It is a cool morning in Oodnadatta and a slow start, we buy last minute supplies as we are heading into more remote areas. We head north along the Hamilton station road then the Pedirka track stopping at the Pedirka siding ruins and Dalhousie ruins. We are in the land of mesas, gibber plains and mound springs, the latter a life line for many species.
We reach Dalhousie Springs and setup camp and go for a swim, the water is a beautiful 36°C. It is interesting to note that while flies keep you company on the dry land it’s the native fish that keep you company in the water, they love preening you.
Next day we are up before sunrise, it’s cold but we go for a swim – an Australian swedish bath/sauna. We watch the beams of golden light filter through the vegetation and light up the mist that is rising from the warm water. Then we had to get out and deal with 5°C.
We are heading into the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert. Stopping at a salty creek to check out the water then off across the flood plain of Spring Creek, and a brief stop at Purni Bore, then turning south down the Rig Road stopping for the night shortly after the track turns and heads east. The Rig Road is an easier track, but it is longer the the French Line so fuel is more important but it’s an interesting track. We travel through dune fields and past dry lakes but because there has been recent rains the wildflowers, lizards and birdlife are prolific.
On the second day we continue along the Rig Road. We visit the lone gum on the intersection of the Erabena Track and Rig Road. Lunch is at the lone gum, a single Coolibah tree, the only one, perhaps a remnant of a different and wetter landscape now gone. It is protected by fencing, a beautiful tall tree amongst shrubland. We turn north up the Knolls Track. We visit the Approdina Attora Knolls an important indigenous place and interesting geologic feature. The Knolls themselves are gypsum outcrops. They were formed by the gypsum swept off local salt lakes to form high dunes. These later produced a hard outer crust creating the Knolls. They are a rare and extremely fragile land formation. We note many gypsum rocky outcrops protruding from the sand, it makes the last third of the Knolls Track quite slow and lumpy.
We finally stop near the intersection of the French line as our third camp in the desert. The sky is clear and the stars are blazing.
Next day its east bound on the French Line, the track is chopped up due to recent travellers but if you take it easy and not at pace it’s a less bumpy trip. Travelling the different tracks has exposed us to the variety of landscapes the desert has to offer, in places wildflowers and greenery are endless then you travel through country that doesn’t seem to have seen a drop of rain for years. We have seen some stunning birdlife, such as the Crimson Chat, Epthianura tricolor. Dune fields vary from complex sysems to something akin to heavy ocean choppy swell to parallel lines of red giants running from the south to north. Then we have travelled along clay pans a better surface than any bitumen road. Heavy cloud is approaching from the north west and at our last camp amongst the Coolibahs we watch towering lightning storms to the east marching along the horizon. We listen to Owlet Nightjars calling as the noisy corellas settle to sleep.
Last day, 4 nights in the desert we travel east and have breakfast on Big Red.
