The most direct route across the Simpson Desert from Dalhousie Springs to Birdsville is about 460 Km in a straight line. Most travellers cross West to East as the sand dunes which run basically North South have a gentler slope on the West side due to wind action which makes them easier to drive over. This straight line track is named the French Line after the French petroleum company who constructed it in the 1960’s when surveying for oil. It runs East North East from Dalhousie Springs to Poeppel Corner (the junction of the NT, SA & Qld borders). From there you pop up North approx. 20 Km along the edge of Lake Poeppel to pick up the QAA line which takes you East and across many dunes including Big Red to Birdsville. This is the most direct route, it is also the roughest and arguably least scenic. There are other East West tracks across the Simpson, notably the WAA line and the rig road. These are crossed by Colsons Track, Erabena Track, Knolls Track and the K1 Line which all travel in a basically North South direction. There is also Warburton track which connects the East end of the Rig Road to the Birdsville Track about 210 Km South of Birdsville. So what you have is a grid layout giving many combinations of paths to cross the Simpson Desert.
The Simpson Desert was first crossed by car in the early 1960’s by a group led by Reg Sprigg who also resurveyed Poeppel Corner. The original corner post was replaced and the old one sent to the Adelaide museum. There’s a monument to the party outside the Birdsville pub. Reg is perhaps better known as the SA State Geologist and founder of Geosurveys which later became SANTOS. On retirement Reg and his wife Griselda went on to set up the Arkaroola wilderness resort in the Gammon ranges North of the Flinders Ranges.
We chose a route to take us along the French Line to Wonga Corner and down to the WAA Line picking up the Rig Road to Knolls Track and then North to the French Line at Lindsay Junction and on to Birdsville. This route took us past the ‘Lone Gum’ and the ‘Approdinna Attora Knolls’, two major points of interest in the Simpson Desert Reserve. The Rig Road was originally constructed to allow heavy drilling equipment access into the desert and is still in reasonably good condition today, 40 years later. The dune crossings of soft sand were dug out back to clay and approach and departure ramps constructed, also of clay which was dug from the ‘swales’ at the base of the dunes. This gave access to drilling rigs in the 1960’s and gives good access today, a lot more pleasant to drive over than the French Line.
A common situation; which path to take and look out for oncoming traffic.



The road from Dalhousie Springs to Purni Bore (66 Km) is reasonably easy going but pretty corrugated in places with some sandy stretches.



Purni Bore is a good stop over point whether for lunch or overnight. It has toilets and hot/cold showers fed from the bore. There is a good camp site on the East side of the ‘waterhole’, about 200 metres down from the picnic shelter.



From here it’s another 29 Km down the French Line to Wonga Corner and a further 13 Km South to Mokan Airstrip and the WAA Line. Again, fairly easy going. This is a good overnight or break stop and is fairly sheltered at the base of a large dune with some shelter bushes. Good view from top of the dune looking across the airstrip to the WAA line



Here’s Kaye getting the picture ‘just right’. Takes her photography pretty seriously does SWMBO.



Past the airstrip it’s 35 Km of reasonably good travelling to Georges Corner and the Rig Road. Spent the night here camped on the corner watching the sun go down and marvelling at the stars. It’s amazing how much more you can see with no interfering lights. Next day continued down the Rig Road via Walkandi Junction stopping at the ‘Lone Gum Tree’ and camping on the side of the track near Knolls Junction. Total distance today about 125 Km over dunes and increasingly sandy and corrugated stretches. The ‘Lone Gum Tree’ is interesting; it’s a Coolabah tree which is usually found in swamps and on the banks of rivers. You don’t expect to find one in the middle of a desert, miles from the nearest river. The late afternoon colours and the view from the dune top are fantastic.



