Fussell Family Simpson Adventure - French line, Knolls tk, Rig rd

Today we start the morning with jaffles (toasted sandwiches). It seems the good people from the Hema map patrol were camping behind our nearest dune. We said hello to them as they started at 8am.

At 10am we head off still heading west on the Simpson Desert French Line. We've had enough of the bumps going down the western face of the French line, so we decide to head toward the Simpson Desert WAA Line line via the knolls track.

We stop at Approdinna Attora Knolls for a walk and photos.

At the WAA line we need to cross 2 salt flats but the track across is wet and muddy.

Firstly though the kids play soccer on the salt flat.

I walked the first lake track and the main track was firm, even though it's covered in water. So we went through slowly and all was good. The next lake was a different story. It was hard to spot a main track, and the many tracks that had been made all looked boggy. We walked it but couldn't find a firm path.

Another group reckon they'd give it a go after lunch, but we decide to back track and head down to the Rig road .

The Simpson Desert Rig road is nice. Not too bumpy, and nice views between dunes. We saw two dead camels, but no live ones.

At Erabeena track we headed north back towards the WAA line. At this point we called it a day and made camp, looking for a spot that has firewood nearby.

The group that tried to cross the lake didn't make it and ended up following us. We said hello when they went past, whilst we made dinner.

Alex started the fire tonight without any firelighters. He was very proud.

Tony Fussell