Overland Australia

We had a big day of travel ahead of us today so we rose early and packed up camp and were on the road by 8.30 which was the earliest time we had set off for the day on the entire trip. Before leaving Mitchell we topped up with diesel and grabbed a few snacks for the car ride. We stopped for morning tea and a stretch of the legs at Miles and then continued east to Dalby where we stopped for lunch. Then it was a run home via the back roads through to Kilcoy and eventually over the range at Peachester to Beerwah. A weather system had been following us from Dalby and we managed to stay in front of it long enough to unpack the car before it poured and made the car look even more dirty... It's good to be home although we are struggling to cope with the noise of suburbia after being in such a peaceful and quiet part of the world. We are back to work next week which is unfortunate but will allow us to build up some funds for our next trip which we are already starting to plan. Dist

This morning we moved on from Lake Houdraman towards Mitchell and unfortunately one step closer to home. Today's travelling was uneventful and we made good time to Mitchell where our first stop was The Great Artesian Spa. Anna and I had been here before but the kids hadn't and they love a swim and it was good opportunity to make use of the amenities and have another nice hot shower. The water here is very warm almost to the point of being unpleasant and our kids spent most of their time in the cold water pool, apparently they prefer Dalhousie Springs and I'd have to agree with them. Next stop was the Bottle Shop to top up on some essential supplies and then on to the Neil Turner Weir to find our last camp site for the trip, unfortunately this is a popular spot and our nights of scheduled camping are well and truly over. Distance Travelled - 378km.

Today was our first and only "no travel" day for this trip and it was very nice not to have to pack and  drive anywhere. Not much to report on today Anna and I sat by the Lake for most of the day and relaxed whilst the kids explored the area and played their elaborate games up in the trees. Late in the evening we walked up the hill to the communal fire pit where the camp hosts Linda and Ray supply fresh damper for happy hour. We joined the group last night too and we are by far the youngest participants, either way it was good to chat to other travellers and the dampers were very tasty. After happy hour we retired to our camp lit the fire and settled in for another peaceful night.

Today we continued our battle against the constant stream of traffic heading west to Birdsville, most of the drive was on single lane tar with some newer wider sections which were a nice reprieve. We sustained some more damage to the car today, on one of the floodway's (which are dual lane) we were forced off the road by a motor home that refused to slow down and stay on his side of the road. We had to take evasive action and unfortunately we side swiped a metal bollard, luckily it was only a glancing blow with paint off the bull bar and damage to the rear alloy mud guard. Our friend in the motor home was oblivious to the issue he had caused and continued on driving down the middle of the road. From here on in we decided that it was far safer to completely pull off the road when we saw approaching traffic, come to a stop and call them through on the UHF instructing them to keep all wheels on the tar to avoid spraying rocks. This approach worked well and most of the other drivers

After a quick pack up we headed back into Birdsville to fill up our Gas Bottle and the tanks with diesel before heading East to Windorah. Today's drive was utter chaos with every man and his dog and their caravan descending on Birdsville. I've got to say most people did the right thing and are considerate of other drivers on dirt roads but there is always is the exception to the rule and these turkey's ruin it for everyone. I lost count of how many times we were showered with rocks and on a few occasions some expletives might have been fired off on the UHF radio. Some drivers think that if you slow down and move off to the side of the road when you approach them this is a green light for them to maintain high speed and drive down the middle of the dirt road others think its fine to overtake at high speed in dusty conditions over crests then panic and pull in on top of you... After a couple of hundred kilometres the dirt road ends and we move to a single lane tar road wh

Today was our last day in the Simpson Desert as we planned to tackle Big Red this afternoon then camp on the Diamantina River in Birdsville. We had another beautiful nights sleep with clear conditions and the wind dies right off after the sun sets. After a quick breakfast we continued along the QAA line until we crested a dune and I saw a big white dual cab Iveco Daily belonging to Annemarie and Richard mates of ours from back home. We knew they were going to be in the Desert at some point but I didn't expect to come across them. We stopped and had a chat for an hour or so before we continued on our way stopping at Eyre Creek for lunch. From Eyre Creek it didn't take long to get to Big Red, on the way we were warned about a group of 6 4WDs all towing campers heading west from Big Red. We didn't actually come across them as they had all had enough after 3 dunes and turned around to head back to Birdsville. People do tow campers across the Simpson Desert but most do it fr

This morning we were greeted by beautiful clear skies, although it didn't rain overnight everything was covered in a very heavy dew and it took longer than I would have liked to get the awnings and Roof Top tent to an acceptable level of dryness to pack up.  The plan for today was to get through the rest of the chopped up French Line have lunch at Poeppel Corner and then move onto the QAA Line to find somewhere to camp. We had been warned about the state of the French Line which is why we dropped down onto the WAA Line and the warnings were all spot on, it was very slow going with lots of twisty dune climbs that were full of scallops and holes from where 4wds have been bogged or bouncing up the dunes in an attempt to get over them. We had our tyre pressures down around 18 PSI and I found that the slow and steady approach worked best for us, using 2nd gear low range to crawl up and down the dunes. I only had to back down a few dunes for a second attempt and on most occasions it wa

After a pretty restless night Anna and I got up a little earlier than usual and started packing up, the rain had stopped a few hours earlier and we wanted to get our gear packed up before it got wetter. Unfortunately the next lot of rain arrived while we were packing up the Roof Top Tent and I wasn't happy being up on the roof in the rain packing up a wet tent. Once we were in the warm dry car we set off for the day, after the next couple of dunes we soon realised that we had chosen a very good campsite for the previous night. The next few swales must have had more clay in them as there was heaps of standing water in between the dunes, what a fluke. Today's driving was slow going averaging between 15 and 20km per hour, the track wasn't difficult and we are yet to get bogged but the dunes are quite badly rutted and scalloped. We hadn't originally planned to drive the WAA line but after speaking to other travellers and Dave at the Mount Dare Hotel we chose this way as