2014 Edjits - Centreing the Simpson

[Bushie]

About 12 months ago the idea was conceived to revisit Geosurveys Hill and then continue cross country through the Simpson to the Geographical Centre before following some old shot lines to exit onto the French Line via Mirranponga Pongunna Lake after entering west of Geosurveys hill from the Colson Track.
Obviously a varied route to the Simpson was chosen. Our group of Edjits was to consist of 5 vehicles.
Myself and Amanda in a Defender 110 300Tdi
Chenz and wife in a Defender 130 twin cab Puma
Numpty in a Defender 110 Td5
ShortyNSW in a Perentie 6x6 and
Wash in a Defender 130 single cab Td5.

As bad luck would have it Wash ruled himself out a month before departure, as a result of a medical emergency.

The plan was to follow the following route after meeting on Saturday 5th July at the Ballimore Hotel.

The loosely planned itinerary was as follows:
5th July Elong Elong
6th July Booberoi Weir near Euabalong
7th July Willandra NP
8th July Somewhere south of Mungo NP
9th July Murray River west of Mildura
10th July Chowilla Game Reserve
11th July Dangalli Conservation Park (Morgan Vale)
12th July South Flinders
13th July Blinman
14th July Beltana
15th July Leigh Creek (replenishment)
16th July Marree
17th July Edward Creek
18th July Eringa Waterhole
19th July Christmas Creek
20th July Purnie Bore
21st Colson Track
Cross Country to Geosurveys then Geographic centre to French Line via old shot lines
Poeppel Corner
K1 and Warburton track
Mungeranie
Kalamurina Station
Marree back to Leigh Creek to replenish
Balcanoona and Gammon Ranges NP
Moolawatana to Strzelecki track
Cameron Corner
Depot Glen (Milparinka)
Wanaaring
Nocoleche Nature Reserve
Tilpa
7th Aug Louth for the races.

As can be seen we weren't tying ourselves to any rigid timelines.

Between us there were a total of around 12 punctures, broken roof rack mounts, broken driving light brackets, a punctured airbag, various shock absorber bushes, and a couple of more major events that will be detailed later.

Whilst it was a slow and at time tough trip, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

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Day 1 - 5th July.

As we were all coming from various locations it was decided to meet at the Ballimore pub just off the Golden Highway, NE of Dubbo. Our first night was as guests of JDNSW camped on his property at Elong Elong. Our path had taken us via Mudgee where we had a very dry hamburger for lunch that took forever to prepare. Dinner at JDs place was sausages and rissoles supplied by Vince and Jan from Mt Horrible, salads wwere available but not much consumed, and finished off with an apple and apricot crumble made by Amanda.
As we had entered JDs gate Amanda picked up some Christmas tinsel that had fallen off the gate and stuffed it into the Landy, it survived the complete trip.
John showed us some slides from his time in the Simpson with an exploration company in the 60s.
After discussion around the camp fire we retired for our first night in the swag.


Distance travelled ~ 420km

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Day 2 - 6th July

From Johns property at Elonng Elong we headed back out into Goonoo NP and across to the Mendoran road then back towards Dubbo before taking dirt roads from Tomingley across to Trundle where we stopped for lunch at Berryman park. By this stage it was raining on and off with a very cold wind blowing, so we headed off again heading for Booberoi weir on the Lachlan River. By the time we arrived it was heavy overcast, but luckily the rain held off until after we had set up camp.
Rain and wind on and off through the night didn't make for the best swag weather but at least we stayed dry and warm.


Landys on tour


Booberoi Weir

Distance travelled - 331km


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 3 - 7th July

After waking to a wet and foggy morning, we headed down to the weir and old pumphouse for a look around. Booberoi weir was built to provide a pool of water and levels sufficient to divert the Lachlan into Booberoi creek for stock and domestic requirements.


Booberoi Weir


Old Pump house - Booberoi Weir


Machinery remnants


Booberoi web

The area around the weir was pretty boggy underfoot,resulting in us all growing a few inches.
Unfortunately the structures around the weir have been vandalised and graffitied fairly extensively.

From Booberoi we made our way to Lake Cargelligo for morning tea and to get the first of many punctures repaired.
Morning tea and a hot pie and then a quick lunch stop on the side of the road and we were heading for Willandra NP for the night.
Arriving around 3pm it gave us a chance to look around the old homestead before setting up camp, and allowing some wet gear to dry out.




Old Willandra Homestead


Weir on Willandra Creek

The old weir is becoming undermined by flood waters and it is likely to only see a few more floods before it starts to break up, parts of it are starting to crumble already.

Distance travelled - 244km

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Day 4 - July 8th

After breaking camp the first stop was the NP tip. Here Vince and Shorty managed to score some old NPWS logo signs for their collections. We then headed out to look at the "Big Willandra" shearing sheds and shearers quarters, followed by a short trip out to the location of the old sheep bridge.


