Getting there:

The general plan was to get ourselves across the Simpson Desert and visit Uluru - but to do that we needed a round robin tour - we were never going to come back the same way that we went - the route ended up taking in the Hay River, Ruby Gap, Boggy Hole and much more - see logo above!   We were on tenterhooks for many months thinking that the trip wouldn't come off due to the exceptional rain fall in FNQ.   This had all flowed down the Diamantina River towards Lake Eyre - and Lake Eyre itself was fuller than it had been in over 10 years (Interestingly, 2009 was only the third time that Lake Eyre had filled in 150 years..)   The problem for us though was that the Eyre Creek, which is 40km west of Birdsville was 18km wide and chest deep - the creek runs north/south, and cuts access to the Simpson Desert from the east when it is flooded.   To access via the west would have meant the Hay River was out of our reach.   Fortunately, the Eyre Creek Bypass was opened in late May - and the trip was back on...

The trip was planned and led by Tim and Ivan - all participants were asked to research a day (or two) each, and provided commentary during the day on the highlights and 'little known facts'. We also ran a 'Story so Far' which we had been impressed with on a previous trip we had both attended with LCOOL. Basically, whoever was responsible for the Commentary, also ran the Story So Far around the campfire - a quick recount of the days activities, including any highlights (or low lights!). It is the Story So Far contributions which make up the trip report in the pages of this web site.

This web page is a record of our trip, and links to video, slide shows and photos are linked.   Darren also recorded a 'preview' video which is linked here.

 Route:

This map shows our intended route. The labels show each nights stop on the way. Click on the map to load a more readable (bigger) map

 The Crew:

Darren

Mel, Steve, Zac and Nick

Ian and Helen

Mathew and Brett

Tim, Di and Hayden

Cam and Blaire

Gerard, Narelle, Ebony and Kaitlyn

Ivan and Leanne, Adam, Matt and Ben

PreTrip

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Slideshow  Steve spent a lot of time putting some great pictures to sound - the result is well worth the download - by the time you've finished you will feel like you were there with us!!

Other highlights:

Other information:

Itinerary

Recommendations  for other travellers (and our next trip)

Replay our actual route in Google Earth

Ozi Explorer Stuff: