Burke and Wills- What were they thinking?

Our car and the view from the top of Big Red

 

The start of the road into the Simpson Desert

No wonder they died. Out here, you are miles from nowhere and everywhere you look is , well – its flat, with a little vegetation . I can understand how the early explorers were fooled by mirages. You get that way when you are driving these long dusty roads, that a shrub in the distance looks like and oncoming car.  I can’t imagine walking to Birdsville like Burke and Wills – just the flies alone are enough to drive you crazy. Yesterday we stopped to look at the Burke and Wills Tree just outside of the town. Nothing spectacular in itself but a reminder  that a lot of blood sweat and tears went into exploring this vast country.

Having said that, Birdsville is an extraordinary place.  Best known for the annual Birdsville races, Birdsville also carries with it a lot of history, stunning landscape, interesting features and of course Big Red where we ventured this morning.



Hooray I did it! Pete at top of Big Red

It’s very early in the tourist season here- in fact, the famous Bakery only opened again this week having been closed over the summer. So on our way out to Big Red, there were no other cars to be seen. A little disconcerting for me as I always catastrophise (as my kids will tell you.) – what if …..

The view from the top of the highest part of the dune



We stopped by Little Red  (the smaller dune) to let the tyres down to 18 psi (while I quickly made a runner - yes I did sort of ‘’run” Andrew, Ari and Ellie, to the top of the dune to check out what was on the other side.) They say all vehicles should carry a flag to alert anyone coming from the opposite direction as the track over the dune is single lane, but we didn’t have one. Luckily for us there was no one around today, so it was pretty safe. When you get to the top of the dune, it is necessary to stop suddenly to check out which is the safest way down. Too easy says Pete. Looked like a sand cliff to me!!

Helen at the top



Back on flat land, we are surrounded by red rocks, millions of them. And then Big Red comes into view. This side of the sandhill looks steep and soft.  Too high for me to do a quick run to the top to see if I will actually ride in the car or “volunteer” to video from up top.  So we take a bit of a  run up and off we go. Getting there seemed too easy and I videoed from inside the car. You will have to excuse a little bit of language at the end of the video. 

Helen



That's Pete somewhere up there!

Definitely needs to be on your bucket list. The dune itself is very impressive, the view from the top amazing,  particularly as the surrounding landscape was green from recent rains, the patterns in the sand incredible and being there by ourselves was also a real treat.  Standing on top of Big Red, in the Outback, alone.  Awesome!



This is the pattern in the dune at the very top. Amazing