Day 4 - Big Red

Day 8 - Day 4 - Big Red

Thursday, 13 September 2012

The wind had come up during the night and flapped the camper around. Not fun putting it down as the fly was flapping around. Not made easier by the fact that the down button on the remote control was not working and it meant using the button in the kitchen, which means having the kitchen door open, which means you can't tuck the side in, so it is a pain in the bum closing the door, tucking in a bit more, opening the door again, to shut the lid further etc. but we got there. Hmm, so I should have remembered to bring the spare remote!

Came across a large salt pan. This would have been one of the places on Michael's DVD where there were horrendous muddy boggy places, treacherous for getting vehicles stuck. Oh was I glad it was dry. But it meant the end of the Hay River Track, and we now turned left (East) along the QAA Line into Birdsville, via Big Red! Now we were crossing the dunes perpendicular and was just about to comment it was rather monotonous after the Hay Track when we discovered the source of the foot prints we could see. Yup, 2 walkers! Why? Because you can! We stopped for a chat. They just enjoy walking in remote areas - had done Kokoda last year, and have lots more interesting places to conquer in the future. They did have a support vehicle which would drive 5km ahead and wait for them. They averaged 30km a day, starting at 5am. It broke the monotony of the trail for me :) The desert is still quite green in the valleys. I took to comparing the heights of the dunes - valley height being around 34m and the crest of the dunes between 48 and 60. Very easy going compared to the Hay Track, but still 'lumpy'. The tracks up the dunes we're in very bad condition, the west face really cut up and scalloped out' it felt a bit like the 'rock walk' you sometimes have to do coming out of a creek bed. You are thrown side to side in your seat. Wonder how the beer is doing, did I wedge them in tight enough?

Passed through Eyre Creek, completely dry! Eventually there she was - BIG RED. We could hear on the radio there was a few people already playing there. I had already told myself I was going to stay in the car this time! No wimping out for me.

Waited our turn, communicating with the people on the top for the all clear. And we were off, yee haaa! A bit like a bucking bronco ride. Came to a grinding halt about 1 meter short of the crest, much to the cheers and encouragement from the onlookers - think not quite a fast enough run. Anyhow I got out, seeing as I was just about there, so I could video the next run. No problems 2nd time round. We were very proud of Max and his new exhaust. Lange and Inara followed. They are not as driven as PAV to conquer these obstacles, but did it all the same, good on them. However, I did notice, once over the crest Lange spent the rest of the time on the far side taking photos of the lake and birds -that was of far more interest to him than the challenge of the dune! After PAV had thoroughly satisfied himself with a couple more conquering drives up and down the Big Red, we decided we had collected enough sand in our hair and clothes and drove down the other side beside the lake and aired up. I'm glad this wind hadn't been with us the whole trip, it certainly was not nice. The track was a detour around the lake and then on into Birdsville. Lange headed straight to a garage as the bushings on his shockies had gone and we checked in at the CP. wind not nice, quite bleak but we we having dinner at the iconic Birdsville Hotel, after a shower and hairwash - i think half the sand from Big Red went down the plug. Unfortunately an APT tour bus was in town, so the hotel was rather busy. Not my scene at all, but it was to be our last night before we went our separate ways from Lange and Inara - they had some insurance covering them for the car repairs that paid for their hotel accommodation. Again we had a lovely evening - even if the lamb shanks were rather overdone.

	QAA Line [Map]		Salt Pan on the QAA Line, Simpson [Map]
	QAA Line [Map]		Simpson Desert Walkers!! [Map]
	Typical QAA line [Map]		Big Red! [Map]
	Posing on the top of Big Red [Map]		Where is the track? [Map]
	Hmm, shall we risk it? [Map]

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