2010 Departure
2-14 May 2010
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Day 3
When the lake is dry we walk onto the salt playa and visit the graveyard of tens of thousands of pelicans stranded as the lake dried up in 1991. We travel up the Oodnadatta Track through Anna Creek Station, the world's largest cattle station. We will visit Blanche Cup and the Bubbler, two mound springs in Wabma Kardarbu National Park and the stone ruins of Strangways Overland Telegraph Station; We stop for lunch and a shower at the tiny settlement William Creek, before continuing north. The Oodnadatta track follows beside the ruins of the old Ghan Railway, deserted stations, and water purification plants. We will stop to take a closer look at these ruins. We camp beside the Oodnadatta Track.
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Day 4
This morning we arrive in Oodnadatta. We need to do our final provisioning here, taking on extra fuel and rainwater as this is our last civilization until we arrive in Birdsville 5 days later, with the Simpson Desert crossing ahead of us. There is the opportunity for a shower, and plenty to see and do in Oodnadatta. There are graves of pioneers and Afghan cameleers and their families, there is a museum housed in the old Ghan Railway Station building, a Bush Nursing hospital and an Aboriginal school. In the afternoon we leave Oodnadatta, and shortly the Oodnadatta Track. We are now on the Hamilton Station Road. Our route passes stony tableland, and after we pass Mt. Sarah, we travel through the dune fields of the Pedirka Desert. We cross a number of creeks and rivers before arriving at our camp on Hamilton Station.
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Day 5,6,7.
We leave pastoral land and enter Witjira National Park, with its vast gibber tablelands and spectacular scenery. We stop at the evocative stone ruins of Dalhousie Station and visit the main spring at Dalhousie Hot Mound Springs, where the desert dust can be washed off in bath temperature spring water, a delicious 40 degrees C. There is also the option of a shower. We will take a nature walk here and look at this extraordinary oasis. Dalhousie is the largest surface expression of the Great Artesian Basin and is home to a unique ecology. Leaving Dalhousie we travel west across the Spring Creek Delta, a vast floodplain surrounded by stony tablelands, and shortly we arrive at the first of the Simpson Desert sand dunes. We commence our crossing of the fabled Simpson Desert, the world's largest sand dune desert, an experience of epic proportions. The dunes are small at first, and we visit Purni Bore where an uncapped bore from the 60's has created an artificial wetland environment. Over the next four days we will travel over 1200 sand hills, diverting from the main route and stopping frequently to look at different points of interest and becoming acquainted with the unique flora and fauna of this desert wilderness. We follow an old Rig Road, before leaving the popular route and following little used seismic lines to Approdinna Attora Knolls, outcrops of flour Gypsum, and one of the few geological formations other than dunes and salt playas in the Simpson Desert. We are now on the French line, and we travel to the tri state border, "Poeppels Corner". We enter the Simpson Desert National Park.
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Day 8
Leaving the Park, we cross through the ruins of an old vermin fence that marks our return to pastoral country. We are on Adria Downs Station. Shortly we arrive at the Eyre Creek floodplain, where riverine floodplains and channels dissect the sand hills. There are tall stands of Coolabahs trees here, and the area is often a verdant green, in stark contrast to the surrounding dunes.
We continue along the QAA line to the largest of the Simpson Desert sand dunes, the Napanerrica dune, also known as Big Red which we cross and roll into Birdsville in Outback Queensland. After slaking your thirst at the fabled Birdsville Pub and washing off the desert dust, there is time to tour the sights of Birdsville. There is a fine cappuccino to be enjoyed at the Blue Poles Gallery, home of desert artist Wolfgang John, and a visit to Birdsville would not be complete without stopping at the Working Museum, where retired ringer John Menzies has assembled an eclectic collection of antiques, machinery and memorabilia. The billabong at Birdsville is home to a large population of avian fauna and worth a visit. In the late afternoon we leave Birdsville and head south. We visit the lonely grave of the Page family who tragically lost their lives when their vehicle broke down in the summer of 1962. We camp on Clifton Hills Station, the largest on the Birdsville Track.
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Day 9
The Birdsville Track follows the edge of Goyders Lagoon, a vast wetland. Soon we come to Sturt’s Stony Desert. One can only imagine what explorer Charles Sturt thought when he came here. Treeless plains covered in red gibber stones, devoid of any large trees, shimmering in the heat. The track continues on, the scenery constantly changing. We stop at Mirra Mitta bore, where the outflow has created an artificial wetland. There is a fascinating range of thermo luminescent algae here. We come to Mungerannie Gap, the largest topographical feature on the track, and stop for lunch at the solitary Mungerannie Pub. We are halfway down the track. After lunch we travel to Etadunna Station. By arrangement with the owners we drive on station tracks out to the lonely ruins of the Bethesda Lutheran Mission on the banks of Coopers Creek. Here we will look at one of the most extraordinary stories of European /Aboriginal contact. We camp beneath coolabah trees in the cooper floodplain. B L D C P

Day 10
After a two hour drive through Dulkaninna and Clayton stations, we pass the ruins of the Lake Harry Date Plantation, and arrive at Marree. We have time to look at the town and its history. Marree was a “ghan” town, home to the Afghan Cameleers, and we look at some of the historic houses, including that of the famous Bejah Dervish. From Marree there is also the option to take an unforgettable flight over Lake Eyre. An hour down the track we arrive in Lyndhurst, at the junction of the Oodnadatta and Strzelecki tracks. We visit the largest Aboriginal ceremonial ochre pits and visit the gallery of sculptor and eccentric philosopher "Talc Alf". We will also visit the Leigh Creek Coalmines before having a shower at Copley. We enter the Flinders Ranges. Over the next two days you are going to see the best of the Flinders, including areas not available to the general public. Tonight we camp on private property near a little known Aboriginal art site displaying thousands of stone carvings on the red walls of a spectacular gorge.
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Day 11
We travel through the Gammon Ranges via the Nepabunna Aboriginal community to Italowie Gorge. Coming through the gorge we descend to the Balcanoona Plain. We have crossed through the Flinders, and we turn south and follow their eastern flanks to our camp at Chambers Gorge, a place of awesome beauty. There are some lovely walks here, from a relaxing stroll down the dry river gorge at sunset, to a hike and climb to the spectacular summit, where the whole of the range can be seen.
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Day 12
We travel through the eastern Flinders Ranges, then swing west to Blinman, the highest town in South Australia. We enter the Flinders Ranges National Park, and take the Brachina Gorge Geological Trail - an interpretive journey through time to explain the remarkable geology of the Flinders. We emerge from the gorge back on the western side of the Flinders. We travel south past the spectacular ramparts of Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range to the town of Hawker, where we have a shower and a café break before heading south over the Willocran Plain to our last nights camp at Port Germain Gorge.
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Day 13
We travel south via Port Augusta and arrive back in Adelaide mid morning to drop off at city hotels.B P M

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