√Simpson Desert Adventure: Episode 1 – Getting there

Trent and Sam pack up the 2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and head to the holy grail of Australian adventure locations, the Simpson Desert. This is Episode 1 of a five-part series.

The Simpson Desert. It’s a big undertaking, and one at the front of the mind – along with being at the top of the bucket list – for many Australians.

Encompassing over 165,000 square kilometres and including over 1,100 sand dunes – which are the longest of their kind in the world – the Simpson Desert is one of the few remaining places on the world that represents raw, rugged and inhospitable nature.

But unlike the Arctic Circle, the Simpson Desert is something that is relatively accessible to everyday Australians. Provided of course that they have a four-wheel drive, some gear and a sense of adventure.

And in this upcoming five-part series we’ll show you what’s involved in making a journey like this happen for yourself. The gear you’ll need, the skills you’ll want, and the places you’ll want to visit along the way.

The vehicles

Our vehicle of choice is a consummate one: a 2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series. We’ve got the lower-middle GXL specification, which is priced from $101,790 before on-road costs.

This new-generation LandCruiser – which debuted in 2021 – replaced the fourteen-year old 200 Series LandCruiser with a new platform, design and powertrain.

It’s still a ladder-chassis, and the size of the vehicle hasn’t really changed between generations. The old 4.5-litre diesel V8 and six-speed automatic gearbox has been put to pasture however, making way for a new setup.

The new engine – smaller at 3.3-litres across six cylinders – beats the old V8 for power and torque: 227kW and 700Nm, running through a ten-speed automatic transmission. This runs through to a permanent four-wheel drive system, low-range and an locking centre differential.

Some other important details to stew over, for a touring four-wheel drive: the payload of the GXL is 700 kilograms and the fuel tank has a 110 litre capacity. And considering the LandCruiser has claimed combined fuel economy of 8.9 litres hundred kilometres, it has a claimed average range of 1236km between refills.

Not that we are expecting to use a similar figure. Laden with camping and four-wheel driving gear, along with a loaded roof rack and a bullbar, we’re expecting to use something like 12 litres per hundred kilometres for our journey. This will bring the cruising range to around 900 kilometres between refills.

When fitted with a Toyota roof rack, the roof load capacity of the 300 Series LandCruiser is 90 kilograms (which includes the weight of the rack itself).

For support, and to carry Lucas and Ted with all their video equipment, we have a 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series 70th Anniversary edition single-cab chassis with a genuine Toyota tray.

The Journey

Simply getting to the Simpson Desert is an adventure in itself, covering huge swathes of Australia’s dry and dusty interior that precious few Australians will ever lay their eyes on.

And while the desert itself is the perfect test for any serious four-wheel drive, simply getting there is a thorough test and undertaking.

There are plenty of ways to skin a cat in this regard, and there’s no shortage of interesting byways and highlights that one can consider adding to their itinerary. And even though we took the most direct route from Sydney to the western side of the desert possible, It’s a thoroughly interesting journey. It’s also thoroughly long.

Departing the big smoke at sparrow fart, we made a bee-line for the far-flung mining outpost of Broken Hill. Still in New South Wales – but close to the South Australian border – this town of 17,000 inhabitants always has something going on.

In fact, it’s close enough to South Australia that it runs on a different time zone to the rest of New South Wales.

And with Mad Max Furiosa filming in the town’s surrounded desert landscapes, there was plenty of action in the cafes and pubs while we were in town. Broken Hill is an important stop, for a few reasons:

There is plenty of history to indulge oneself in – if you want –, thanks to the town’s long-running history of mining the huge

The Broken Hill – which originally comes from Charles Sturt describing the Barrier Range in his diary in 1844 – no longer exists. It’s been mined away.

Into the Outback

From Broken Hill, the definition of remote quickly changes. It’s not long before you’ve crossed the border into South Australia, following the Barrier Highway on a south-westerly trajectory towards Peterborough.

Here, your first opportunity for a big off-road detour arrives: the magnificent Flinders Ranges. You can choose to take the back-road access at Yunta, which runs you closer to Arkaroola. Or, take the more popular turns at either Hawker or the iconic Prairie Hotel at Parachilna towards Blinman.

Our tight filming schedule meant we had to continue driving on into the northern reaches of South Australia. However, if you’re able to spend time here, the Flinders Ranges area is a beautiful and unique no-brainer to explore.

Marree

Our next stop was at Marree, the first of our truly remote-feeling outback enclaves. It’s where the bitumen finally relents, with the final eighty-odd kilometres of road between Marree and Lyndhurst being tarred in 2019.