"Big Willandra" Shearing Shed



Shearers Quarters


Willandra Creek


Sheep Bridge

From Willandra NP we headed towards Mildura via Mossgiel and Clare, south down the Balranald road before heading west again at Hatfield, camping off the road some 15km west of Turlee Stn.

Camp for the night

Tonight was a very windy night with more rain during the early hours.

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 5 - 9th July

Heading from camp we made for Mildura and morning tea at one of the coffee shops (we do it tough on these trips ), and then to the local supermarket to top up a few items. From here we made the short trip to Wentworth and out to the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers.


Murray/Darling junction


Shortys 6x6 attracted an audience at most stops

Once all nice and clean we headed across the river into Victoria and turned west along the southern bank, by now the clouds were lowering and a very cold wind from the south had moved in.
The further west we headed the worse the weather became until we were in driving rain, this made the black soil tracks into the Murray very slippery.

Setting up camp the cloud began to clear before a few more showers and a very cold damp night.



Clearing clouds over the Murray


Locals down for a drink


Ready for a rather cool night

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Day 6 - 10th July

After a damp pack up we were on the road again following the southern bank of the Murray westward towards the SA border, road crews were grading the road and with the previous nights rain it made for some quite muddy sections.


Morning Tea


Murray River

We headed for lunch at the old customs house on the Vic/SA border on the south bank.
From our lunch stop it was a quick drive into Renmark, where we tried to buy a new self inflating mattress to replace the one that had failed, out of luck we were stuck with two thin hiking foams to provide insulation from the ground.
Camp for the night was made in Chowilla Game Reserve on the northern side of the Murray. Here we were treated to the spectacular sight of a brilliant meteorite, at least that's what we thought after we had banished our initial thoughts of a plane breaking up.
Starting as a brilliant red glow moving slowly from south to north in a very flat trajectory, it increased to a brilliant white/green light before breaking up and going through the red - white process again.
(it turns out it was part of a Russian Soyuz rocket re-entry that launched a satellite two days prior)


Chowilla Game Reserve


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 7 - 11th July

Leaving Chowilla game reserve after a breakfast of baked bean fritters, we headed off to find a way into some ruins we had sighted the afternoon before.


Breakfast

After a bit of exploring we found our way across to 'Old Coombool' ruins.


Old Coombool Ruins

From Old Coombool we headed north into Danggali Conservation Park, with the aim to camp near Morgan Vale at the northern end, however as collecting firewood and camp fires were prohibited we made the decision to camp outside the reserve.
It seemed a bit odd after coming this far to realise we were only a couple of km from the NSW border.


Entry to Danggali Conservation reserve

Danggali is the amalgamation of 3 properties Hypurna, which is now occupied by NP staff, and Canopus and Morgan Vale which are abandoned, and slowly being reclaimed by the elements, most dams on the reserve are identified as abandoned.


Morgan Vale ruins


Old Shelter at Morgan Vale


Old Ford

After departing the reserve we headed towards Pine Valley and made camp near Mount Alice dam amongst some claypans.


Camp for the night

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Day 8 - 12th July

Exiting the campsite in the morning a call to "Swan Hill" base came over the UHF, realising shorty had grabbed the wrong 'mic' I answered expecting him to pick my voice, however he didn't, so for a laugh I started a conversation with him, asking if he was part of the group that had camped just out of Danggali near the dam, leaving him puzzled as to how Swan Hill knew where we had camped.
From Danggali we headed across to Willow Springs via Yunta, on what was essentially a 'transport' day. We had managed to have the Mt Caernarvon track opened for us ($60 per vehicle) and so needed to be close for the following morning.
Stopping in at Yunta for fuel and lunch, a giant serving of fish and chips, we then headed off via Waukaringa, and back roads towards Hawker turning north past Wilpena to Willow Springs, gathering firewood on the way.



Ruins of Waukaringa Hotel


Ruins at Waukaringa

On arrival at Willow Springs one of Vinces batteries was venting badly and quite hot, after waiting for it to cool we topped it up with water, figuring if it was stuffed we couldn't make it worse.
Everyone enjoyed a nice hot shower and meal before hitting the swag/tent/camper, on what was another cold and windy night.


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 9 - 13th July

We were up early, and packed up camp as we had to meet the people from Bunkers Conservation reserve that were opening up the gates to allow access to Mt Caernarvon. After we had paid our $60 we were on our way, there was one additional vehicle doing the tour with us, a landcruiser with Peter and Michelle on board.
The track was well worthwhile doing with really good views back over the Flinders Ranges, and some fairly steep climbs.


