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 Post subject: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:14 am 
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The Sydney Jeep Club is running a Mini-Simpson Desert Trip during the NSW July School Holiday period (Saturday the 3rd through Friday the 16th of July). The route is Broken Hill, Wilpena Pound, Marree, Lake Eyre, Birdsville Track, Poeppel Corner (via the Warburton if track conditions permitting), Birdsville, Big Red, Innaminka, Old Strezlecki Track, Cameron's Corner, Tibooburra, White Cliffs).

There are no fees for this trip, other than your Desert Park Pass, self catering, fuel and camping fees (ie this is not a tag along). Trip is being led by an SJC member who has experience on this route, and is a club sanctioned trip.

At present we have eight vehicle owners having lodged expressions of interest, and there will be a mix of vehicle types: KJs, JKs, diesels mainly at this point.

Campertrailers are permitted but should not attempt the Warburton (if open), alternative arrangements are being made for the campertrailer group to proceed directly to Birdsville camp (if the Warburton is open - which we do not really expect at this point given the rain presently filling up the rivers in Qld).

Any LOST members who are interested in coming along on this trip just let me know and provide an email address via PM so that I can send you an Intinerary.

:JEEPIN:


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:37 pm 
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This could be a Good little trip for a CRD KJ.... :mrgreen:

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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:55 pm 
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You would be more than welcome cmohr, and we have all the spares you could need.


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:23 am 
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I thought I would update this as it has been some time. We have eight confirmed vehicles with another six as maybe's with a decision by them to be confirmed by the 5th of May (when we order the Desert Park Passes).

The state of the tracks in the Simpson is in a word 'flooded' still. Birdsville track has only just been reopened in the past few days for 4WD travel only and we believe they are using the ferry/punt to cross the Cooper (that would be an experience).

SA Roads predicts many of the tracks will be closed until late May or even early June. Corner Country is cutoff. We are making contingency plans for alternate routes. Many of the well travelled tracks simply don't exist anymore or have had signifcant washouts and will need regrading.

Its fairly certain we will be able to get to Birdsville from the south in early July and how far west we can get from there is a big question. Current thinking is a bush camp on Eyre Creek (River or Lake) west of Big Red as far as wew can get. Much of that will be determined by the state of the clay pans at that time. As Lake Eyre doesn't drain anywhere it has to back up into its tributaries and spread out over the countryside.

I spoke to a Tagalong operator at the big Camping Show at Rosehill over the weekend and he is scheduled a group to do a crossing but is about to cancel it or offer them a re-route. Many tagalong guys seem to be giving the Simpson a miss this year, or converting the trips to South Lake Eyre and southern bypasses.

If we can't get out of Birdsville to the Corner Country we will probably go north to the Dingo Caves and work back south and east from there. There is still alot of time for things to dry out, just pray that there is no more water coming down from Qld.


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:03 am 
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Getting close now (4 weeks). Last SJC meeting tonight (before departure). Everyone is ready to go now. Still a few little things to do. The big news is that the Cooper Creek flood has now reached down to the Birdsville track crossing and there is 200mm of water spread out over a kilometre of the track where the Cooper Creek crosses above Etadunna. The water was slowed because it had to fill the lakes above before it spilled into the lower end of the Cooper. They will be offically closing the Birdsville track in the next few days as the water continues to rise and cuts all the bypass tracks. The punt is being made ready and SA Roads will begin operation of the ferry service when the depth reaches 1 metre. We assume they have built a loading bank to load and unload on but its still going to be a messy proposition gettting on and off. The punt only carries two vehicles at a time. They expect to have to operate the punt for a couple of months. Certainly going to be an adventure. I can just imagine the queue at the punt loading point.

Eight Jeeps still going: a couple of KJ CRDs, a couple of JK Unlimted CRDs, a petrol JK, a petrol ZJ, and an XJ, with a ring-in Pathfinder for the parents of one of the Jeep people.

I'm writing a trip report so there will be plenty of stuff to report back (and photos).

