3 Corners & a Double Simpson Desert Crossing - Day 6

Day 6 - 28/3/2016 - Simpson Desert Camp 1 to Poeppel Corner and Camp 2

It was a slightly earlier start because we wanted to try and make as much distance as possible today.  Also the temperature was also staring to climb so packing up while it was cool made it a lot more comfortable.

Campsite by morning

3 Corners & a Double Simpson Desert Crossing - Day 4

Day 4 - 26/3/2016 - Cameron Corner to Haddon Corner

The wind finally started to ease off and it started to cool down a little in the hours leading up to dawn.  That was about the only respite we received from the temperature.  Even when we started packing up fairly early in the morning you could feel the temperature starting to rise.

My Camp

Oz Trip - Day 123

Day 123 – 1/9/2012 – Karratha

Since arriving in Derby I had been chasing a replacement axillary battery tray to replace the one in the Pajero that had been welded up twice. After making a few calls from the Pardoo Roadhouse I managed to track one down at Karratha. So that was going to be our next destination.

First stop on the way to Karratha was Port Hedland. We were only doing a drive around the town as we weren't stopping overnight.

A salt stockpile on the way into town

Oz Trip - Day 114 to 121

Day 114 to 121 – 23/8/2012 to 30/8/2012 – Broome (again)

The camper had been fixed and we were able to pick it up at 8am. After picking it up we went back to the Hotel to repack everything back into the camper. After checking out and on our way out of town we had to swing past the van park to pick up all of our frozen food out of the camp kitchen freezer in the van park. The bar fridge in the Hotel wasn't big enough to hold all of our frozen meat.

Boabs up the main street of Derby

Oz Trip - Day 107

Day 107 – 16/8/2012 – Middle Lagoon

We were able to change the dates and type of our accommodation from a camp site to a cabin so we packed up and headed to Middle Lagoon. On the way to Middle Lagoon we stopped off at Beagle Bay to check out the church. We don't normally visit churches, but this one appeared in the movie 'Bran Nue Dae' and the church is decorated with and the alter is made out of mother-of-pearl shells.

The Beagle Bay Church

Oz Trip - Day 100 to 103

Day 100 to 103 – 9/8/2012 to 12/8/2012 – Derby

Basically not much over the next couple of days. Catching up on jobs, blog posts, working out what we would need to take out of the camper because we will be leaving it behind for a few days and heading to Broome.

The CARP Resurfaces! (on the black and white sign)

Oz Trip - Day 53

Day 53 – 23/6/2012 – Bitter Springs and Mataranka

After being pretty worn out from the day before we had a bit of a sleep in. After breakfast we headed off to Bitter Springs for a swim. The water in Bitter Springs is a constant 34deg. So no where near as hot as Lightening Ridge and not as cool as at Coward Springs.

Also at Bitter Springs there is a bit of a current so that you can lazily float down stream. The best way to do this is with a pool noodle which can be rented for a massive $1 from the Bitter Springs van park. The experience was fantastic. The water was so clear it was unbelievable. Luckily there weren't that many people in the springs. Unfortunately you had to get out of the warm water and run back up the path for a 100m or so which was pretty chilly in the wind.

Bitter Springs

Oz Trip - Day 52

Day 52 – 22/6/2012 – Mataranka

The wind blew up during the night. It was so strong that it was rocking the van even without the awning up. There was one good thing about the wind, it was a strong southerly, so that meant we had a good tail wind for the rest of the day.

We took pitty on a couple of people that we saw during the day. They were riding old postie bikes loaded up to the max. Picture long distance mountain bike riders that have all of their gear strapped all over their bikes with the saddles etc. These two little postie bikes were pretty much loaded up the same way and heading up a hill into a stiff head wind. I think peddling a mountain bike would have been faster.

We couldn't believe how many vans and campers were on the road. Since we hit the main highway from Alice Springs north it was unbelievable. I am sure from a plane it must look like those long lines of hairy caterpillars that you see following each other nose to tail. It was basically the same but with vehicles towing things of all shapes and sizes. There should come a point when people should ask themselves, do I really have room to that that with me.

It was held on by ratchet straps!!

Oz Trip - Day 24

Day 24 – 25/5/2012 – Centres of Oz Day (Finke Day Trip)

It was an early start as we were doing a 300km round trip to the centre of Australia. We were going to try and find the Lamberts Centre of Australia monument.

When speaking to one local in the pub last night he said that it was a bit difficult to find as there were tracks everywhere. He also said that someone else recently tried to find it and they gave up after an hour and left. Then, as we were leaving the pub, we were speaking to Les Smith, the owner of the Kulgera Roadhouse, and he said that it was pretty easy to find. So with conflicting reports we decided to try and find it anyway. I had the coordinates of the marker in one, (of the many), GPS's that we had on board so at least we knew if we were heading in the right direction.

In the end it was pretty easy to find. There were a couple of tracks but they all led to the same point.

Journey to the Centre of Australia