For those keen to soak in some of Australia’s history – both indigenous and colonial – then Marree will be worth spending some time in.

The historic Marree Hotel – which does a lovely meal by the way – has a large amount of dedicated displays and galleries that are worth poring over, which will give you great insight into the history of this small but pivotal Outback settlement.

Marree is home to Australia’s first Mosque, thanks to the many Afghan Cameleers that came to Australia in order to overcome the severity of terrain and distance of Outback Australia.

Before train lines were built and cars were capable enough, camels were the only possible means of transport across the hundreds of kilometres of barren, rough and unwavering terrain.

It’s a fascinating chapter of Australian history. From the 1860s up to the 1920s trains of camels – brought over with their expert handlers from places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, even Egypt and Turkey. These teams carried anything and everything from small outposts like Marree into the far-reaching expanses of Australia’s interior.

They eventually ended up working on the very thing that would replace them: The old Ghan railway line, which ran from Port Augusta up to Alice Springs.

Construction of this remote narrow-gauge railway line took fifty one years (1871-1929), and it would not have been possible without the expertise and endurance of the Cameleers and their equally hardy animals.

Wild camels – direct descendants of those that came over by boat hundreds of years ago – and roam the most inhospitable parts of Australia can still be seen. Even plantations of date palms planted originally by the Cameleers, can also still be seen today.

As the Cameleers were phased out, motor cars and trains moved in. And this gave rise to the legend of Tom Kruse, the Outback Mailman.

If you think that name only boils down to some idiot sliding around wooden floorboards with no pants on, I’ve got news for you. Well before a certain American actor played Top Gun and cult religion, there was an Australian Man named Tom Kruse, who was made famous in his own right by the 1954 film Back of Beyond. It’s a documentary-style film that where Kruse played himself, and has been since regarded as a classic example of Australian film.

It gives a snapshot in the life of Kruse, the Leyland Badger truck and the fortnightly journey from Marree to Birdsville (517 kilometres), along with the way life was not so long ago. It’s available to watch online, and is absolutely worth a look.

His 1936 Leyland Badger truck was entrusted with the task, powered by a 32 horsepower four-cylinder engine that ran through Thornycroft axles installed by Kruse on a modified chassis, loaded with anything and everything needed for Outback life.

This truck now lives a more pampered life, bequeathed to the National Motoring Musuem – and on display – at Birdwood after Kruse died in 2011.

At Marree, you have two choices of roads. Both of them are iconic, and bucket-list contenders in their own right. On one side, the Birdsville Track, which takes you northwards to Birdsville and the Eastern side of the Simpson Desert.

Your other choice – and the one that we are doing – skirts westwards around Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, which is the lowest point on the Australian mainland and largest lake in Australia. This is the Oodnadatta Track, which runs you up on the western side of the Simpson Desert.

In it’s entirety, the Oodnadatta Track runs from Marree to Marla, where it joins the Stuart Highway between Coober Pedy and Alice Springs.

When we get past Oodnadatta however, we’re veering northwards on the Mount Sarah road towards Mount Dare. You’ll notice the track getting more minor and slightly less defined at this point, and you’ll be finished with any form of town for quite a while.

What doesn’t change is the landscape: vast and mostly flat, with the odd hill and outcrop that sticks out like Mount Everest. Against the backdrop of gibber and pastel-like colours; interspersed by the odd patch of livestock and cattle grates, you quickly fall into the rhythm of cruising the hundreds of kilometres between stops.

When conditions are good, it’s easy cruising through wide and barren terrain. There can be rough and chopped up sections of track to keep eyes peeled for however, so be prepared to wash off some speed at all times.

And of course, you need to be aware that on all of these unsealed Outback roads, multi-day closures can occur after only a small burst of rainfall. So while you might have a meticulously planned itinerary, there is a good chance that you might have to delay or detour your journey to suit the roads.

Most of the time, closures are affected to preserve road conditions, and roads often re-open soon after assessment. Your best bet is to speak to those on the ground at pubs, roadhouses and hotels for the most up-to-date information.

Thankfully, we closely avoided closures on our own journey and made our way through to Mount Dare with only a few delays to contend with.

And as much as this has been something of an odyssey in its own right, the journey has only just begun for us. Because Mount Dare represents the last time we can stock up on fuel and water, and the first time we turn our nose eastwards.

Between us and Birdsville in Queensland at this point is four hundred kilometres of desert. And we’re going to be taking it on in the LandCruiser.

This five-part series will publish twice-weekly from September 5 2022.

Find all episodes and plenty more at our Toyota LandCruiser Simpson Desert Adventure here.

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