Here is the ABC news report on the flood cutting the Birdsville Track (and illegal fishing in the desert!)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 914644.htm


As Big Kev said "I'm Excited". :BANANA:


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:03 am 
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KJs heading everywhere - Ten more sleeps till departure. :BANANA:


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:29 am 
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My son is leaving Dysart at dawn tomorrow in his JK Unlimited to head down for the convoy meet up in Cobar. Other SJC members leaving Wollongong tomorrow, with the rest of us heading off early Saturday. I'll be 'off the air' most likely the entire time, returning on the 19th. Cleared the memory card on my camera so I'll try to capture some KJ desert moments. :JEEPIN:


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:42 am 
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Location: Bundaberg
Have a safe trip, relax and just enjoy the scenery.

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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:03 pm 
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Well we're back, or some of us are anyway. What an epic trip with all sorts of dramas. We had a few Jeep related problems but nothing affecting the KJs.

My son met up with the convoy at Cobar and the trip down through Broken Hill to Yunta was the usual goat, roo, and emu dodging, especially at sunset. Up through Waukaringa ruins, Erudina Woolshed, to Wilpena campground. The Flinders on the whole were fantastic and we had time to go through Sacred Canyon and the Brachina Gorge.

Image

Out through Blinman airing up again at Parachilna for the run up to Copely. Great time in the Copely Pub (this was rapidly turning inot the outback pub crawl). Back north through Liegh Creek mine site, and airing down again for the trip up to Farina, and Maree. We set up camp at Muloorina, and went out to Lake Eyre (Level Post Bay) to have diner on top of the dunes to watch the sunset. Coming back to Muloorina in the dark on that track was 'interesting'. The first of the ZJ sterring problems emerged there (tie rod bolts vibrated loose on the extreme corrugations and steering was affected). Back out the next day to the Birdsville track to Etadunna (where we took the ferry bypass road). The ferry was a great experience and we were pretty lucky to only have to wait about an hour and a half. The traffic on the northern side was backed up significantly (like never less than 16 vehicles). The ferry only takes one vehicle at a time. The wait gave us time to do a 'bush alignment' on the ZJ. On to Mungerannie for the night, and another pub experience. Completed the Birdsville track next day and spent a total of three days around Birdsville. Second day there we went out to Eyre Creek via Big Red. There is so much water up there that bypass tracks have been cut to allow access. Lake Nappanerica was spread out completely blocking direct access to Big Red. We took the bypasss track around the southern end of the lake (which took over an hour of bouncing - it was literally cross country driving and no prepared in anyway). Climbed Big Red and then set off west acrocss the dunes to Eyre Creek. THe dune west of Big Red was also blocked by clay pan flooding so another bypass was taken. Conditions over the dunes going west were fanstastic with the desert very green and vegetation crowding in on the track in most places. At Eyre Creek we went up the bypass for some distance and had a lunch stop where the wild flowers and budgies were in adundance. We had a look at the Eryre Creek Crossing but it was just too deep for even the highest clearance vehicle that we had with us - so the decision was made to return across the dunes back to spend some time playing on Big Red. Our ZJ owner won the distinction of launching his ZJ into space over the top of the steepest climb on Big Red. He charged up and lept into the air with a clear two metres of space under the vehicles before crashing back on the down side (which again must have affected his steering rack).

