TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

A trip I'd love to do one day, Mick. Lots of red!!!

Stay tuned if you want to tag along next year :wink:

Now you've got me interested!!! 8)

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Early days but I'll post once plans start to get made. Like this trip there will be plenty of notice.

Mick

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Thanks for sharing Mick, great pictures.
How many KMs did you do over how many days?
I also am registering interest for the next trip, it will give me something to spend my hard earned on too

[Mike Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Great report Mick especially the fantastic photos. Any tips about what gear worked well or not so well?

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Thanks for sharing Mick, great pictures.
How many KMs did you do over how many days?
I also am registering interest for the next trip, it will give me something to spend my hard earned on too

Thanks for your comments,
We did about 3500km over 8 days.

Great report Mick especially the fantastic photos. Any tips about what gear worked well or not so well?

Thanks.

Everything went well with no breakdowns. The Pathy ran very hot but never boiled. The problem seemed to be airflow through the auto trans cooler being restricted by the main chanel of the bull bar. The hoses were too short to move it so regular stops were needed in the soft sections to let things cool down.

My "Blackwidow" sand flag fell apart, it's the second one. I destroyed the first one on Googs track. I'm gonna get one of the one piece jobbies they use on vehicles in the mines.

I'm having thoughts of reworking my front suspension... I have OME HD all round but the front is still to soft for my liking. It bottoms out far to easily. The rear is great.

Tupperware egg holders are fantastic... no broken eggs in my fridge (for the first time on a major trip)

Everything else went sweet... no issues at all.

Mick

PS - I should have another days worth of pics up soon.

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

My "Blackwidow" sand flag fell apart, it's the second one. I destroyed the first one on Googs track. I'm gonna get one of the one piece jobbies they use on vehicles in the mines.

The "Blackwidow" labelled sand flags are actually made by MineWhip as a flag for the mining industry. I would be getting in contact with them about the "fragility" of the two flags you have had. I've got one so I know how much they cost but mine survived without any dramas and another vehicle in out Simpson crossing had the exact same three piece air fitting flag. The only problemI had was the air fitting become clogged with a little sand so I could not remove it for the trip from Big Red to Birdsville so the flag also managed to cope with travelling in excess of the recommended maximum speed listed on the card when purchased from TJM.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

The "Blackwidow" labelled sand flags are actually made by MineWhip as a flag for the mining industry. I would be getting in contact with them about the "fragility" of the two flags you have had. I've got one so I know how much they cost but mine survived without any dramas and another vehicle in out Simpson crossing had the exact same three piece air fitting flag. The only problemI had was the air fitting become clogged with a little sand so I could not remove it for the trip from Big Red to Birdsville so the flag also managed to cope with travelling in excess of the recommended maximum speed listed on the card when purchased from TJM.

Mine is not like anything that is on the MineWhip website. It's definately a BlackWidow one as I still have the receipt and packaging. Mine is (was) a three section one with PVC flag. The issue being the flag is shredded and the joiners for the sections are aluminium and bend/destort until the lot falls apart.

Mick

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Mick, mine is a Minewhip sold as Black Window. I contacted the Minewhip group earlier in the year to find out where i could buy and they told me that their flags are sold as Black Window through TJM.

The basic setup is as follows:

But the difference between the image and mine is that it's a three piece that screws together with rubber locking rings.

And the coupling looks like:

It's an air fitting.

If the actual flag shreds then I have another spare that was supplied when I become a member with a 4WD club but I wont change this over if I do not need to.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Yep that's the type I'm going to get. The Surf had one on it for the crossing and I really liked the quality. Now I have the roof rack the one piece one is a better and more robust option.

Mick

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Day 6

Lone Gum to camp near Salt bush Flats (Site6 on the QAA) Travelled via Erabena, French Line,
Poeppel Corner, K1 and QAA.

Temps in the mid 30’s.

Great days driving except for the ride approaching the dunes on the French Line... it really is a piece of crap this late in the season... chewed up by people who refuse to either lower pressures or drive sensibly. The approach to every dune was bone jarring....glad I wasn’t in the GQ!

Once again lots of pics and not much text....





















































































































Mick

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Day 7 and 8

Day 7 was the last day in the Simpson and due to worsening weather conditions we pushed on down the Birdsville Track to camp at the Mungerannie Hotel camp ground.

Temps up in the high 30’s and wind that was picking up into a dust storm meant we only stopped for lunch at the Birdsville bakery and to fill up our fuel tanks before heading south.

Fuel used between Mt Dare and Birdsville:

Nissan GQ 4.2 non-turbo diesel - 150lts.
Pathfinder 3.3lt V6 petrol – 158lts.
Toyota Surf 1kz Turbo Diesel – 105lts.
Prado 120 1kz Turbo Diesel – 108lts.

The Surf got a little wet at Eyre Creek crossing. Damage included a drowned stereo amplifier (Under passenger seat), drowned UHF (Under driver’s seat), two blades broken off the engine fan and a bash plate was destroyed due to a rearwards recovery.

Diff locks and muddies weren’t quite enough to get through! No major damage though and after a quick clean up we carried on via the southern detour.

From Mungeranne I pushed for home with only a quick stop at Clayton wetland/spa.
The others did an extra night and camped out the back of the Marrie pub.





















































































Mick

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Hi MickL
Some great photos there mate, I bet that wind would have P###ed everyone off after a few days of it.
Good to see some wildlife shots (pictures) in the desert too.
Cheers Troy

[vk2ss55 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vk2ss55]

Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

G'day Mick
I went through to Poeppels in early September with 2 other vehicles so it was good to look through your photos .Luckily we didn't get the wind and the weather was very good . Isn't it a surprise when you come to Mungerannie and see the water there after hundreds of kays in the desert !

I was pleasantly surprised at how well my D4D auto with standard tyres went in the sand . How did you find that last sand dune going from the dry lake up to Poeppels ? Mine went through no wuckers but my mate was towing a small trailer and had to have quite a few attempts before he got through . It was difficult to get a run up due to the bump right down at the start .
We did all the corners , Poeppel Haddon and Cameron and the next big one will be Surveyor General Corner over in the corner of WA and NT . That won't be until 2011 though .

Cheers

Ross

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Great Photo's Mick, Bloddy lot of sand out that way, you don't realise how much until you see the shots.

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Re: TRIP REPORT : MickL's Simpson Desert trip

Thanks for the comments guys.

How did you find that last sand dune going from the dry lake up to Poeppels ?

I only didn't make a couple first go, one was on the section of the French Line where the sand is really white (Like being on the coast) There was a bit of a bowl near the top that looked really nasty and at the last minute I decided to go off track to go around it, but it was so soft and I didn't have enough speed. Didn't bury it though and just backed down.

The other was Big Red, first go up I missed a gear change at the bend when going straight up the middle track and bogged down in the soft stuff, once again just backed down. Other than that it was straight up and over, no run up (Started from the base of the dune not the middle of the lake like most), high range. Everyone in our group did well. The GQ was the only one that couldn't make it (Just a lack of power in the long in the tooth 4.2) he had to take the track on the far right to finally get over.


Mick