There is a continuing fascination with wild places that compels us to seek them out. Not to claim to have conquered, but to be able to have been there. The Simpson Desert has long been one of those places high on the list of many outback travellers.
There are many reasons for crossing the Simpson Desert. For some, it’s a tick in their list, for others it’s almost a religious experience. Many years back I interviewed a man many would refer to as one the fathers of vehicular bush travel; the late Mike Leyland crossed the Simpson Desert with his brother in a couple of Land Rovers. Mike recalled, “We didn’t ‘conquer’ it, we just got through it.”
Today, seekers of isolation tend to ignore the popular French Line, and opt toward either the Hay River Track or as we did, the Madigan Line. The latter follows Cecil Madigan’s route taken with camels back in 1939. Madigan was no stranger to isolation, having been to Antarctica with Sir Douglas Mawson, among his other accomplishments.
Today, you have to content yourself with following Madigan’s route by a mostly well-defined track.
After topping up at Mt Dare, it’s a short run across to Old Andado homestead; the last resident here was Molly Clark, a tough lady if ever there was one, who stayed on after the death of her husband Mac. Molly died back in 2012, but her homestead is considered a museum by most travellers.
Madigan: “Here we found a typical Central Australian cattle station homestead, a corrugated iron house nicely whitewashed”
If you visit here. Leave it as you find it. A caretaker will be found before long to make sure Molly’s home is not desecrated.
The first morning in the desert is a special time. As you stir from your swag or tent, you appreciate the chill of the early hour, and that unique understanding of your presence in a remote place.
Not far along from Old Andado is the Acacia peuce Conservation Reserve. Dedicated to Molly’s husband Mac Clark, it preserves the few remaining Waddi trees. The name came from the Aboriginal term Waddi, which was a club used as a weapon. The wood in these trees is extremely hard, and therefore very useful as a weapon.
The first morning in the desert is a special time. As you stir from your swag or tent, you appreciate the chill of the early hour, and that unique understanding of your presence in a remote place. Then it’s coffee or tea and breakfast, and into the sandy distance.
One condition of travel here is that you must run west to east. That is the way Madigan did it, and besides, it means there’s less chance of having a head-on at the top of one of the sandhills. But you still need to run a sand flag.
Soon you will see the first of many sandhills to be crossed, and tyre pressures should be reduced accordingly. On this trip there had been good rain in the area, and the sandhills were not much of a problem. As each sand ridge appears, it’s another up and over. One gone, only 700 or so to come.
Some of these dunes are fairly high, but coming at them from the eastern side they tend to be easier to cross. It’s for this reason it’s all one way from Camp 5 onward. From Madigan Camp 5 you can still turn back, but after that you are committed to finish the rest of the trip.
Like Madigan, we noticed the size of the sandhills begin to increase as we neared the middle of the crossing. The eastern sides were also a lot steeper, and that was verified by the large ‘struggle marks’ we saw. You could clearly see where a vehicle had attempted to drive up the eastern side and only succeeded in digging in. This was obviously one of the reasons for the track to be west to east only.
Madigan: “Next day, the sandridges became more formidable. They rose eighty feet or more.”
Also due to recent rains the desert was in full bloom with some of the best displays of wild flowers and general greenness I have ever seen out there. The whole place was a riot of colour, with the deep red of the sand contrasting magnificently.
Campsites were not hard to find, and usually selected as much for availability of firewood as much as anything. Wind is a constant thing in the desert, and if you can find a campsite among some low scrub you have a chance of minimising the effects of it. Once again, being a one-vehicle trip made finding a suitable spot a lot easier.
Travel here is also a lot easier if you don’t have a timetable to stick to. There is no lack of things to stop and have a look at, even if it’s just a chance to stretch the legs. Sandhill driving takes a fair bit of concentration and regular breaks are important. The Ranger just kept growling over one sand ridge after another.
Madigan: “We had been in the Desert a week, and had only put fifty five miles behind us in four days of travelling.”
We kept spotting tracks in the sand in front of us, and they always turned out to be those of either a camel or a dingo.
Eventually we caught up with a dingo. It circled us warily as we got out of the vehicle, but made no attempt to flee. This resulted in some nice pics. We never did catch up to the camels who left the tracks, but another traveller had seen one. Neither animal should be approached; they are living in a wild state and can be dangerous.
Regardless of its comparative isolation, there is still the chance of coming across other travellers on the Madigan Line. We only encountered one bloke on his own, and another group of two vehicles plus a trailbike. There was an unspoken agreement that we camped and travelled separately.
At Madigan Camp 15 we had to change our plans and follow the Hay River Track.
The crossing of Eyre Creek on the Madigan Line was out of the question due to the depth of water, so we had to continue down to where the Hay River Track met the QAA Line.
Still a good run, although the crossing of the Eyre Creek needs a little momentum. But getting to the QAA Line was like peak hour after the isolation of the Madigan.
The intersection was marked by a large salt lake, and almost immediately convoys of vehicles began to appear, and channel 10 on the UHF was getting busy. We realised at that point that the trip was all but over.
But it was still a fair way to Birdsville, and still no lack of sandhills.
At this point the Madigan component of the trip was over, but Birdsville was still 201km to the east. Our last camp in the desert was well off the track in the lee of a decent sandhill. The next morning we looked forward to the up and over of Big Red.
There are a number of tracks over the big sand hill these days, so I pointed the Ranger at one that looked okay. We went up and over, then aired up the tyres for the final run into Birdsville.
Prep, gear, spares and permits
Preparation is the most important part of a successful crossing of the desert. We carried an Iridium satphone (not used) as well as a personal locator beacon.
A UHF radio is essential, as there are call points all along the tracks of the QAA and French lines. Your radio should be kept tuned to channel 10 and at each call point you check the number on the post and call ahead “east/west bound at call point (number).”
We hired our satp hone from Remote Site Technologies and it was relatively cheap at $260 for three weeks. Nothing like peace of mind.
I always carry two spare tyres for any remote-area travel. We had one puncture (stake) and although I carried the usual tyre repair gear we didn’t use it. In any case the tyre turned out to be beyond repair. I also carry a lump of form ply to use as a base plate for the jack. It also sees use as a cutting board.
There’s a lot of rubbish online about tyre pressures. We found 25psi to be good for us. You can’t make blanket statements about this, there are too many variables involved. So start at 25psi and be prepared to go a bit lower if required.
A sand flag is not simply common sense, it’s required by law. It will only cost a $100 or so from BCF.
We carried 70 litres of water, but due to it being winter we didn’t come close to using it. The traditional drinks around our little fire at night were handled by a glass of some pretty ordinary red.
Firewood is scarce in the desert, so try not to go in for bonfires. Leave the chainsaw at home too; it’s extra weight and then there’s fuel and oil and tools to be considered. Most of the wood out there is very hard and your chainsaw won’t thank you.
You will need to get a permit from the Central Land Council in Alice Springs. This can be handled online and I had mine in a few days. Email permits@clc.org.au.
An email to Adria Downs station on adriadowns@asctiv8.net.au is also essential. Last minute info on track conditions can be had by calling Mount Dare on (08) 8670 7835.
We left Mount Dare with one 140L tank full plus a couple of jerry cans. We averaged 14L/100km from Mount Dare to Birdsville and had about 64L left in the tank.
Finally, please leave the camper trailer or any other trailer at home. The Mount Dare blokes reckon they get most of their business of vehicle recovery from people towing trailers, and it can cost you north of $10,000 to get rescued. Towing anything across 700 sandhills puts unnecessary strain on the tow vehicle plus the higher fuel consumption involved. The desert can be unpredictable and you never know when it will test you.
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