[arjithin]

Well..this was supposed to be a much more interesting travelogue...crossing the mighty Simpson desert!! But to our badluck, it rained 50mm in a single day (which is half of the annual rainfall in that region) on the day we arrived in central Australia and all tracks leading to Simpson were closed by authorities without a re-opening date. So we repurposed our trip to explore beach sand instead of desert sand.

This picture was shared by a fellow traveler who was in the desert the day rain started in a public forum (credits to him)!



We were planning this trip for last 9 months. Given the distance (7000km door to door) and remoteness ( 4-5 days without access to water, fuel and connectivity), extensive planning was needed to complete the trip. I had even taken a $15000 offroad recovery insurance just for this trip !! I will write more about the preparations when we cross Simpson hopefully next year.

This was our original plan


This is what we completed due last minute track closures.

[arjithin]

Some of the trip info:
Travelers : 5
Vehicle 1: My 2018 Pajero Sport with 54k km on odo
Vehicle 2: My Friends 2022 LC76 series with 12k km on odo
No of days : 10
Total km covered: 6000

Major places covered:
1. Coober Pedy mining town and underground hotels SA
2. Kings Canyon, NT
3. Ayers rock (Uluru) & Kata Tjuda NT
4. Port Lincoln national park & Cowleys beach SA
5. Robe beach drive SA
6. Mt Gambier SA
7. Lake Tyrrell Vic

Fuel consumption figures. Note that this is with bigger AT tyres, bullbar, roof rack & awning .

[arjithin]

Now enjoy the pics

Lake Tyrrell, the pink lake



Silo Art


Stuart highway




Coober Pedy mining town


Coober Pedy underground mine hotel



Outback sunset


Rain on our way


Road train


Welcome to NT


Kings canyon



Out tent stay


Uluru & Kata Tjuta




We were lucky to see many waterfalls (considered as auspicious )


Ayres rock inside thick clouds


One of our camping locations. Very remote!

[arjithin]

We did few beach driving and we hardly anyone around.






Stuck



stuck on Seaweed


Free after lot of digging



Mt Gambier (inactive volcano)


Camping sites




The big lobster



Lunch stop


Signing off until next attempt to cross Simpson desert

[vb-saan]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[Kkumar]

Better luck next time. Driving across the desert tests the mettle of both man and the machine. That to crossing the Great Outback needs not just courage and driving skills but also great planning acumen else one may end up in deep trouble with no help nearby. All the best.

[Mr.Ogre]

Really loved your experience. Can you please share/DM me your itinerary and places where you stayed, especially the tent stay and the mine where you stayed and similar places. Not a big fan of camping experience.
I am going on a 4 day motorcycle tour from Sydney in August. I will be riding towards Oxley which is in the North. Last year I did Sydney to Philip Island, and I am always looking at exploring this magnificent country on my bike.
I usually use Calimoto or Google maps with Toll and Motorway unchecked to ride on twisty roads that go through some of the most beautiful vistas.

[johny_desparado]

Unfortunately, that's not a real pajero. That's a triton with a Pajero nameplate. Nice trip

[vinya_jag]

Awesome photos. Just the remoteness scares me away from these kind of trips. They are mostly National Geographic kind of places and not touristy I guess.
Love to hear more about your experiences, weather in those places, people you met (If there were any), how the roads were, how far away restaurants or fuel stations were, etc. Waiting to hear more

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

Really loved your experience. Can you please share/DM me your itinerary and places where you stayed, especially the tent stay and the mine where you stayed and similar places.

Sharing publicly as it may benefit others
old mine - Coober pedy, SA. There are many here. The place I stayed need a 4WD to get there. Note that this town has many new dugouts which are run as hotels; so if you need an old mine, search up & confirm with owners.

Tent stay - Kings creek station, NT
Not sure if outback is a favorite destination for motor cyclists, we spotted only 2 motor cycles over 5 days.

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

Love to hear more about your experiences, weather in those places, people you met (If there were any), how the roads were, how far away restaurants or fuel stations were, etc. Waiting to hear more

Weather in outback is generally hot. it can get upto 50 degrees in peak summer. Hence people choose winter months to cross. Even in winter, day time temp could be mid 20's. Other reason to choose winter is to avoid flies.

Roads - Stuart hwy is the main highway with 130 or 110 kmph speed limit. No expressways anyware, all are double lane roads. There are many many 'tracks' originating from sealed roads and connecting remote settlements. To get to Simpson desert, one need to drive a minimum of 600km on dirt roads . These dirt roads are generally graded and one can drive at 80kmph but with 24 psi tyre pressure. But if it rains these roads become mud holes and until they dry up, authorities generally close the tracks.

Traffic is generally sparse. One is most likely to see big 4wds or road trains or caravan traffic. Driving after sunset is like driving on empty land. Fuel stations are spaced around 250-300km on Stuart hwy, mostly run by the cattle stations. But on other outback roads the gap could be more. Everything is expensive (due to transport and labour costs) in outback. Mobile connectivity is also a luxury, so people carry satellite phone (or similar emergency connectivity options)

[benbsb29]

Thanks for the invite to join on this trip, Arijit and sorry I couldn't make it. My car needs a few more necessary mods to make it on such an epic adventure.

Awesome to read about your trip, and needless to say the pics say it all. Looking forward to further updates.

[kiku007]

Fantastic pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by arjithin

Signing off until next attempt to cross Simpson desert

All the best! You are a brave adventurer.

Originally Posted by johny_desparado

Unfortunately, that's not a real pajero. That's a triton with a Pajero nameplate. Nice trip

What's unfortunate about that? I haven't driven the Pajero Sport to have any personal opinion but it does seem to be a capable vehicle to carry the Pajero nameplate. Recently it even won CarExpert's Best 4-Cylinder off-road SUV title.

https://youtu.be/h0Rn0CyHh2g?t=5486