.
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Rainforest near St. Columba Falls
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Tasmania is a truly amazing place. A large part of this state consists of national parks, and the inaccessible South West is one of the few remaining wilderness areas in the world. The elusive Tasmanian Tiger may still live in this region and each year several sightings are reported of this supposedly extinct animal. Unfortunately there is also a lot of environmental damage, like the Copper mining in Queenstown and the many hydro electricity schemes that have caused flooding of several beautiful valleys. But the most controversial issue in Tasmania is the logging of old growth trees. Many forests are being cleared and it’s a shame to see these majestic trees, some of them hundreds of years old, ending up as wood chips for the paper industry. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of beautiful nature left, and you will find many interesting 4wd tracks too. Unfortunately, one of our free wheeling hubs starts to develop a problem. We got bogged on a riverbank and discover that the left front hub does not engage. After a couple of heavily corrugated roads, we also find a small leak on the rear axle seal and a leaking transfer case seal. These are common problems on a Series 3, but with some oil on the hand brake and on the right rear drum, the braking performance of our car is slightly reduced. With its many steep roads, Tasmania is not the best place to develop a brake problem with a heavy 4wd vehicle!
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I think it’s time for a bit of service on the car and we head back to the main land. The seals are quickly replaced and for security I also place a new seal runner on the rear stub axle. The problem with the front hub is even easier to fix. A 2 mm dowel pin has dropped out of the retainer and prevents the drive gear to slide into position when the knob is turned. A little Loctite does wonders and we’re back on the road in no time.
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A short visit to Melbourne and Sydney completes our East coast section of this trip, but not before we have hiked to the top of Australia’s highest mountain: Mt. Kosciuszko. At 2228 m no big deal, but it is one of those places where you must have been. For Land Rover enthusiasts visiting the Snowy Moutains has another good reason, as the geological survey for the hydro electric schemes in the early 1950s were done exlusively with Land Rover. Sydney is our last stop in ‘civilisation’ before heading off in the outback. It is here that Penny has to leave us (back to work), but I think she has a good excuse to say goodbye to the two idiots who want to do a solo crossing of the Simpson Desert in an old Land Rover. |
The most famous building in Australia: Sydney Opera House
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Between us and Alice Springs lies more than 3500 km of highway, outback roads and desert. The contrast in landscapes between the East and West sides of the continental divide is quite remarkable. Once you have crossed the Blue Mountains, the landscape slowly becomes more barren. For the first 1000 km we follow the Mitchell and Barrier Highway. It’s all bitumen and quite a strech for a Series 3 at 80 km/h! This is the main route West and in Broken Hill we drive along a sign that says "Perth 2800 km". This surely is a big island!!!
We leave the highway at Peterborough, an old railway junction that served the great steam engines of the past. Nowadays, with the use of Diesel locomotives, there is no demand for extensive service anymore, but the town has preserved its history in a nice railway museum. We are the only visitors and the friendly staff gives us an exclusive 2 hour guided tour through the old workshops!
As we head towards Hawker, the road finally changes into dirt. Our Land Rover is clearly more at home here. The Flinders Ranges just North of Hawker are an amazing geological feature. Saw tooth peaks rise steeply from the flat plains. The heart of the South Flinders is formed by Wilpena Pound, a strangely curved mountain range. From the top of the 1170 m high St. Mary’s Peak you have a spectacular view on the surrounding country. On a clear day you can see landmarks more than 200 km away. The hike is strenuous, but absolutely worthwhile.
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Our camp tonight is Marree, one of the towns along the "Old Ghan Railway". The railway was built in the wrong place and after several years of flooding and severe damage to the track, the government decided to move the railway to the West. In 1982 the "Old Ghan" made its last trip and the railway was removed. Abandoned locomotives are scattered along the line. We decide to check out the local pub and are soon engaged in a fierce dart competition with the locals. I manage to finish an honorable 4th, but the large quantity of cold beers prevents a serious return match... Anyway, we’re having a great night and it is a pleasure to discover that this town is one of the few places in Australia where white and black people live in harmony.
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The Sturt Stony Desert near Marree
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Marree is the starting point of the famous Birdsville Track. The track was used by the the cattle drovers and mail runners in the early 20th century. It’s basically 500 kilometres of nothing through the gibber plains of the Sturt Stoney Desert and Diamantina flood plain. There are a few cattle stations along the road and fuel supplies can be obtained at Mungerannie Roadhouse. The track is usually in good condition, except after rain, when it can be very slippery. The Cooper Creek can become 1.5 miles wide after heavy rain! For European travellers this stretch of loneliness is very impressive. Don’t be fooled by the relative ease of the trip. This is remote country and conditions can be extremely harsh. There is no surface water along the entire route (except after floods) so carry extra water. Stay with your car in case of a breakdown. Over the years many people have perished so don’t underestimate the risks.
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Birdsville is the gateway to the Simpson Desert. A stop at the famous Birdsville Hotel is a must. After all, this could be your last beer... The people at the campground Birdsville have up to date information about track conditions in the Simpson, so be sure to check these out. Track conditions change from season to season, and this is your best source of reliable information Before you head into the Simpson make sure you have:
(see also the previous article for a more comprehensive list)
It’s 7 AM and the temperature is rising quickly. The flies are already becoming a pest, crawling in your mouth, nose, eyes and ears. Not one but hundreds! It’s almost impossible to eat your breakfast without getting a fly in your mouth. We are not really prepared for this! It’s around 600 km from here to Mt. Dare homestead, so we fill up our tanks and jerry cans until the very last bit. With around 180 litres of fuel there is sufficient margin, but in the outback you often need these, e.g. for unexpected detours after rain. We don’t want to end up on lists of people who perished in the history books...