Shorty climbing towards Mt Caernarvon


The track ahead


Cold and windy on Mt Caernarvon


View to the west

On the way down we stopped at the 'southern' lookout where there was an aluminium bench seat, given how cold and windy it was there was a sudden call "5 bucks to who ever plonks their bare arse on that seat"


Challenge duly accepted

Talk about an ice-breaker with Peter and Michelle - they just cracked up!!

A selection of the track across Mt Caernarvon

After completing the Mt Caernarvon track we headed towards Blinman stopping for a quick beer at the Blinman pub before turning down the road the Parachilna Gorge managing to find a campsite in the gorge and sheltered from the wind.

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Day 10 - 14th July

We decided that as it was too early to visit 'The Prairie' hotel for a beer then a bacon and egg breakfast would suffice. Whilst we were waiting we met up with Oldyella 76 and another Aulro member who were heading through Parachilna to Mungerannie then the Hay River. The postie bike crew were in town as well on a fund raising trip.


The Prairie - Parachilna

After breakfast we headed back up Parachilna gorge turning north along Oratunga Creek and then out to the ruins at Nuccaleena mine. You have to admire the skill of the builders and the edges they were able to achieve on the rock cut for doorways and lintels etc in the drywall buildings.



Miners residence at Nucculeena


Open cut mine


Chimney for the mine machinery


Old machinery building and boiler room, the flue to the stack can be seen in the foreground

The company undertaking the operation were obviously not so good "The Great Northern Mining Company had only produced 13000 pounds worth of copper ore from the Nuccaleena mine by 1866 having expended 57000 pounds on the enterprise and shortly after the mine was abandoned having been an enormous failure."

From Nuccaleena the way out to the north towards 'Beltana' has been closed by the owner of the land so it was a backtrack through Parachilna before heading north again before turning off towards 'Beltana' we made camp off the road near a creek line where there was plenty of wood available. There were a couple of light showers while we were setting up but it than cleared to another cold but fine night. With corellas roosting all around us we cooked dinner and then Amanda made the group dessert of Apple, apricot, craisin, coconut crumble served with custard.
It was a contented group that swagged it that night.

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 11 - 15th July

We headed towards 'Beltana' (on the old Ghan) where the buildings are starting to be restored and some are occupied.


Restored Mission building


Ruins at Beltana

The old railway station is now a private residence which in some ways is disappointing but at least means the building is being preserved.


Restored and private residence - Old Ghan station

From Beltana on what was becoming a dull showery day we headed off in the direction of Sliding Rock copper mine, we met another Aulro member who was heading back from Warraweena ? and was travelling in company with a D3/4?


Aulro member turn up anywhere


Sliding Rock Hotel and Shop


Old shafts dot the area

After a good look around Sliding Rock we headed back to Beltana and then north through Puttapa Gap out onto the main drag sand up to Leigh Creek for resupplies, washing and a shower.
A late lunch was had in Leigh Creek before a trip into Copley to avail ourselves of the cheaper fuel and a beer at the pub.
Enquiring as to a place to camp nearby we were directed to some ruins and a bore a few km out of town, most likely on mine land, but unfenced. We had been informed that there was no night shift on that night so things should be quiet.
As it turned out the information was correct and we got a good night sleep after having a jaffle for dinner due to our late lunch.

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Day 12 - 16th July

Today had us leaving our camp near Copley and Heading to Lydhurst where we stopped at the pub for coffee/tea, before heading off to Marree via Farina. At Farina the underground bakery was operating as it was school holidays, we had a good look around before availing ourselves of a beautiful fresh cream bun made on the spot.


Ruins of the Transcontinental Hotel


Bells Store

I had figured that most ruins like these had been deliberately pushed over or materials salvaged for other reasons, but at Farina the main cause of failure is salt, working its way into the cement used and attacking and weakening the bond - learn something every day!

Farina was a major stock terminus set up as part of the Kidman empire to enable his cattle to get to market, in 1909 18000 head moved through Farina. Farina also boasted large sheep handling yards as well, and served properties through to Cordillo Downs.


Restored Sheep truck at the loading ramp

From Farina it was only a relatively short hop to Marree for lunch and a beer


Obligatory photo lined up outside the pub

After lunch it was further up the Oodnadatta track passing 'planehenge' which has grown considerably since last time I passed through this way (2000) and addition sculptures have been added.



Planehenge sculptures

We progressed further north before turning west over the old Ghan easement near Gregory Creek and camping adjacent to one of the old bridges.

Camp for the night

Ghan Bridge
It's interesting how much the level of the creek bed has eroded down since the footings for the bridge were poured.


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 13 - 17th July

Getting away from camp early we pulled into Lake Eyre south as a group of English women were just about to leave. They had camped just up the track and headed out to the lake to get some sunrise shots, they said it was bloody cold around dawn, they were probably right as it was still blowing well from the south and cold when we arrived.


