Simpson Desert Tours 2017

Simpson Desert Tours 2017 from Alice Springs, Adelaide, Birdsville via Dalhousie Springs and more

Join an iconic outback Simpson Desert adventure tour in comfort and style with the experts. Several departure dates for genuine small group 4WD tours in 2017.

Simpson Desert tours can be crossed via the French Line, WAA line or Rig Road. Our Simpson Desert tours travel routes that combine all three routes and maximise your experience.

The Simpson Desert is the name given to the area between Birdsville in the South West Corner of Queensland to Dalhousie Springs in the far north of South Australia near the Northern Territory border. It lies across the corners of 3 States – South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The route we take is a Combined Route – a tailored  route that enables us to see as much as possible of the area in the one trip, taking in a little of each track.

 

LIMITED PLACES – please BOOK NOW  – with an email or phone call

All comfy camping gear supplied (bedding, stretchers, full height tents), flushing toilet and hot shower, all safety & recovery gear including satellite phone & UHF radios.

 

 

Simpson Desert Tours are available on demand – please advise your interest, numbers & date range available, and whether passenger or tag along.

 

 

 

LIMITED PLACES – please BOOK NOW  – with an email or phone call  BOOK NOW

Itinerary for 9 days Simpson Desert Tour from Alice Springs

1. Alice Springs to Mt Dare Hotel – Depart 8am for Lambert’s Centre of Australia, Finke Aboriginal community, Charlotte Waters (old OTL Telegraph Station) NT/SA border crossing, Witjira National Park. At Mt Dare overnight camp or accommodation upgrade option
2. Dalhousie Springs – Travel via Bloods Creek Bore & stockyards, Opossum Waterhole to Dalhousie Springs, a series of 60 natural artesian springs from the Great Artesian Basin. Swim option at Dalhousie Springs in 38-43 Deg C water. Enter the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve – Overnight camp western edge of the Simpson Desert
3. Simpson Desert crossing – Travelling over and between the sandhills. Great photo opportunities, sunsets and sunrises and wildflowers. Remote desert camp
4. Simpson Desert – as above – another night under the stars in a remote camp
5. Birdsville – Visit the Approdinna Attora Knolls, high gypsum hills with a great lookout over the desert. Poeppels corner marking the meeting of QLD, NT & SA borders. Traverse Big Red sandhill – originally known as Nappanerica Dune, on the western edge of Lake Nappanerica, and eastern edge of The Simpson Desert Overnight Birdsville
6. Birdsville –  We do a Birdsville tour with its fascinating history, see Burke & Wills marked tree by the Diamantina River, and thermal power station operating since 1993. Optional Lake Eyre, Goyder Lagoon & Simpson Desert flights. Great plane spotting too as the airport is adjacent the famous Birdsville Pub. Overnight Birdsville
7. Options here to fly out from Birdsville, or return to Alice Springs or Adealide. Please ASK. Our Alice Springs return is Bedourie heading through the “channel country” to Boulia and here you can experience the Min Min exhibition. If timing allows, optionally enter the Min Min Encounter ($20) before Tobermorey for overnight camp.
8. Travel via Jervois, Harts Range and the Donohue & Plenty Highways, skirting the northern edge of the Simpson Desert to Gem Tree and Alice Springs.

Alice Springs – tour completes after breakast.

Book Now – places limited- ASK for details

After the desert  …

Outback Queensland Tours Birdsville to Cairns tour starts after the Birdsville Races September 7 and follows the Diamantina River and the Dinosaur Trail to Townsville & Cairns. 3 days 2 nights comfy camping or accommodated. Completes Sept 6. Cost $1200 or tag along $1200 for 2 people. Then  optionally join Savannah Way tour to Darwin

 

 

Highlights of Birdsville to Townsville / Cairns Tour

The Dinosaur Trail via Winton and Larks Quarry to Hughenden to view the Muttaburrasaurous

The Diamantina River stretches 900 kilometres from the Selwyn Range in Queensland to Lake Eyre in South Australia and is lined with River Red gums, coolibahs and bluebush. At Diamantina Gates, the river’s many channels converge to flow through the ancient limestone forms of the Goyder and Hamilton ranges. Our tour follows the river from Birdsville & Betoota, and we overnight in the Diamantina National Park.

Ruins of the Mayne Hotel,  operating between 1888 and 1951, was a much-appreciated rest stop for travellers, opal miners,
stockmen and drovers, who stopped to quench their thirst with drinks kept cool in the underground cellar. At night
the cellar was opened to allow the cold evening air in and during the day was kept closed to keep the hot air out.

Mystery of the Min Min Lights

Numerous stories surround the phenomenon of the Min Min lights of outback Queensland. One  bush legend suggests the lights first appeared near the ruins of the old Min Min Hotel, a rough and ready drinking hole on the Boulia—Winton Road,  notorious for fleecing its patrons. Built in the 1880’s the infamous pub burned to the ground about 40 years later, leaving nothing but a nearby cemetery. The eerie lights dancing across the plains at night were said to be the dead souls from this desolate graveyard. Although there appears to be no satisfactory scientific explanation for the source of the lights, it is suggested they are luminous balls of gas that seep up from below ground and drift with the wind across the open plains. A range of other theories on the light source includes static electricity, swarms of luminous insects, refracted light and, birds such as barn owls which, like glow worms, are said to be bio-luminescent (producing light from their own bodies).

Min Min Encounter

At the visitor information centre in Boulia there is an interesting light show, the Min Min Encounter, which showcases numerous theories about the source of the Min Min Lights. (note this tour sect6or may not visit Boulia or this centre – depends on road conditions at the time.

Old Cork Homestead

The sandstone ruins of Cork homestead is the last vestige of a station setup in 1875, one of the first properties in western Queensland. Before Winton was established in the late 1870’s, the station was the distribution point for local mail, which arrived by packhorse from Muttaburra (over 150 kilometres east of Winton

 Ask for details 1300 763 188