After a layday in Birdsville for Pub/hotel and bakery duties, we headed down the Cordillo Downs Road to Innamincka. This was a great road (once out of the Sturt Stoney Desert area) and we set up camp at the Top Common at Innamincka and had another great pub diner. That night (last Monday/Tuesday morning early) the heavens opened and we had 2 1/2" of rain in about two hours between 2:30am and 4am and then it rained all day Tuesday. We were totally cutoff (even from the hotel). The Cooper Creek flooded there and all the floodways and creeks feeding it were impassable. A Bravo Ute managed to hydro lock his engine trying to cross one of the floodways. We sat there camped in thick mud for a couple of days until the creek went down enough for the snorkel equipped vehicles to get through to the hotel. All the tracks into and out of Innamincka were closed. Finally on Friday the tracks started to be re-opened, first the Strzelecki to Lyndhurst (which was the wrong direction for us). On Saturday morning with the pressures of Monday work commitments, most fo the group took off down the reopened track to Cameron Corner and hopefully on to Tibooburra. My son and I decided to wait and see if we could get on the Nappa Merrie track (and thus the Adventure Way to Cunnamulla) as that was the shortest route to pavement and he had to be back Sunday night for a work function at Dysart. At 10:15am on Saturday (and hour after the main group left for Cameron Corner) the Nappa Merrie road was reopened and my son and I were the first ones on to it. It was a very hard slog for the first couple of hours and the area around the Cullyamerra Water Hole was just a sea of mud. We did get through Ok but my son's unlifted JK Unlimited had some real problems with dragging itself through the mud (thanks to the torque of the diesel he made it without needing a muddy recovery). Once we got onto the pavement near the Ballera Gas Centre it was smooth sailing on to Cunnamulla. My son headed north from there to overnight in Charleville and I stayed in Cunnamulla and did the whole run down to Sydney from there on Sunday. Meanwhile, the main group made ti to Tibbooburra after what sounds like a fairly tough trip (mud the whole way from Innamincka). Some stayed there, the nutcases headed south on the SIlver City Highway to try to get back to Broken Hill to head back to Sydney. The next day (Sunday) as I was heading down the Mitchell Highway the rest of the Tibooburra group tried to take the dirt road from Tibbooburra to Bourke to get to the pavement. The petrol XJ blew a head gasket as they got to Nevertire and was 'toast'. Luckily his wifes parent in their Pathfinder were on the trip and took them on from there. The XJ was last seen on a truck headed for Narromine. The trip leader stopped in Dubbo due to fatique, no idea where the Broken Hill group got to, but both my son and I were home safely last night.

I have heaps of photos to go through as does my son and I will try to add them into this in the next day or so. It's going to take me a week to get all the mud and sand off the KJ.

Ok rather than post individual links in here I thought I would try to post my photobucket album link for the trip instead. Let's see if this works (only some photos here for testing purposes).

http://s555.photobucket.com/albums/jj45 ... ip%202010/

Ok it works but the photos are in reverse order, so if you look at the second page (last ones first) you'll get the sequence. If you hit the orange slideshow button on the upper right it will enlarge the photos and show them in order.

Whew, I need a rest. :JEEPIN:


Last edited by Glend on Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:40 am, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:56 am 
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Sounds like an Adventure.. Well done, see, the KJ did it with ease hey!!! Good to hear you didnt have any real mis-adventures, the weather, you cant control it, good that you had a group to last thru it.

Nice report, will have to wait tillI gets home to see some pics..

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SOME SAY

I'm Toight... Toight lik a Toiger.

And

When I go to the Toilet, Chuck Norris is there to tear the squares off for me.

"Pass me another one Chuck, and keep em coming!! On sencond thoughts..Go get the hose"


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:23 am 
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Hi Glen,
Welcome home Glen,sounds like a fun trip great experence wish I was there .Good to see the mighty KJ's made it without trouble. Great photo's as well.
Cheers
James
frog


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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:37 pm 
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Look like u had a great time Glen.....well done. Must compare notes next time we catch up

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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2011 5:42 am 
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Great Pics!!!

Looks like you saw some awesome countryside!!

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 Post subject: Re: Simpson Desert Trip July 2010
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:23 am 
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I looked at the pictures now and I have to admit: They are awesome. I've never been to a desert yet but it looks like a fascinating place! The sunset is incredibly beautiful (where the clouds have a nearly hot pink color!)! A friend of mine told me a story that he once ordered wild flowers from the desert from a flower delivery for his garden in the backyard. He likes to breed unusual flowers... well, I think they must be more interesting to look in the desert :)


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