Much more interpretive signage around now

After a quick look at Lake Eyre south we headed north pulling in at Curdimurka, years ago this used to be the scene for the biennial "Curdimurka Ball" raising money for the Ghan restoration projects. The shower at the base of the water softening tower is long gone, and the tower which I once climbed is in a sorry state. A look around meant a quick trip down to the bridge over Margaret (Kadlongaroo) Creek,


Still a long way from anywhere


Curdimurka tank, tower and shower, the bore is now capped


Margaret Creek Bridge

Heading further up the track, just north of Coward Springs we pulled in at one of the mound springs, it was nearly dry a sign of the lower pressures in the artesian basin, or maybe this one has reached the end of its life.


Mound Spring

After stopping at Beresford we headed to William Creek for lunch of fish and chips and a beer, before moving to Edward Creek to camp for the night. There a some graves located beside the old railway next to the bridge, but despite searching I haven't been able to find any info on whos graves they are.


Edward Creek

Edward Creek - Old Ghan


Camp for the night

The graves are just out of pic to the right near the top of the embankment.

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Day 14/15 - 18th/19th July

After another rather cool night (and no ghost visits) we headed further up the Oodnadatta track, stopping briefly at Warrina siding ruins, there isn't much to see anymore but a plaque has been placed to commemorate the "Elder Expedition" that departed from Warrina in 1891 to begin a 6886km journey that was to end at the Murchison River in WA 12 months later. Some of the feats accomplished by the early explorers just leave me in awe.
From Warrina we headed to Algebuckina bridge for morning tea and a poke around, the Algebuckina bridge is the longest on the old Ghan route.



Algebuckina Bridge

From Algebuckina we headed into Oodnadatta to pick up a part that had been posted out, the vacuum pump on the puma was weeping oil and this was a precaution against further problems. As it was the pump made the whole trip in the parts store. We arrived in Oodnadatta to learn the news that Malaysian airlines MH17 had been shot down, this was basically the only news we heard for the whole trip until we reached Copley on the return leg.

From Oodnadatta it was out via Hamilton to Pedirka, where our intention was to head north along the Old Ghan. At Pedirka it was noticed that the 6x6 was leaking oil from the axle cap on one of the rears, it turned out the cap had been cracked, and was quickly replaced.


Marking its territory

We headed along the old Ghan but only made some 400m before we were stopped by a fence across the line. We had considered that this may eventuate so decided to head back to Hamilton and continue north to Eringa waterhole to camp.


Campsite at Eringa waterhole

Eringa was to be a 2 day camp (for something different) before we headed into the Simpson proper, and gave us a chance for another shower. Eringa turned out to be a very pleasant stopover, with galahs, corellas, and budgies nesting all around us. We had an attempt at fixing the leak in Shortys water bladder in the 6x6 - unsuccessfully, meaning we had to be a little more frugal with water.



Desert birdlife



Enjoying life

Eringa waterhole


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 16 - 20th July

Starting off from Eringa waterhole we headed towards Abminga siding, taking note of a few reasonable campsites along the way, on our previous trip (2008) through here it had appeared rather barren and with a lack of camping potential, but this trip we had approached from the SW as opposed from the SE.


Eringa reflections

From Abminga we headed off towards Charlotte Waters across the NT/SA border, stopping at the survey post and taking a few pics while seeing if we could spot any additional border posts. On our last trip through this way we had followed the Ghan route from Abminga through to Finke.


Border reference marks


Border post
No doubt my distant past survey experience makes these interesting to me.

At Abminga the have been new tracks graded around the yards which unfortunately have destroyed some of the old infrastructure of the rail siding.


Made from old 44s


Remnants of Abminga siding

At Charlotte Waters we turned east towards Mt Dare. The track from Charlotte Waters to Mt Dare doesn't follow the route shown on the latest 250k mapping, either way it's a fairly ordinary road. Mt Dare was our lunch stop, a pie some chips, beer and followed with a magnum ice cream , and where we took on a full fuel load at $2.45 a litre. At least for me it was only an additional 120 litres, into the tanks and jerry cans.


Lunch Stop

From Mt Dare it was off towards Dalhousie on some of the worse roads I've travelled on corrugated and rock strewn, probably not helped by the fact we were on the end of school holiday where there had been 60 vehicles a day through Mt Dare heading into the desert, we made our way to Christmas (3'o'clock) Creek to camp and refill water tanks from the supply there (good bore water) stopping at O'possum creek on the way.
As we pulled into the camp site Shorty advised us that he was unable to select any gears, he must have had a bad case of deja-vu after doing a clutch at camp 14 on the madigan line in 2006. Investigation showed that the box was in neutral but the gearstick wouldn't move, so out came the floor and off with the top of the gearbox enough to show the selectors were all crossed up.
By now it was dark and being fairly down Shorty made the call "bugger it lets have a beer and look in the morning".


