We’d enjoyed our time in the Eyre Peninsula and the Flinders Ranges, but were excited to be heading on to another stage of the journey. The next month or so was to be on mostly rough roads heading north through Oodnadatta, around the Simpson Desert and north from there on back tracks to Alice Springs. After all the rain the area had experienced, the desert in bloom is an experience not to be missed. Lake Eyre was also filling up, with strong flows coming down from Queensland, and several roads closed due to flooding. A flight over Lake Eyre seemed an essential way to start this section of the trip.

The flight over Lake Eyre on Friday was a little disorganised, but it did happen with just the two of us aboard with Steve, the pilot. Sharon sat in front so I had both rear side windows for photo ops.   Nothing great as the plane is so unstable I can’t use my telephoto. Lots of birds, probably banded stilts according to Steve. Came down to about 300m once over the water, but mostly stayed at 2000m over land to be less bumpy.

Back to William Creek pub for dinner as another treat on a great day out.   Goat curry for me, while Sharon went for a monster steak and ate it all!

On up the road on Saturday, blowing out a rear tyre, destroying it as well.   Oodnadatta for some supplies and fuel starting to get expensive. The campground was also quite expensive and the free camp on the edge had no appeal, so we committed to another 3 hours up to Eringa waterhole. A beautiful spot with lots of birds and some very curious pelicans coming down to inspect us.    Road had several boggy bits and one very large bull dust hole. Had to engage 4WD several times to be safe and use detours off into the scrub when possible.   370 km for the day makes it one of our longest, but again the flies are so irritating,  it’s easier and more comfortable to keep going.

On to Mt Dare on the western side of the Simpson Desert, after 11/2 hours again with lots of bogs but no dramas. Mechanic there was quite happy to service my car and swap tyres over, as well as replacing the rear brake pads. I’ve bought a 285/75 as a second spare, and will probably go that way now as the skinnies aren’t working well, losing chunks of rubber.   225/95 is a rare tyre in the bush despite it being the recommended size. The wider tyre has the same rolling diameter as the others, so mixing them won’t be a big issue.

Booked to stay 2 nights at Mt Dare so we can check over the camping gear and then leave the van there while we visit Poepells corner.   

A good rest day wandering around the empty campsite, which then filled during the afternoon. Probably around 20 camps in clusters. Filled up and paid the mechanics bill, which came to only $850, for the tyre change, new tyre, brake pads supplied and fitted, grease and oil change with oil filter as mine was the wrong one! Pleased with that as it was done on demand as well with no waiting.

Packed up the van and took it over to the storage area and rolled out for the desert on Tuesday morning. The road to Dalhousie was ok with detours around the boggy bits, and a quick visit to the Dalhousie ruins. The swim in the springs was just wonderful, by ourselves initially, then joined by a couple of trail bikers just off the desert after 4 days from Birdsville, then a couple of women who had driven in from Oodnadatta.   By this stage we were getting wrinkly and hungry, so wandered back to the car for lunch before hitting the road again.

June 3. Out to Purnie Bore and the coloured algae in the hot water. The showers didn’t run hot after 5 minutes, so we gave up on them. Parked in a spot to camp and walked out to the bore outlet fountain.   Another 4 cars arrived from the desert but they weren’t going to stay.   A dingo appeared to be very complacent about all of us, simply lying down out of the wind. We decided to move on anyway as we were a bit worried by his over familiarity.

Tuesday night. We set off again and settled into a nook a few kms away by some trees with the tent alongside the troopy for some shelter from the wind.   We took the camping mat along and it came into its own with slightly muddy ground and being able to fit the tent as well as have some space for cooking behind the troopy. A rain shower had us rushing around packing stuff before we got too wet, but we forgot the side of the tent was still open and Sharon’s sleeping bag copped some water through the mesh window, but ok.

We stuck to our usual routine, getting up after sunrise and getting away by about 9:30. By then a squad of 6 motorbikes and several cars had gone by on their way to Mt Dare. That set the stage for a very busy day driving with well over 20 cars going west past us. Including 4 with trailers against national park wishes.   We even overtook one group of 7, including one trailer and an elderly landrover with an equally elderly driver. Still only averaging 18 kph, making just over 100 km for the day.   Easy sand dunes from our direction so rarely had to engage 4WD, but the steep slopes on the eastern side could be intimidating to go up. After the showers, everything was quite damp, so the sand was firm.

Wednesday night.   We set up camp at 4 pm in a swale a few kms east of the Erabina track junction, leaving about 75 km to Poeppels corner tomorrow, then to start the return.   Very cold overnight, troopy said 6C in the morning, with lots of dew saturating everything. Clear and sunny day for the first time, with the flowering outstanding on the dunes.  Literally carpets of purple, yellow and green on the eastern side of every dune, contrasting beautifully with the red sand.

