Gary and Carolyn Cooper have 'done the Simmo', one of Australia's most challenging drives.  In this first part of his tale, he covers preparing for the adventure and the first stage of the drive.

The Simpson is one of the few real outback 4WD experiences left in Australia and has been on our bucket list since driving our FJ Cruiser around and across Australia 10 years ago. We had everything booked to take on this epic adventure just before Covid, thus our plans need to flex but we finally were able to embark on this adventure last October.

The Simpson Desert is a long way from anywhere even in Australia! It is approximately 1,200km from Adelaide and sits across the borders of South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, basically just slightly right of the middle. It is in one of the driest regions of Australia, meaning this type of adventure takes a fair bit of planning especially when coming from the land of the long white cloud.

To spoil the ending, if you are remotely interested in doing this trip where-ever your 4WDing or touring passions reside, you’ve absolutely got to put a “Simmo Crossing” on your bucket list. The feeling of hundreds of kilometres of dunes stretching out before you, beneath an immense blue sky, where few people dare to venture is something you’ll never forget and despite its dry appearance the Simpson has a surprising array of wildlife to discover.

The Simpson is located within the Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park and is home to the Wangkangurru people. It covers more than 170,000 square km, to put this into perspective New Zealand covers 270,000 square km so basically the Simpson would cover two thirds of NZ!  

The Simpson hosts the longest parallel dunes in the world (some stretch for up to 200 km), which means the dunes run in long straightish parallel lines north to south, consequently crossing the desert is either an “East to West” (the more challenging route as the sand dunes are bigger and steeper on the Eastern facing sides, because of the prevailing wind direction) or a “West to East” affair. We took the latter as we were doing it solo, and it was our first crossing, so I did lots of “You Tube” surfing and reading to get an idea on what we were about to tackle.

Just getting to the Simpson Desert is an adventure by itself. This article will cover what you need to know for planning this trip; when to go, logistics, tips, budget, and the iconic Oodnadatta Track which was our chosen access path for entering the western side of the Simpson. Next month, the second article will cover the actual crossing, the Strzelecki Track and 4WDing in the Flinders Ranges.

Renting a suitable 4WD vehicle was much harder than I expected. As soon as I mentioned a solo Simpson Desert crossing every major company said, “No thanks and good luck with that!” Even the companies that said they specialised in fully-equipped 4WD rental or outback touring light a fire inside a donkey boiler and wait about 30 minutes for the unexpected luxury (look out for the resident galahs).

Coward Springs is also in the Middle of Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. Here water seeps to the surface from the Great Artesian Basin (a huge natural underground reservoir of water that lies beneath 22 percent of Australia). The aquifers are up to 3,000 metres deep, containing water that is up to two million years old. Sand and minerals slowly get deposited over time to form these mounds around the springs. Lush green reeds and other plants grow around the springs and this permanent water source supports a variety of life including birds, fish, and aquatic invertebrates – some of which are found only here.

Heading north the track runs alongside Lake Eyre and a 4WD side trip to Halligan Bay is well worthwhile, as you get to experience the sheer size, isolation, and beauty of Lake Eyre (This salt lake covers 8,000 square km). Local Aborigines believed that a giant snake named “Kuddimuckra” lived at Lake Eyre and they avoided travelling along its shores. When they saw the Ghan approaching for the first time, they thought it was Kuddimuckra, and all fled.

William Creek (population 12) was next, the pub is great! Someone in town has a sense of humour as they erected a coin parking meter outside the pub. The track also passes by the largest cattle station in the world: Anna Creek. We detoured 50km to visit the Painted Desert and walk the various trails as the colours in the cliffs are amazing and vary from yellow to brown, with all shades of orange and red, depending on the time of day.

After four days on the track, we reached Oodnadatta (population 80) and the famous Pink Roadhouse along with its canoe rental division, another example of outback humour. Here we fuelled up for the last time, enjoyed another outback pub meal complete with colourful locals, and a slightly longer than usual hot shower in the morning before venturing into the “Simmo” – more on this in the next article.

Useful tips and facts
Best time to go is May-Oct. The park is closed December–March, as temperatures can exceed 50 degrees.

Channel 10 is used for warning of your direction of travel and location especially useful as some of the tracks and dunes are blind to oncoming traffic.

You must have a fluorescent sand flag attached to your vehicle that is 3.5M off the ground.

You can cross in two or three hard days but to make it an enjoyable holiday four to five days is recommended.

I recommend downloading offline maps onto your device/phone as some tracks cross and can be a little confusing at times. I used Gaia GPS.

Track conditions vary but expect soft sand, especially at the tops of dunes (tyre pressures of 18psi as a starting point), clay plans and corrugations. If it rains it’s generally impassable.

You need to consider emergency communication as you will have no cell reception. We carried an EPIRB and a satellite phone to be safe (you can hire sat phones from Mt Dare Station on the western side or from the Birdsville Police on the eastern side of the desert).

Permits/access
You need one Desert Parks Pass per vehicle, which includes entry, unlimited camping, as well as maps, park information and a safety handbook (valid for 12 months). This is obtained from www.parks.sa.gov.au or email ewdesertparks@sa.gov.au. Once you pay the $AUD191 they will courier everything to you in NZ before you leave.

Fuel and supplies
The shortest and toughest track is the “French line” which we did and is 435km Dalhousie Springs to Birdsville.
V8 Diesel Land Cruiser used 101L from Oodnadatta to Birdsville, 621km between fuel stops.

Our vehicle had a 130L tank plus we carried a spare 20L jerry can.

Last fuel on the west side is either Mt Dare Station or the Oodnadatta Roadhouse and on the east side is Birdsville.
Fly nets – get some as if the flies are around, you will be very thankful.

Water. Budget on seven litres per person per day (if you want solar showers add five litres per shower per person)
Conserve water by using wet wipes to clean dishes, and only wash dishes with water once a day.

Plan meals that do not require you to boil water.

Cook after dark – as that’s when the flies go to bed, making life a lot easier unless you have an annex or tent to keep them out.

We carried a compact 20L portaloo, which worked well in our annex and made burying our waste easy every day, if you simply dig a hole expect animals to dig it back up, for this reason they recommend burning your toilet paper.

Budget
Hiring a 2021 Land Cruiser 76 including insurance was $AUD132.00 per day.

Diesel in Adelaide costs $1.80/l, in the outback expect $2.70/l.

Distance travelled on our 23-day loop was 4,000km Adelaide return.

Camping is free in the desert parks provided you have a desert pass.

We could not find a roof top tent and camping equipment rental service, so we purchased the following from Kings Adelaide: roof top tent and annex, camp chairs, cooker, and 20L portaloo for $1,158. We sold all this equipment on Facebook for $700 cash just before we flew out so effectively rented it for $458 – not bad I reckon.