*We are having some technical issues with the embedded map. It is supposed to show the entire trip but seems to be only showing the most recent part at the time of this posting. All the location data is still saved, but we don't know why it is only showing part of the trip.
Also, not many photos until I can get a better internet connection*
Frog found out this morning from a phone call that he is a grandpa! He got the call that his daughter, Melissa Gray, has given birth to a little girl, Bonnie Aurora Gray. Congratulations to the whole family!
After hearing that good news we got packed up and ready to go through the Simpson. My preparation for the desert crossing mostly consisted of an egg and bacon sandwich at the Birdsville Bakery. While we were there the bakery made a donation to Mai-Wel, so thank you to the bakery for their support.
We headed off out of Birdsville, along some sandy roads, past some roadworks, and got to the first dune of the Simpson. Time to air down the tires and tighten our bootstraps. I ran (walked) up the dune to get some footage of the ascent, and the first vehicle up was the Hilux driven by Tony, followed by Frog on the CBR125, and then Rod in his Landcruiser ute. The trucks didn't have an issue, just a bumpy ride but the vehicles capable of the climb. The 125 needed a bit more coaxing, coming to a brief stop part way up when the front tyre dug in to the sand but Frog got it going pretty quickly and made it up over the top and down the other side of the dune.
The second dune caused a lot more trouble. Frog headed up first but couldn't make it. He backed down and got another run up for attempt two. This time he made it about a metre further. We couldn't let the second dune stop us so we all pushed the bike up the sandy track. 5 to 10 metres at a time. Frog kept it going and went down the other side and found it was much firmer on the west side of the dunes. He attempted the next dune but had about the same amount of success. This and the fact that the Landcruiser was having real problems getting up that second dune made us decide to turn back.
The second dune may not have stopped us, but the thought of having to repeat that process on the next eleven hundred dunes did.
We turned back and to head back through Birdsville, we will take another shot at the Simpson from the other side.
On the east side of Birdsville we stopped at one of the "Welcome To" signs for a photo and to have another look at the map for potential routes, looking for one that wouldn't affect the planned schedule too much. We decided for now to head south on the Birdsville Track and go around the Simpson to try get in some of the west side of it on the way to Mt Dare and then continue on the route we had planned before.
After that we drove through seemingly endless desert roads, dunes breaking up the horizon for the first hour or couple of hours. We had a break or two before we stopped to have lunch with the flies, on Mars, apparently. Frog's bike blended in well with the landscape.
A few more hours down the road was Mungerannie where we are staying the night, with friendly (sometimes), talkative staff behind the bar. Which we found out straight away as we had to celebrate Frog's news the way you do, straight to the bar for a beer.
...and that is where the rest of the night was spent...except for showers, when two of our number showered in the otherwise empty ladies bathroom (names rhyme with Rog and Frod).
The bar staff were happy to join us in toasting the new baby by having "a stubby for Bonnie", and they also made a donation to Mai-Wel, so a big thanks to Mungerannie Hotel for their generosity and company tonight.
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