Well folks I took off to cross the Simpson Desert with another forum member who now drives a very capable Prado (Heata). Our plan was to travel West to East via Mt Dare to Birdsville.
Friday 28 June saw me go fron Trafalgar East to Bendigo via Bachus Marsh where I collected a mate.
We met up with Heata and his son on Saturday 29 June in Charlton and headed off together from there.
29/6 - Charlton to Renmark.
30/6 - Renmark to Parachilna (Prairie Hotel)
31/6 - Parachilna to Coward Springs
1/7 - Coward to campsite north of Oodnadatta
2/7 - campsite to Mt Dare.
3/7 - Mt Dare to Dalhousie and across the desert.
The desert trip took 3 nights with a short run to Big Red and Birdsville on the fourth day. We covered all the major tracks - French Line to Rig road then down to WAA Line and down again to Rig Road and back up via Knolls Track.
Generally the tracks were good but the advice we had from Mt Dare was that the French Line had been cut up by a crew of camper trailers. We certainly experienced some scalloping on the approach side of many dunes on the French and WAA.
8/7 - From Birdsville we zoomed to Leigh Creek - the road was in excellent condition.
9/7 - Leigh Creek to Mildura.
10/7 - Heata went from Mildura to Melbourne. I went from Mildura via Nathalia to drop my mate off and then down to Trafalgar East.
Both vehicles performed very well. The Bilstein shockers handling the going very well. Heata suffered a side wall puncture and a broken bracket on his front bash plate. Tyre replaced at Birdsville and bash plate hooked up with zip ties. My UHF lost the power to communicate over more than 200mtrs - I could hear okay but couldn't transmit - we replaced the aerial at Copley and the power connections at Mt Dare but it didn't get any better so I think a new unit is required!
I had four moments where I needed to back up and try again, and considering the number of dunes and the damage to some parts I think that was pretty good. Most 'moments' occured because of a lack of attention and not getting on the gas early enough.
We both only got stuck once - Heata on the WAA line and me on Big Red! The Prado climbed the middle track of Big Red but the Nav couldn't get the legs to get over so after three attempts and two blokes on the shovels to get me out on the third attempt I chose the easiest track and made it to the top. Speed and gear changes is the key and I was not prepared to get a huge run up and risk damage on the middle track. Heata having an auto and the power of the Prado certainly made a big difference.
Covered 4700km and spent $1020 on diesel. The best of the outback being $1.70 at Birdsville and the worst $2.20 at Mt Dare. UHF aerial cost $135. Heata's new tyre cost $400 (Cooper AT).
I carried 3 jerry containers of diesel and a full tank across the desert but only used about 85ltrs so one would have been enough - but better to be safe than sorry. Surprisingly the Nav and Prado had similar economy across the desert.
We saw a heap of dingoes and emus, and were lucky enough to see a camel along the French Line.
All in all a fantastic trip with great company, some great pub food (some not so good) and plenty of cheer.............and I exorcised the demons from our attempt in 2012.
Here is a link to my photos.
http://s717.photobucket.com/user/Bartess/slideshow/Simpson Desert July 2013
.
Friday 28 June saw me go fron Trafalgar East to Bendigo via Bachus Marsh where I collected a mate.
We met up with Heata and his son on Saturday 29 June in Charlton and headed off together from there.
29/6 - Charlton to Renmark.
30/6 - Renmark to Parachilna (Prairie Hotel)
31/6 - Parachilna to Coward Springs
1/7 - Coward to campsite north of Oodnadatta
2/7 - campsite to Mt Dare.
3/7 - Mt Dare to Dalhousie and across the desert.
The desert trip took 3 nights with a short run to Big Red and Birdsville on the fourth day. We covered all the major tracks - French Line to Rig road then down to WAA Line and down again to Rig Road and back up via Knolls Track.
Generally the tracks were good but the advice we had from Mt Dare was that the French Line had been cut up by a crew of camper trailers. We certainly experienced some scalloping on the approach side of many dunes on the French and WAA.
8/7 - From Birdsville we zoomed to Leigh Creek - the road was in excellent condition.
9/7 - Leigh Creek to Mildura.
10/7 - Heata went from Mildura to Melbourne. I went from Mildura via Nathalia to drop my mate off and then down to Trafalgar East.
Both vehicles performed very well. The Bilstein shockers handling the going very well. Heata suffered a side wall puncture and a broken bracket on his front bash plate. Tyre replaced at Birdsville and bash plate hooked up with zip ties. My UHF lost the power to communicate over more than 200mtrs - I could hear okay but couldn't transmit - we replaced the aerial at Copley and the power connections at Mt Dare but it didn't get any better so I think a new unit is required!
I had four moments where I needed to back up and try again, and considering the number of dunes and the damage to some parts I think that was pretty good. Most 'moments' occured because of a lack of attention and not getting on the gas early enough.
We both only got stuck once - Heata on the WAA line and me on Big Red! The Prado climbed the middle track of Big Red but the Nav couldn't get the legs to get over so after three attempts and two blokes on the shovels to get me out on the third attempt I chose the easiest track and made it to the top. Speed and gear changes is the key and I was not prepared to get a huge run up and risk damage on the middle track. Heata having an auto and the power of the Prado certainly made a big difference.
Covered 4700km and spent $1020 on diesel. The best of the outback being $1.70 at Birdsville and the worst $2.20 at Mt Dare. UHF aerial cost $135. Heata's new tyre cost $400 (Cooper AT).
I carried 3 jerry containers of diesel and a full tank across the desert but only used about 85ltrs so one would have been enough - but better to be safe than sorry. Surprisingly the Nav and Prado had similar economy across the desert.
We saw a heap of dingoes and emus, and were lucky enough to see a camel along the French Line.
All in all a fantastic trip with great company, some great pub food (some not so good) and plenty of cheer.............and I exorcised the demons from our attempt in 2012.
Here is a link to my photos.
http://s717.photobucket.com/user/Bartess/slideshow/Simpson Desert July 2013
.
Last edited:
