Simpson Desert Day 3

Marker at Poeppel Corner

Marker at Poeppel Corner

Following our anti-fly tactic we were up early again this morning in time to watch the sunrise. As soon as the sun was high enough to safely drive east we set off.
There were lots of Dingo tracks along the wheel tracks this morning and, again, we saw one of them heading off into the bush not long after we set off.
Our first stop was at Poeppel Corner where we did all the usual stuff – standing in 3 states at the same time etc… Before heading north to meet the QAA Line to head east.

One of the salt lake crossings

One of the salt lake crossings

The pattern of dunes continued form yesteday, gradually becoming bigger with more space between them. Although the dunes were generally harder to get up the spaces between were smoother, allowing us to cross them much faster. There were occasional humps that caught us out and a lot more corrugated sections.
We covered 159km today at an average speed of 29 km per hour and are now camped about 2km short of “Big Red” which is the largest of the dunes on the crossing. (25.88079°S, 139.03641°E)

Sunset over the desert

Sunset over the desert

Tomorrow we’ll head into Birdsville where we should finally have a phone signal again and internet access so I can post the last few blog entries. We’ll stay there for a couple of nights until Mal arrives (he’s following the same route across but on a motorbike).