Very hummocky track for most of the way, so quite slow but steady if bumpy with the stuff in the back banging as we rocked.   Poeppels lake proved a bit too boggy at the crossing, although we had crossed several other boggy lakes, but with an 18km detour we declined and waved at the marker on the opposite bank. That meant we had to back track to the Knoll junction as we could not reach the K1 line without a major detour.   We will return via the WAA line to avoid the traffic on the French line.

Lots of west bound traffic on the French line as the Finke race is on soon, including a group of 6 dune buggies.  We were passed by 72 cars during the morning until we decided to turn around and start back.   We even had to go past the group of seven, and the landrover, as we went back.   That meant 10 cars passed us eastbound in an hour and a half.   Turned south at the Knoll junction to climb Appodina knoll for the view. Sharon managed the climb very well to be blown away at by the view .   

Thursday night.   We finally camped about 10 km south of the knoll at about 4:30pm. Camel tracks near the water pools nearby.

Several dingos spotted including one at the French line /Knoll junction. We moved on another 12 km to hopefully be out of his range.

June 7. We set off down the remaining few kms to the WAA line and turned west again.   We began with a small clay pan crossed successfully, then an island for a few hundred metres before entering the large clay pan. The track seemed ok but about 400 m into it we dropped on the left side and stopped with the chassis on the ground and all wheels spinning. Bugger.

I dug out around the wheels and got maxtrax plates up to the low wheels, but could not get the wheels to bite on them at all.

I started digging a hole for the spare wheel at the limit of the winch cable to find a rock layer about 30cm down which was very hard to dig with only a shovel. I tried with the wheel in several positions, including horizontal, only managing to plough the mud up. The hole got steadily deeper through the day, with the wheel standing upright. But every time the strain came on, the wheel rose up from it’s grave.  

I brought out the high lift jack to try and raise the low wheel enough to get a trax plate under it, but the only jacking point is the tow ball at the centre, so it had to lift the entire rear end. Probably around 2500kg with an 1800 kg jack. The jack clogged with mud and jammed, failing to lift the wheel at all.

No one drove past on Friday or Saturday.

We spent Friday night, the 7th, in the car despite the tilt and decided to not do that again.  

I kept digging through Saturday, eventually finding the correct angle for the wheel and the cable trench deep enough so that it locked into the hole and the strain came onto the cable.   Then the main winch cable broke the link to its drum.

I brought out the back up hand winch and hooked it on, struggling to open the jaws as they hadn’t been used for some years. It finally threaded correctly and I started pumping the handle.   It wound the tension right up until the secondary jaw would not lock on, that’s the limit, but the car hadn’t moved one cm.

Exhausted by 4 pm, we decided to trigger the personal locator beacon and move camping gear back 1.5km to Knolls track and camp there well away from the mud. Our first car since turning off the French line then came through with Doug and Eva with Christine and Michael. Both men were doctors, so we got checked over.  They were also carrying a Sat phone and were happy for us to use it at their expense.

We rang Mt Dare with mixed results, probably arranging for them to send out their recovery truck, but not really getting any sense from the people there. But they called Birdsville police who rang us immediately, suggesting that we go with the travellers to Birdsville and get it sorted from there. We decided to wait for the Mt Dare truck. The travellers left their sat phone with us for the night and camped nearby, but they were fully loaded with no room for passengers.   On Sunday morning they carried on their way, leaving some lovely fruit cake and other food, making us promise to let them know how we went.

  We spent an uncomfortable Saturday night on one mattress on the ground, but at least inside the tent. A dingo howling outside in the early morning underscored how alone we felt.

I walked several more trips collecting camping gear from the car, as it was obvious that we were going to be there for some time. Another couple of cars went through later that morning, checking on us and leaving more food.  

We were relaxing inside when aircraft noise raised to a new level.   We were used to jets flying over, but this one was just too loud. I made it outside to just get a glimpse of a red and white plane heading away.   As I watched, it turned, starting a loop to come around again. It passed directly over the car and was recognisably a Search and Rescue plane arriving in response to the PLB signal.   It went around again, as we waved, passing over our tent, and on the third pass dropped a canister on a parachute.

We got the can open to find a handset on top, switched on with the pilot calling. I responded, confirming that we were healthy and did not need a medivac. He was greatly relieved to hear that as a medivac would require an 8 hour helicopter flight from Adelaide. A satellite phone was in there also and with the pilot telling us what to do we were called by SAR in Adelaide, confirming all our details, and another health check, but that we were ok, just stuck. They told us to switch the phone on next morning to receive a welfare check but to only turn it on at other times if we needed help and to call 000.  

Sunday night had us considerable relieved, with us both on our stretchers and mattress, with ample food and water and the knowledge that they were out there to look after us and that the Mt Dare truck would be on its way on Tuesday morning after some repairs on Monday.

We had a slow start on Monday morning, with me doing a final walk out to the car for more stuff.   I got back to the dune above camp and turned to point out our car to Sharon when we saw another car on the flat! Then there were 7 of them driving across.   We were very excited seeing our salvation in a large crew being able to winch us out.

