Mt Dare to Birdsville - Crossing the Simpson Desert : Overlanding Australia Ep 6

[@peterphillips1638]

We did a crossing in 2017, west to east. 200 LandCruiser diesel fully loaded for camping. No trailer. Filled up in Mt Dare. Did 600 kms to Birdsville, some pottering on side tracks. Tyre pressures 19psi all round when we reached the sand. Tyres, Yokohama Geolander. (Used this brand for the last 10 years, have covered most of outback Australia with not one problem) High range all of the time. Never had to take two runs at a dune, slow and easy was best. Fuel consumption was 17.03L/100 kms, three quarters of a tank. Took jerry cans but didn't need them. My wife and I are in our mid to late seventies and to keep us "fresh" we always drive an hour on and an hour off on all our trips and she handled the dunes with no problems. It was late July and the track had had a lot of traffic and wasn't the best, added to the fun. Wonderful photographic opportunities early morning and late afternoon, best time for the wildlife as well.

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Sounds like you had a great trip, and thanks for commenting. I hope we are still as adventurous when we are in our seventies.

[@danieljohn589]

Great video! We just came from Mt Dare to Birdsville on the same route in our 04 Prado! I laughed when you said broken door, we had the same issue and had the entire back door strapped off lol! Ended up being clogged up with dust and working pretty well again now. Nice work guys!

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Haha yes we ended up with the ratchet strap on the rear till Adelaide a few weeks later when I found a replacement regulator. Must be a common issue with dust in the part (probably could have cleaned up the old one) Glad to hear we are not the only ones to do the Simpson with a strapped rear door. Thanks for watching A&J

[@danieljohn589]

@@a.j.overlanding6995 Sure we are not the only ones haha! Glad there weren't any big issues. Really enjoyed this none the less! PS - Dalhousie is too warm after a solid swim, even in the middle of winter! Still beautiful

[@AllTerrainAction]

Great video it gives great insight to us, we will be crossing simpson next year in our modified softroaders with support from troop carrier and fortuner it should be a great experience.

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Glad you enjoyed it and found it useful. Sounds like you will have an epic adventure, looking forward to seeing the video on your KZbin channel (which we have just subscribed too).

[@AllTerrainAction]

@@a.j.overlanding6995 many thanks! Yes unusual as it is (and in some way impractical as some might say) we can't wait, a long line of planning and research to make this trip possible!

[@davidkeegan7993]

hey guys thanks for sharing... We're going the same section in June. What was your fuel consumption and where would you say were the worst corrugation on the track? We're planning on camping at Dalhousie, Purni Bore then a big day of driving to get to Poeppel corner for an overnight before heading into Birdsville

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Hi David, glad you enjoyed it. Fuel consumption was a lot less than we thought. We brimmed the tank at Mt Dare (recommend filling at a servo on the main highway and just topping up at Mt Dare) averaged at 17.4 lph and normally get 13-14, we put 97L in at Birdsville. I would allow for more than this though- we had 180L on board. The track was in much better condition than usual due to less traffic, we found the worse corrugations were actually getting to Dalhousie. (Unless you to do Lamberts Centre they were the worst on our trip yet). Its not too far from Dalhousie to Purni Bore so we ended up camping near Lynnies Junction on the second day and just stopping off for an explore Purni (from Dalhousie and still finished the day early), and then half way up Knolls track towards the French line on the 3rd and finally at the corner of the K1 and QAA line on the 4th. We could have definitely done it in one less day though as we were stopping at 3ish each day. I hope you have a great time, dont hesitate to ask if you have any more questions. Alex and Justin

[@davidkeegan7993]

@@a.j.overlanding6995 guys this is really helpful thanks heaps... cant wait to get going!!!!

[@wurthit1239]

What time of the year? Thanks for the upload👍

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

thanks for watching glad you enjoyed it. we crossed the second week of september and the weather and flies were pretty mild.

[@davidkingsford4998]

Hello, great Vid. Looking at going west to east end of September this year. Why did you choose the WAA line over the French Line.

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Thanks for watching. We chose to go the WAA line due to less traffic and more chances of nice quiet remote camping spots.

[@davidkeegan7993]

I just contacted the Mt.Dare hotel for some advice they 100% recommend the WAA line also ... [e-mail] if you want to contact them

[@roddhamilton8473]

Hi man - great vid. A question - in the Simpson itself, did you need to book where you going to camp or can you pretty much pull over wherever it suits ? Cheers

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Thanks for watching Rod we didn't book anywhere. And while in the desert there were many places just off the track to camp. I'm pretty sure there are guidelines for camping in the dessert handbook you get when you pay for the desert park pass. A&J

[@ExtremeWog]

What is that coffee pot you used with the burner

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Thanks for watching they are either called Mocha Pots or Percolators. And are available from most homeware shops.

[@MrSnoopdogg64]

Cool video! Did u guys travel with extra petrol?

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Thanks for watching Leonidas our car has a 180 litre tank so we didn't need to carry any extra fuel. And only around 90l

[@unshdhGbzbs]

hey I did this a couple weeks ago in a 4cyl hilux a couple weeks ago. got it done in 3 days pretty easily. I wouldn't ever do it again lmao

[@a.j.overlanding6995]

Haha yes it's not for everyone but I can't wait to get back out there again. A&J

[@unshdhGbzbs]

@@a.j.overlanding6995 have fun the ruts were too much for me, I couldn't stand the motion sickness for 12 hour days