Unlucky number 13 :-(
The Day Shaymo stepped into the aircon’d Nissan, and the day the Matty should have opted for the Japanese made Nissan chassis, not the Chinese one.
The first real morning in the Simpson and we were ready for another few hundred kms of Dunes, clear skies and any unsuspecting cars coming West over the crest of each dune. We carried UHF radios but they are difficult to hear from the wind and engine noise form the bikes.
Out and moving again and it’s such an awesome place. The dunes roll on as far as you can see in either direction and it would be very easy to get lost once you ventured too far from the single car track. We came across a fair few dead camels, and as they were all on the track we think they must have been culled from a helicopter. Not the best obstacle to hit on a bike and land in the middle of! They were all pretty decayed and on the nose.
Out front we were all smiles and the dunes were flying by. Not the same situation with the injured pilot at the rear of the fleet. Shaymo’s hip and ankle were only going to hurt more if he tried to go on and Matty was only too happy to swap the air conditioned Nissan for a motorcycle in this sand dune wonderland. It was only fair that Stat give up his race prepped 400EXC to Matt (who had not even sat on a bike for 19 years) and Statt ride his mates Shaymo’s bike out of the desert where Shaymo will remount and be rested from the rigors of the 900 sand dunes in front of us.
Matt took to the 400 like a Roman to a new pair of sandals. He dreamt this time would come and he was hitting all the dunes at pace and was all smiles under the new helmet he bought in case this moment arose. Stat on the other hand was dealt a harsh blow of reality when he swung the leg over the Tenacious Tenere. He was greeted with more HP than his 400, but the suspenders were woeful and dangerous at times. The big girl was great under throttle but once it was backed off the front just wallowed and tried to unload the rider. The day was heating up and we tried to shoot for lunch break at the Lone Gum Tree. The Lone Gum Tree is a pretty remote and lonely place, nothing around here for hundreds of kilometers. Just one tree and a fence around it.
We heard the Nissans roll in and we couldn’t believe our eyes. Matts Nissan had broken the chassis above the rear axle and the tray was sloping towards the rear at about a 15 degree angle. Seems the airbags had flattened the chassis to a point where is just collapsed under its own weight and now we were in a whole world of hurt. 2500kms to go and we don’t have any tools to repair such a job like this in the desert.
After unloading the whole tray we decided to throw the winch rope up and over the bulbar, over the roof rack, tie a strap to each corner of the tray and just tighten the winch which should just straighten the whole truck. It worked a treat and she looked somewhat of a standard vehicle except for the mountainous pile of swags on top of the roofrack to keep the weight up front. The dilemma now is to drive to the conditions and Shaymo did an extraordinary job to get us out of the desert. Going was slow though and we could only maintain around 10km/h. The bikes would ride until the edge of UHF range and then wait until the cars would catch up and the process would continue until camp. The other problem we faced was we were drinking more water this way as we rode for 15 minutes and waiting for 45 minutes out of every hour. The days were hot too, around 35 degrees and without any wind it felt hotter. Every stop we would try and find a salt bush that would shade us enough until the cars arrived.
We were still having a ball and now coming up to the Attora Knolls and back onto the French Line. The rest of the French line to the days camp was a hoot. Matty was out front and was almost going to offer Stat a $1000 for his bike he loved it that much. We all told Matt to calm down and don’t make rash decisions as you might get it for $500 towards the end of the trip. Stat was really feeling the heat riding the Tenere and wished some fitness regime was thought about before embarking on this Simpson crossing. We all agree the Tenere with some suspension mods would make a great adventure bike, it’s a pity that Shaymo wasn’t encouraged by the Yamaha dealer to stiffen her up before the trip.
Around 40kms up the French Line we hit Poeppel corner, the corner post of NT, SA and beautiful QLD. We all raced around the corner peg like idiots and passed through three states in three seconds! We were there for a little while when we heard this crash and looked way over to the distant salt pan to see Tony in Nissan 2 hit the biggest was out and then we could see full cans of beer, camp chairs and other numerous personal item cartwheeling down the road. Tony said he was observing us run around like headless chickens and didn’t see the massive washout. Lucky they were XXXX cans and Tony swung around and picked them all up. Any other beer and they would still be out there!
There was a bit of confusion getting out of Poeppel corner and we took the very first track. It was great for the first 10km but then degraded pretty quick to being a rough track. The GPS said to turn right and at the next opportune track we did. Probably not the best track decision as it got really rough and we were in the middle of two massive dunes. We got over them just and sent the rest of the group around this obstacle and we now on the QAA line and the throttle seemed to be happy near 100%. It was unreal, and then 3 kms along this track we hit the massive intersection to Poeppel corner which is the track we should have taken.
The next 50kms to the camp site were exactly what we hoped for, dunes getting bigger, sun setting behind us and we still have fuel in our tanks AWESOME!!!!!!!!
The campsite tonight is another cracker, on a big flat dune edging onto a massive clay pan.
It was a long day in the desert and Matty said if we all get through to Birdsville without his Nissan breaking in half he will buy us all his special cocktail that he drinks down at the Kalgoorlie Hotel every Friday after work “Ginger Kisses”. Which is lemonade in a tall glass, ice and a generous dash of Stones green ginger wine. We have everything except the green ginger wine because he drank it all while singing to Slim Dusty, Hank Williams and Chad Morgan at Dalhousie Springs. I can’t get Matty’s encore of Slim Dusty’s “the lights on the hill” out of my head!!!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
This swag hatches a Matt, at this point he has been banished to the 50 metre mark as an "A" Grade Snorer
Robbo up early in our heated lounge room pondering the great day we are about to have in the Simpson Sand Pit
Every 10 or 20 klms we would have to wait for the cars and it was hot! Statt and Scotty under the bush
Hot in the sun, probably wont take off as a fashion accessory
How Lovely
Shaymo was not liking the soft sand
690 pilots loving it!
Very happy, great so far
The Mountain Man from Tassie feeling the heat!
Shaymo struggling with sore hip, and a bike that wasn't enjoying the soft stuff
Shaymo throws in the Tenere towel and Matty gets the call from the bench
Matty dons the KTM Jacket and mounts the mighty 400 EXC
Looking good champ, ready to go!
We hadnt seen Statt so happy as when he got to sit on the mighty 690 Enduro R, Sharlene the Emu not so sure
Unfortunately he had to swap his 400 for Shaymo's tenacious Tenere, while Matt rode the 400 and Shaymo drove Nissan One
Feeling the heat of the desert and the weight of the big girl
The Mountain Man is a spent force, the only thing he will be mounting is a swag
Scotty suffering from Desert fever decides to air his dusters, keep em on champion
This is Lone Gum Tree, the only real tree in the Simpson Desert
This is our broken Nissan One at Lone Gum Tree, the chassis snapped at the rear springs, wide angle lense doesn't do it justice, trust me its farkled
Unload all your crap guys
Winch over the front, kind of like pulling your own undies up ya bum
Good as gold, should have 500 or sand dunes and 2,500 ks left in it
Camp 13 no problem, well done Shay