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On top of one of the red dune in the Simpson
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Approximately 30 kms out of Birdsville the first dunes appears on the horizon. And it’s a big one too! Our Series 3 is not very powerful and I become a little concerned. We have never climbed such steep dunes and this will be our acid test. But in low 2nd it proves to be no problem at all. As long as there is traction, the car will climb almost any slope, it seems. We let the tyres down to around 22 psi for the soft sandy conditions. On
the first stretch, the QAA line, the dunes are separated by stretches of
hard clay pans where we can travel at around 50 kmh, so we make quite good
progress. We are really thrilled by the sometimes immensely steep dunes.
The winds in the Simpson are mainly coming from the West. This creates a
sawtooth pattern, with much steeper slopes on the Eastern side. Therefore
most people travel in Eastern direction. Stubborn as we are, we want to
travel in the other direction. The road seems endless in this part of the
Simspon. After every dune top there is another long stretch of road until
the horizon. It’s absolutely exciting to see so much of empty space and
straight road.
Just after the NT border the QAA line ends, and you have to make a sharp, unexpected, left turn on the K1 line. This is a tricky section, as it leads along and over a couple of very boggy salt lakes. As we cross the desert without backup car, we certainly don’t want to bog ourselves, and we proceed with extreme care. We follow the relative hard shores of Lake Poeppel, but on a few places we have to keep the throttle wide open.
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Poeppel Corner
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Just after the NT border the QAA line ends, and you have to make a sharp, unexpected, left turn on the K1 line. This is a tricky section, as it leads along and over a couple of very boggy salt lakes. As we cross the desert without backup car, we certainly don’t want to bog ourselves, and we proceed with extreme care. We follow the relative hard shores of Lake Poeppel, but on a few places we have to keep the throttle wide open.
By the end of the afternoon we reach Poeppel Corner, the triple state point. The place is called after Agustus Poeppel, who surveyed this area in 1879 and erected the marker pole. However, his measuring chain was worn and he placed the pole 274 metres (15 chains) short of the correct point. Poeppel never admitted his mistake, but his assistent Larry Wells went back in 1883 and put things right!
After Poeppel Corner we turn right onto the French Line.We are about one third of the way and the sun is setting quickly. After crossing a few more tricky salt lakes we call it a day and set up camp 13 kms from Poeppel Corner.
It has been very warm today, with temperatures well above 45 °C. Without thermal insulation the heat of the exhaust, engine, and gearbox has soaked into the car. I guess the temperatures inside must be close to 60 °C and we have been drinking water in large quantities all day. I have never lost so much fluid in my life in a single day! Luckily we have kept two cans of cold beer in our fridge and after a hard days work we are able to enjoy a well deserved refreshment!
Tonight we camp in total darkness under a sky with billions of stars. We see quite a few satellites passing over and later in the evening we are treated on a bright meteorite.
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On the French Line the dunes become more densly spaced and progress becomes slower. Our average drops to about 15 kmh. The slopes become steeper too. On several dunes we have to make 4 or 5 attempts to reach the top. Traction is virtually none, but after a few runs the ground becomes just firm enough to crawl over the top...or not! The shovel is required on a few occasions where Peter does the hard work and I use the camera. The Land Rover engine usually runs very cold. Even with ambient temperatures around 30 °C, the needle is only halfway on the scale. Here in the Simpson however, the engines runs hard in low range all day, and water temperature is rising slowly. The temperature stays barely under the red zone and we start to smell some cooling fluid. We decide to give the engine a little rest (which brings out the flies again!). As we switch off the engine, the water in the radiator starts to boil, so I quickly turn on the engine again to avoid damaging it. One of the small 1 inch water hoses shows some small surface cracks and we decide to throttle back a little. We camp close to Purni Bore, after a long 10 hour drive, covering not more than 150 km. The next morning we are woken up by a chain of vehicles. It turns out that there is a race for long distance runners. Knowing what lies ahead of them, we certainly don’t envy them! After Wonga Junction, the height of the dunes quickly drops and we are able to pick up some pace.
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Peter digs his way out
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We've done it! Mt. Dare Homestead
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We are now entering the Spring Creek Delta. After rain this section is one of the thrickiest ones on the route, but today everything is dry and firm. Around noon we arrive at the Dalhousie Hot Springs. The springs are fed by underlying Great Artesian Basin that flows underneath the Australian continent at great depth. The water reaches the surface thorugh fault lines in the rock. The water temperature is over 40 °C, so it’s hardly refreshing. I was surprised to find out that there are six fish species living in these springs!
After a short stop at the Dalhousie Ruins, an abandoned homestead from 1872, we head for Mt. Dare homestead, the other end of the Simpson Desert. We haven’t used our jerry cans yet, so fuel consumption has been very low. We have used just over 100 litres for over 500 km and that’s barely more than on the paved highway! At Mt. Dare we have lunch and a cold drink to celebrate our successful Simpson crossing. We’ve done it!!! It’s another 250 km to the Sturt Highway and we camp at Kulgera. The campground has a swimming pool and it’s a wonderful feeling to wash off the red dust from the desert
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The next morning we complete the last 275 km to Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway. It’s quite a shock to be back in a place with people and traffic lights and we already miss the Simpson, but the cold beer and nice atmosphere in the local pub makes up for that quickly. We’ve successfully completed the first leg, but our car desperately needs some service. We will stay a few days in Alice Springs for necessary repairs and some rest, before embarking upon our second leg.
Alice Springs from Anzac Hill
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The next section of our trip takes us from Alice Springs to Perth via the Gunbarrel Highway through the remote wilderness of the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. Coming soon: Across Australia in a Series 3 Land Rover part 3 - The Gunbarrel Highway
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