Reporting in on a 12 day ride I did with a group of mates to the Simpson Desert. We left Gunnedah on 18 August and travelled 5000km to the Simpson Desert via the Flinders Rangers, returning home on 29 August. There were 5 riders, Gaz on a KTM 640, Gav on a DR650, Bruiser on a DR650, Gavin on a DR650, me on a tenere and Hampo and James in the support vehicle.
We travelled 500-600km a day on the way to the desert, camping at Cobar, Yunta, Leigh Creek and near Dalhousie Springs. The French Line was the route we chose through the Simpson, and we thought we would get across to Birdsville in 2 days. 4 days and 1100 sand dunes later we arrived exhausted at the Birdsville pub, and those were the best beers I have ever tasted!
The French Line was a very hard ride, and what made it more remarkable that we made it was that 2 of the riders were on their “P”s and one flew over from England and only got his bike license the week he left!
The trip home was via the dig tree, camping at Thagaminda and outside Walgett.
It was an amazing experience and only possible with the tireless help from the support crew, the leadership and organisation by Gav, the point riding by Gaz, the Richard the Lion Heart riding by Gavin and the NT stories by Bruce.
Cheers
Jim
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