Australia would have to be the most amazing and diverse country and the harsh outback has a beauty all of its very own. The most amazing sun-rays and colours at dawn and dusk, and the night sky with millions of stars shining bright. I admire our early pioneers that lived and worked to explore and open up these remote areas.
The road from Mt Dare through to Dalhousie Springs would best be described in 2 words as ‘Corrugated’ and ‘Rocky’. This was probably the hardest stretch of the whole trip.
The numerous salt and clay pans added a bit of contrast to the rolling dunes. Glad we weren’t travelling through in the wet. Looks like it would be quite a challenge in the mud.
The campsite at Dalhousie Springs was very well set up and very popular, for the tourists, the flies and the dingos!
Enjoying a swim in the hotwater springs… they aren’t kidding about the hot water either.
As the sun sunk beyond the horizon the sky came alive with colour and we were even treated to a full rainbow at the campsite. The blues and purples in the sunset were really vivid and very shortlived too. It was a welcome relief when dark arrived as it was the cue for the flies to leave!
The night was interrupted with howling dingos right up into the camp, so we weren’t too surprised to awake to Deb excitedly announcing she ‘found it’… Pete’s missing boot that the dingo dragged away into the bushes after stealing it from near their tent. The boot is now decorated with dingo bites… could be the start to a whole new fashion!
The fly veils became mandatory dress standard…
A few running repairs on the side step…. those corrugations sure do rattle things around…
Purni Bore was dry :(
A lunch stop at our very own roadside cafe :)
The first of a few sand boggings… added a little variety and challenge to each day.
Another great campsite…
Our James Baroud rooftop tent was awesome and so comfy. After a few minor ‘discussions’ with the setup and packup method we ended up getting it down to a fine art with setup in about one minute and packup in about 5 minutes.
The sunrays were incredible at dusk… this would have been one of the favourite sunsets for me… followed by an amazingly clear starry night.
I woke at 2am for a call of nature and when I saw the sky there was no way I was heading straight back to bed. The Milky Way was poised directly over our camp and I was very lucky to have such a great opportunity to capture it. This is a composite photo-stitch of about 6 photos, as the stars covered a huge part of the sky. It really puts things into perspective to view a million stars and amazing galaxies and feel quite humbled by it all.
I love the texture and patterns of the dunes and each one unique and ever changing with the shifting sands over time…
Camels happily grazing in the desert…
The dunes went on for what seemed like forever… approximately 1100 in total over the French Line. I lost count after about 30!
Approdinna Attora Knolls – The Knolls (at the Nth end of Knolls Track) consist of 2 gypsum flat topped outcrops, named by Ted Colson on his crossing of the Simpson in 1936.
The outback office and charging station :)
We were treated to meals fit for royalty and Pete is quite a champion when it comes to camp oven cooking. We had a ‘formal night’, dressing up for the occasion and feasting on a delicious roast lamb and vegies.
Deb preparing for the formal night! (The hair straightener was one of the first things she packed for the big night!)
Outback dinner settings don’t get much better than this…
All ready for the formal dinner…
Dining in style in the outback…
oh, damn those flies!
we will have to resort to our traditional costumes…
Fuelling up with the flies…
So we overdid the charging and ended up with a flat battery… Just lucky we had the jumper leads…
The vehicles were copping a fair bit of sand blasting but all going well… and ready to tackle the next stage of the journey.
