Madi’s Manoeuvres.Simpson Desert Sand dune camp to Birdsville. Day 18 – 18 June 2024

Beautiful sleep last night. Didn’t wake till 6:30 and no moisture in the air last night which assisted a surprisingly dry pack up this morning.
The sunrise this morning was captured in a cloudy sky and as always ever changing colours were just captivating.

Pancakes for breakfast this morning as we have a shorter day ahead of us… and very nice they were too.

We set off about 9:15 and headed up and over sand dunes heading East. The green growth between the dunes is a sight to see.

We have to cross the Eyre Creek and stopped to look at the normal crossing which thankfully was decided unsuitable to cross.

Unfortunately somebody had used the dry bushes as a toilet and left about half a roll of toilet paper and a great big poop, so we did the right thing and used the fire stick to pull the paper out of the bush and burnt it.

Then we took the detour to the next crossing of the creek.
At the second crossing, Brian had waded across before we arrived.

We all got through it, it was a little bit of a heart starter dropping down into the creek, otherwise fine. Vehicles attempting the crossing the other way got through but stuck on the steep bank going out. Luckily there was a guy waiting on the other side who could snatch the first one out, then he in turn could snatch his mate out.

Then we returned to up-and-down dunes again. As you hit the top of a dune all you can see is sky and as you tip over the top to go down you see nothing for a little while until you see the sand track again.

We arrived at Big Red about midday to see quite a few cars gathered on top and at the base and a big puddle of water in between us and Big Red. For those not in the know, Big Red is the largest sand dune in the southern hemisphere and it’s a 4WD right of passage to successfully drive up and over Big Red and to play around a bit on the harder options up the dune. We spent almost 2 hours playing including time on the other side to put air back in our tyres.

To assist with traction and getting up the sand dune we needed to let air out of our tyres, for me I was down to 10 psi, in the front and 12 in the back and managed to get up on my second attempt and happy with that. Kate made it first attempt of which she’s rightly proud. Stephen and Brian made it first time. The rest of us saw parrots and needed a second or third or whatever attempt.

Brian attempted a harder option and bellied out and needed to be dug and snatched out as had front left and right rear tyres spinning.

All in all good fun before heading into Birdsville for a late lunch.

While up top of Big Red we had a look over the other side where they have started to set up for the 2024 Big Red bash.

We headed into town via the tip and unfortunately missed the Bakery as we were too late for lunch.

Some of us stopped at the Pub to follow up whether we could arrange a flight over the desert, while others waited at the entrance to the Birdsville Caravan Park.
After sorting the flight and talking to the Birdsville Recovery Service guy, we met up and booked into the CP for the night.

We are flying at 7:30 tomorrow, so will have showers/wash clothes/Pub for tea then home to sleep before flight. After which we can pack up and have a look/morning tea at the bakery.

Pub meal was awesome. Our table all had Porterhouse steak and it was so nicely cooked and fresh veg were good too. All washed down with a couple of alcoholic ginger beers.

We walked home to the CP to get to bed before needing to be up at the airport by 7:15. Need to charge phones etc ready to capture the scenery tomorrow.