Next morning it’s 9 Km to Knolls Track where we head North and back to the French Line. A distance of 41 Km and very sandy as the track is on the Eastern edge of a dune most of the way to the Approdinna Attora Knolls.
An interesting point here on tyre pressures. In Kaye’s D2 we ran 16 psi in the front and 18 psi in the rear with 255/70R16 Cooper ST’s. I was slack in the morning when I checked the tyre pressures and left the front RHS tyre 1 psi higher than the front LHS. With the sun on the RHS of the car the RHS tyres increased an additional 2 psi. This variation of 3 psi resulted in the steering wheel being 45 degrees out of true when steering in a straight line and the Disco was ‘crabbing’ up the track. At first I thought I had a flat tyre, but re-adjusting the tyre pressures fixed the problem. I never would have thought a couple of psi would make so much difference. Obviously a couple of psi at these low pressures makes a big difference. After this I checked tyre pressures several times a day and adjusted accordingly.
You need to look out for the ‘ships of the desert’ and their foot prints often follow the tracks for many Km’s. This one obviously hit an iceberg.



Just before Lindsay Junction and the French Line is the Approdinna Attora Knolls, two gypsum based hills, fairly boring anywhere else but in a desert you take what scenery you can get. Good view from the top though with good camping either side in treed areas. Four more K’s to the French Line, lunch and met another group of Landys. Over the last three days, since leaving the French Line, Kaye remarked that we’d seen thirteen vehicles. A group of six Disco’s from the NSW Range Rover Club who kindly gave us a copy of their club magazine, a group of two Toyota’s and a Mitsubishi, a single Toyota at Lindsay Corner and now three more Landys. Out of a total of fourteen 4WD’s, including us, ten were Landys.



From here to Poeppels Corner it’s a very sandy, rutted and shock absorber heating 40 Km’s. A very unpleasant piece of driving. This section of track was the worst of the whole crossing. If you need a section of track to prove that factory shockers are just not up to it then this is it. I’d considered upgrading before leaving home but put it off, silly me. I’m getting Pedders Foam Cell shockers fitted here in Alice Springs on Monday, before we head North to the Gibb River Road. The GRR mind you is like a super highway when compared to the Simpson, but we will be towing a van.
From Poeppels Corner it’s a short 1.6 Km to the edge of Lake Poeppel and a high speed (don’t forget low tyre pressures) 20 Km run up the side of the dried lake (K1 line) to the QAA line. Camped in a swale a couple of K’s from Poeppels Corner. A swale’s the flat bit between sand dunes.
The road ahead.



From here it’s an easy 110 Km run up and over a hundred or more dunes to Big Red and a further 30 Km to Birdsville. Normally this can be done in 4 hours or so but the flooding of Eyre Creek means a 60 Km detour to get to the other side. Camped the night at the Eyre Creek crossing point. Ford was about a foot deep with good rock bottom and about 30 metres wide. Beautiful spot at the base of a big dune, shade trees, birdlife, plenty of firewood, river and had it all to ourselves. It’s a tough life but someone has to do it.
If birdlife and wildflowers is your thing then this is the place to be. You could spend a week here and not be bored.



Not including the detour it’s about 18 km from Eyre Creek to Big Red, the highest sand dune in the Simpson at 40 metres, and it’s quite a straight forward run. Up and over Big Red, Kaye did it last time so now it was my turn. Dropped the tyres down a further 2 psi to 14 psi on the front and 16 psi on the rear and sailed over with no problems at all. 3000 rpm in H2 no problem.
There’s fun for all on Big Red



Note

Kaye’s Disco is automatic with the TD5 diesel and has slightly larger diameter tyres, 255/70 as opposed to 255/65. Did 90% of the crossing in H2 (auto), including sand dunes with the centre diff. locked, venturing briefly into H3 for the run up Lake Poeppel. Didn’t use low range at all, didn’t need to. Didn’t need H1 except to start the vehicle moving and didn’t kick down at any stage. Carried 30 litres of additional diesel in 10 litre containers, 10 litres of engine oil and 40 litres of water along with camping gear for two and food for 10 days.
Did 722 Km’s between Mt Dare and Birdsville and used 117 litres of diesel. For a straight run down the French Line and QAA line, approx. 500 Km, the Disco would have done it on the main tank with fuel to spare. But remember, if you get a fuel leak spare fuel is essential.
The good photo’s are Kaye’s, the crappy ones mine.

The Disco did it easy and with better shocks would have done it even easier. We have Polyair bags on the rear which are not only great for towing but save the rear suspension from bottoming out when the shockers get too hot. Recommended.

Deano & Kaye