Big Red to Poeppel Corner

Day 3 of the Simpson Desert crossing, we're getting the knack of going up and down sand dunes. The scariest part is when you reach the top and for a few seconds, the nose of the car is pointing to the moon and you don't know where the track is on the other side. There's almost always a bend. Then you engage S2, and don't you dare brake or the front wheels will dig in and you'll go tits over heels. Exhilarating!

From our Eyre Creek campsite, we spend 7 hours ambling at a leisurely 16 kilometres per hour in low range 4wd, 3rd gear, over wonderful scenery of dune after dune, swale after swale, dips, bumps, hollows, and cheeky reptiles and crickets. 

We meet a couple of cars coming through, 2 in the whole day, until we speed up to 30kph along the saltpan.

What a joy is the Simpson Desert! Offroad adventure par excellence.

Visited Poeppel Corner in the searing 39C late afternoon heat to see the peg showing where the boundaries of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Queensland meet. Then set up overlooking the saltpan round the corner, at our desert site known as Barry's Lake View camp. Had to look sharp to avoid getting tweaked by meat ants.

We spotted a grave by a tree. Robert said 'Look! Its a dog's grave'. Getting closer, we realised that the deceased person's family name was Doig. Oops!!

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Simpson Desert, Poeppel's Corner, Sand Dunes