Bugger

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Day 17 - 21st July

"Bugger it lets have a beer and look in the morning", was in the end a good call. Over night things cooled down the stresses relieved and in the morning Shorty was able to line everything up, check gears were OK and we reassembled the floor back into the 6x6. A quick check around the vehicles revealed a couple of loose drive flanges, which were tightened. After a cup of tea we were under way at around 1130 taking the short trip to Dalhousie for a splash in the spring, and making this our lunch stop.
After lunch we headed off again on a severely corrugated road.

Not far from where this video was taken potential disaster struck. I noticed a light flash on the dash and reached down to knock the handbrake off, as it often creeps slightly and brings the light on. The light however didn't go off and I realised it was the oil pressure light. Quickly switching off the engine and pulling over I opened the bonnet and pulled the dipstick, not a drop of oil showing. Looking around there was oil covering the right hand side of the block all through the engine bay and all over the right front suspension. - The trip was over.

After taking a few deep breaths Shorty noticed the oil cooler line had come adrift from the oil pump - literally the union had unscrewed from the oil pump.
Nothing to lose it was refitted and the engine filled with oil and started, to say I was apprehensive would have been a major understatement, but I had only been doing around 40kph in 4th at the time,and the engine hadn't been loaded up at all. --- there were no undue noises, or leaks so we headed further east along the track to Purnie Bore.

Purnie has been further restricted with hardly any water around now, compared to 2008 when we were last there.


Purnie in 2008


Purnie in 2014

I suppose in reality they are returning the area to its original state prior to any drilling, although I would still prefer the wetland.

We headed off again and camped for the night about 6km east of Purnie bore.

Looking back, with getting Shortys 6x6 under way that morning was one of the only days I didn't do the normal vehicle checks before pulling out.



Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 18 - 22nd July

Getting underway from camp we headed towards Birdsville along the French line, eventually we cleared some of the corrugations and reached some sandy sections, what the desert is supposed to be like. I had basically decided that this would probably be the last time I would travel east from Dalhousie, as it is obviously becoming too popular and frankly wasn't enjoyable travelling along the route, so not a lot of point unless there is a specific objective (or most likely until the next time).
We stopped for morning tea at the rig road junction, and continued on stopping for lunch at the junction with the Colson track, here we spoke with a couple of guys from Cairns that were "doing something different from the cape"
After they departed we headed north up the Colson track (permits in hand)

Lunch is served


Border

We headed past the old Colson No1 oil well not long after crossing the NT-SA border, where we duly secured one of our Edjits tags. We were making steady progress as travelling between the dunes on a relatively 'unused' track was a delight. Camp for the night was about 60km north of the French line.


Edjits tag

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Day 19 23rd July

With morning showers arriving around 6am, and after hunkering down in the swag for a while we were up around 7 and made up the swag before it got any wetter. With breakfast out of the way we moved further up the Colson. We realised that we had probably picked the best site to camp out of a poor bunch as there was no flat gound or wood for the next 30 or 40km.


No more flat ground


Footprints on the dune

Just prior to arriving at our turn off point we came across a star picket with a bottle attached, it was probably a marker for another groups departure point of some other significant point, it was being used as a 'visitors book', after adding an Edjits card to the collection as well as another Edjits tag we headed further down the track, before turning east for Geosurveys Hill.

A number of the early dune tested us, probably due to our rustiness and we were still fine tuning tyre pressures. Lunch was had at the top of a dune, and a number of dunes later Vince scored dual punctures (both rears), the delay this caused us made us stop for an early camp, for repairs to tyres. I transferred fuel from the jerry cans on the roofrack to the main tank. This interdunal swale was pretty devoid of any vegetation as a result of the fires a couple of years earlier. The dunny was located behind the only bush in the area. (good job none of us are real 'prudes').


Possibly the most isolated and exposed dunny in the country

The area must previously been used as a survey camp as there was a single 44 gallon drum and a 'Geosurveys' marker on a gal pipe marked with "Geosurveys HT/Lat - N20". Had the area been fully vegetated with spinifex it's doubtful we would have found the marker. Only making 12 km across the dunes made us think the run to Geosurveys may take a bit longer that anticipated.


Survey? marker

We placed another star picket with an Edjits tag a few metres away from the (assumed) survey mark.

Tonights camp was under a brilliant star filled sky, making satellite spotting an easy task - one of the few really clear nights for the trip, to this point.

Martyn

[Bushie]

More to follow

[steve b]

great write up Bushie , and what a fantastic trip . Nice to see pics of bits of the old Ghan , that was an engineering

feat of its time across what was still unexplored land at the time I believe ?

looking forward to part 2

cheers

Steveb

[Happyoldgit]

Excellent, looking forward to the next installment

[Bushie]

Day 20 - 24th July

Breaking camp we were heading towards an old fuel/maintenance camp reportedly in the middle of the area, when we stopped for morning tea we realised we had missed the fuel dump and gone a dune too far, going back was going to be difficult heading west so we set off on foot. As it turned out we had gone past it by two dunes and around 1km to the north.
When we made it to the camp we found it was "Geosurveys Base A" with a marker tag attached to a star picket.


Gravity Base A

On the way out from the cars I turned to Amanda and said "Damn I forgot to lock the car - could you duck back and lock it" She'd half turned before she realised I was having a lend of her and muttered a few 'words' back to me


Wandering down to Base A

The fuel dump had plenty of relics from earlier exploration,


Reinforcing for something ?? - any ideas ?


Quality galvanised 44s

Later in the day as we crested a dune we were met with what we considered a most unusual sight for the middle of the Simpson - a mob of roos, I think they are probable doomed to live out there days in this small area of vegetation, - we hadn't seen any surface water for days, and there are vast areas with almost zero vegetation.


Roo's in the Simpson

Camp for the night was in another very open swale, but "Shortys Bar and Grill" was open.

Shortys bar and Grill

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Day 21 25th July

Today had us heading towards some interdunal lakes that were shown on the map as just west of Geosurveys Hill, we arrived at the first at around 11:46 where another survey marker and rock cairn was located as well as a hand stamped plaque, by Reg Sprigg. The plaque had the following stamped onto it

Geosurveys Gravity Base Station T19 Lat/Long, Erected by RC, GA,FM, & DP Sprigg 4-9-64, Beach Petroleum NL 1962



Gravity Base Station T19


Colour altered to shown stamping

We headed further east across another dry lake and stopped to look around, there was evidence (at least to us) of aboriginal stone chips in the area as well as rocks that appeared to be arranged in patterns and lines.


Evidence of aboriginal occupation

Over a couple more dunes and our target for the day came into view - Geosurveys Hill

As a favour Vince had some plaques of our own made, so we placed one on the top of Geosurveys Hill with the others.


Lonely place


Group pic


Retrieving Washs message

One of our group (Wash) had withdrawn at the last minute because of a medical issue, we retrieved a message left for him by the Victorian Land Rover club


The way we came

From Geosurveys Hill we struck out to the south heading towards the geographic centre of the Simpson, things were going OK the Landy was still running well. Camp for the evening was in a very small and sparse group of dead corkwood trees that had been killed by the fires. After dinner I tried my hand at capturing the milky way - the photos don't do an outback night sky justice.


Desert Sky


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 22 - 26th July

From camp we headed further south down the swales across some really rough patches, until we headed east again towards the geographic centre, again we arrived around lunch time and placed the other of our 'formal' Edjits plaques.
On 99% of days we would pull up for morning tea around 10-1030 and fire up the eco-billies. It became a bit of a competition to see who could bring theirs to the boil fastest, water content was generally irrelevant.


Morning tea contest




Geographic Centre of The Simpson

Through out the trip we had seen little wildlife, and so far hadn't seen a camel. Around the periphery there had been roos and emus but little once we entered the desert except for the small group of roos that took us by surprise, just before Geosurveys. There had been a few skeletons of various animals, mainly camel bones.


At least this feral cat wouldn't kill any more native animals

Camp for the night was again in a swale almost devoid of any wood, although we always seemed to find enough for a fire.


Sandscape


Camp for the night

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Day 23 - 27th July

Heading south from our camp we came across an old exploration maintenance camp with associated 'junk' left lying around. It would be hard to imagine anything like this happening in todays 'environment'



Exploration camp - some good chrome on them rams

After decided that heading a couple of dunes to the west should place us on an old shot line, that would allow us better travel. This however proved to be easier said than done, with some of the dunes being almost impossible to get back over from the east. At one dune both 110s made it over but the 130 struggled and eventually had to head a couple of km further south to where the dune merged with others to find a place to get over. After one particularly difficult dune we walked to the top and were presented with a large gidgee swale, fantastic firewood that we hadn't seen to some time, that made up our minds - an early camp as it was Christmas Day.


The tops of some dunes were difficult to get over


Shortys Bar and Grill - Open for business


Pre Dinner Drinks and nibbles

After pre-dinner drinks at Shortys Bar and Grill we set about preparing the roast for Christmas dinner, two pork roasts with veges to be followed by Christmas pudding flamed with brandy and served with a brandy custard, all lubricated with bottles of wine and champagne, finished off with some home distilled Arak that one of the group had been given. Secret Santa visited just before dinner and gifts were exchanged, around the Christmas tree (appropriately decorated with tinsel), bon bons were pulled and we all wore the paper hats whilst exchanging the jokes (What is the longest word in the english language - SMILES - there's a mile between the first and last letters)


Christmas Dinner


Complete with Christmas Pudding

It was a very full and contented group that hit their respective beds that night.