They first had to get two of their own cars unbogged, but finally turned their attention to us. They decided to snatch us forward, despite being told about the broken gear. Three attempts all failed, breaking a link, a strap and my tie down point before they gave up. Our car had fallen into a hole in the rock layer, such that axles and chassis cross member were hard up against solid rock. It had to be pulled out backwards which meant over 300m of soft ground, just too far for the available straps and cables.

After much debate and pressure from Port Augusta police, we finally agreed to abandon the car and go with the tour group to Birdsville, and cancel the truck from Mt Dare.   We left a sign on the car, advising any passers by that we were ok and that the car was being recovered.

Tony and Brenda were owners of a tag along tour company, and this trip was one they had organised for friends as a last hurrah before retiring. There was plenty of room, but Sharon and I had to travel in separate cars, with the camping gear spread over all the cars.

Monday night 10th. camped near Appodima knoll.  

Tuesday night camped on QAA line about 40 km from Eyre creek. We actually made it to Poeppels corner with about 50 other people as well as our rescuers.

Wednesday night in a cabin at Birdsville. The town and caravan park were completely booked out, with no rooms available for several weeks owing to a series of festivals and races coming up starting on Saturday. The van park owners recognised our distressed state and let us stay in the emergency room they are required to keep available for people like us.

The tag along tour group took most of our camping gear to hold for us at the Tony and Brendas home in Albury.   Mattresses, stretchers, gas bottle, water cans, tent, stove.

Thursday night in the cabin. We reported in to the police station to hand over the airdrop stuff, including the sat phone. He was not involved in the operation as it was all done through SA police. He did agree that we had done the right thing in being evacuated before anything worse had happened. He also suggested upgrading our phone to the latest iphone, as it has satellite communication capability if there is no signal.

Friday afternoon we chartered a plane to take us back to Mt Dare to stay in our van and await recovery.

Friday night in the van, with me departing with the recovery truck leaving at 5:30am. Sharon stayed to look after and start cleaning the van.

Saturday night camped by the Rig road, about 30 km from the car after a 12 hour drive, not without incident as the truck also had two flat tyres, and two spares.

Sunday morning we arrived at the car after the truck successfully crossed the first smaller clay pan.  After 9 days the large claypan had dried out quite a bit, so we were able to walk to the car without getting muddy feet. The Unimog could still not drive right to the car, but it was able to come close enough for the winch cable plus 7 straps to reach her.

The first attempt failed, breaking my small strap after we used it as the last link as we were 1m short, using my two, their 4 and the full length of their winch cable to pull me backwards. I was impressed that the tape snapped away from the knot, which I thought would be a weak spot. Tape knots are pretty good then!

Glen and I did another half hour of digging, trying to clear the chassis and getting trax behind both low wheels. Hooked it all up again and she actually moved for the first time, grabbed the trax and rose up out of the hole to my great relief.  

We were slowly towed backwards across the pan, heart sinking as we dropped into another hole but drove straight out again.

Finally arrived on the beach and started smiling again. Cal and Glen set off for their next recovery, while I packed the car for travel. I left a few minutes later, with 365km of rough desert travel along the Rig Road to get back to Mt Dare. I passed one other car that day.

I managed to get about half way back before my back passenger side wheel fell off while climbing a dune.   I lost the hub cap and three of the special wheel nuts for the alloy rim.  

I tried reversing down but couldn’t get off the slope. I was worried about another car coming over the dune crest to smash into me, so I made up a barrier and a sign to leave on the crest to hopefully stop anyone. 

I couldn’t jack the car up as it would roll as soon as the spring was off the ground, so I simply dug a trench alongside the hub hoping that I could roll the spare wheel down it and onto the hub.   That worked eventually and I was able to reverse out of the hole back down to flat land to tighten all the bolts and continue on my merry way. The alloy wheel had to stay inside the car as I didn’t have enough nuts for it.   The next challenge was finding a camp by a dead tree so I could have a fire to cook on. Stopped eventually 10 km from the memorial on rig road.

Monday morning I was off and rolling a bit more gently by 7:30, stopping every 30 km or so to tighten the wheel nuts as one of the studs had snapped and one was damaged.   It held together and got me back to Mt Dare for lunch after a swim at Dalhousie springs and a cup of tea from a couple of east bound NZ people. 10 hours driving time all up from the bog to the van.   So good to be back.

We stated cleaning inside the car that afternoon, and arranged for the mechanic to fix the broken and damaged studs in the morning.   That became a 4 hour job as the hand brake drums were full of mud as were the cooling slots in the disc brake rotor. Glenn also changed tyres so the most worn one went to spare, giving me two newish tyres on the back. I spent an hour with their pressure washer, trying to get the mud out from underneath without much effect. I hope it dries to fall off with the vibration of the next few days.

We restocked with what veges were available, refuelled, filled the empty gas bottle, filled the water tank with bore water and finally paid the bill. Recovery total was $7100, mechanic repairs were $150, fuel $360.  So an expensive adventure, with the $3000 for the plane charter also in there.