Christmas in July camp


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 24 - 28th July

First order of the day was breakfast, there were a couple of fragile heads in camp. From the few leftovers from the meal the night before we mashed up the veges, chopped the meat, mixed the lot with some eggs and cooked up a giant frittata type of breakky.


Breakfast is ready

After all the camp ovens were cleaned and everything packed away we left one of our "Edjits" tags attached to a star picket next to a tree and headed off to the south following a faint set of wheel tracks. The afternoon before we had looked around the claypan and through the gidgee stand and hadn't been able to see any evidence of anyone camping here before.

Heading south we hit the french line about mid afternoon but not before some of the most difficult dune crossings so far involving snatching and winching to get everyone over. One thing that stood out was the 6x6 was pretty much unstoppable - provided you didn't need to turn . At the French line we left another "Edjits: tag on another star picket, and one at the NT/SA border on the way through (we knew the 6x6 had carried these for a reason).


Helping hand


French line - Edjit route interchange

Heading east across the french line was pretty much a doddle with most being done in high 2 or 3. A couple of dunes were a little bit more of a problem but we were making good time and found another area of gidgee to camp amongst with plenty of wood around. After setting up camp and as a result of noticing a bit of pad knockback I quickly adjusted the front wheel bearings up getting maybe 1/10 of a turn.

Vince decided that tonight would be pizza night so a dough was made up and set down next to the fire to rise. Various pizzas were made and cooked in the 5 gallon drum Vince had picked up at the old fuel dump, it took a couple of pizzas to get them perfect but all were eaten without any complaints.


Chenz's Simpson Pizzaria

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Day 25 - 29th July

After making up the gear from camp we headed east towards Poeppel corner with one duen giving us a bit of a problem before we realised there was a substantial bypass track that we had missed, still after dropping a few more psi from my tyres I was over and on the way again.


French Line


Doing it easy

When we arrived at Poeppel corner there were probably 30 other vehicles already there, it was a fairly warm day ~32deg so we pulled the awning and made lunch, did the usual photo at the corner before moving on.
From Poeppels we headed south down the K1 line making camp some 50km south of the corner in the last stand of gidgee we were to see for a while. Fixing a couple of punctures was the first thing to do before "Shortys bar and grill" opened for the evening. Plans were made for our attempt to get to a confluence point the following day.

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 26 - 30th July

When the trip had originally been planned we were going to head out to Kalamurina from Mungerannie, but as things got closer we found that a couple of confluence point hadn't been visited so we made the decision to visit one of these if we had sufficient fuel.
We were going to have plenty of fuel between us, even if it meant sharing it around a bit, so the confluence visit was on. When we arrived at the rig road which had been newly graded, we headed west to one of the dry lakes then turned along the shoreline and headed towards the confluence.


Rig Road junction


Tracks on the dune


Cross Country again

After running approx 25km down between dunes and lakes over some soft ground that was getting softer the further south we went, we reached a point where we would have to turn west if we were going to reach the confluence point. We had been running beside a huge dune for most of the time, so it was crunch time. After a discussion amongst ourselves we made the decision to abandon the quest for the confluence.
This was on a couple of grounds, the dunes were very large at this point and continuing meant battling the steep easterly face of an unknown number of dunes, the medical issue that had lead us to exit the northern Simpson was still simmering in the background, and we were a bit "duned out". We returned to the rig road and continued further down towards Warburton Creek camping at the crossing.


Around the salt lakes

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Day 27 - 31 July

Leaving camp at Warburton Creek we headed towards Mungerannie, which was to be our first fuel since leaving Mt Dare. At Mungerannie we refuelled and had a quick beer before heading further down 'the track' and Copley, our destination for the night.



A collection of Tom Kruse trucks


Pool at Mungerannie

Heading into Marree there was a fair wind blowing from the NW and quite a bit of dust being blown up. As we arrived in Copley a strong southerly change arrived and changed my mind about just throwing down the swag, instead we put the tent up for the night, showered and did some washing before heading up to the pub for "schnitzel night" and a few more beers.
Back at the tent the wind blew very strong all night, resulting in a somewhat interrupted nights sleep.

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 28 - 1 August

After packing up camp, we were just about to get some breakfast when Shortys 6x6 ran out of fuel while idling neat to the showers. That made breakfast a second priority, first being to get some fuel in (there was still 40 litres in jerries on the back) and then to get it going, this gave us a challenge - not being real familiar with the Isuzu engine however after a short time it was up and running and breakfast of poached eggs, bacon and toast was soon consumed with ample cups of tea. From the caravan park we picked up some of the tyres (with new tubes) refuelled at the local store, good to support the locals and fuel was cheaper than Leigh Creek. We headed into Leigh Creek to stock up with supplies to take us through to Louth, a quick coffee and then headed out to Balcanoona, and the Gammon Ranges NP. We picked up a load of firewood on the way before heading into Weetootla Gorge to camp.



Road to the Gammon Ranges
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Day 29 - 2 August

After a cold and windy night we headed out towards the Worturpa Loop track, this track loops through the Gammon Ranges, passing landmarks such as Oodnaminta Well, Worturpa Spring, Loch Ness well and Grindells Hut, originally we weren't planning on doing this loop, but having come this far it seemed ridiculous to not do the 4wd loop, as it turned out it was a very enjoyable track and well worth the extra few hours it took.


Waiting for the ice to melt


McTaggart Well


Grindells Hut (original)


The new 'hireable' Grindells Hut

From the Gammon Ranges we headed back out and north along the Copley - Mt Hopeless road back towards the Strzelecki track, we camped the night at Poontana Creek, at the head of Lake Frome.


"Danger Will Robinson Danger"


Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 30 - 3 August

From Poontana Creek it was a straightforward drive out to the Strzelecki which we hit just after morning tea, and pulled in behind a road train, luckily passing it was easy on the wide sections of the track (which is 90% of it). We headed to Yaningurie waterhole on Strzelecki creek for a look around and then tried to find the "old" road that ran along the NSW border projection, (along the 29deg latitude). One in the group had driven this in the late 70s, and it was shown on old maps but we were unable to find any evidence of the road, one promising track in nearly the right place finished at some yards and a fence. We did find a track that was heading NE but was no public access (it came out at Haydons Bore on the Merty Merty road) while it would have saved some kms we didn't know where it went at the time and was private anyhow.



Yaningurie Waterhole

Heading up towards Innamincka we took the Merty Merty road, which was in pretty poor condition very badly corrugated with numerous dune caps 'blown' out resulting in large holes on the crests. We arrived at Cameron Corner, and settled in for a few beers, camping behind a dune not far from the store (in Qld).

A bit rough
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Day 31 - 4 August

From Cameron Corner we headed east and then turned south at Waka heading down through Hewart Downs to Robbies Waterhole before turning east again to Milparinka, we camped the night at Depot Glen, although the waterhole was dry.



Robbies Waterhole

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 32 - 5 August

From camp at Depot Glen we headed out to Pooles Grave, and then up to the top of Mt Poole for a look at the Cairn, my last trip out this way in 1989 we couldn't located Depot Glen and had to camp elsewhere.


Sign at Depot Glen


Blazed tree by Sturt


Cairn on top of Mt Poole - built by Sturts men - to keep them occupied

After leaving Mt Poole we headed back into Milparinka to the pub for a nice hot $3 shower, this was the first time the pub had been open for any of my visits, previously it had been shut down.




Restored buildings in Milparinka

From Milparinka we headed east to Wanaaring, managing to score a goat on the way, a meal for the group after the Louth races. We camped for the night on a back water (well it would have been if there was water) of the Paroo river just north of town.

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Day 33 - 6 August

First job for the morning was to package the goat meat and get it distributed between the available fridges to keep cool, it was vacuum packed and put away and we headed south from Wanaaring towards Tongo stopping in at Nocoleche waterhole which is now part of the restricted entry Nocoleche nature reserve. The waterhole is the only 'day visit' part of the reserve open.
Continuing south we turned east at the Tongo homestead, and headed for Tilpa for lunch of fish and chips at the pub.


Packing goat


Nocoleche Waterhole


Tilpa Weir

Martyn

[Bushie]

Day 34-38 - 7-11 August

The official finish to our trips is at the Louth Races, from Tilpa its a quick 100km drive along the Darling to Louth, which had us arriving late morning ready to set up camp.
Here we were to meet up with Wash, who had unfortunately had to withdraw at the last minute. Ross (my son) and Maddy who had come up to meet us, Phil and Robyn, Shep and Craig, Trevour, and Phil.
Over the weekend we spent time at Shindys Inn, visited the school fete, the races (of course) and fishing in the Darling (only catching bloody carp).


Louth School fete


RAAF Balloon


Lost again


Happy Birthday Amanda

From Louth it was a long 800+km drive home on the Monday.

Another Edjits trip had come to an end.

Martyn

[Bushie]

Details of fuel used,



Individual L/100 mean nothing as I wasn't consistently filling, sometimes I would fill both tanks, sometimes I would run off the aux tank, but then only fill the main tank, and of course theres the jerry cans filled at Mt Dare that ended up with some left in them that was added to the main tank later.

Still $1600+ for 5 weeks and 7200+ km I think is OK

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Overview of the trip, with a couple of gaps.




Martyn