In September 1845, after 18 months in the wastelands of central Australia searching for the inland sea that he believed must be there, Captain Charles Sturt made a final sortie west from Eyre Creek into the high red dunes. In his journal, a letter to his wife, he vividly described the end point of his journey:
Ascending one of the sand ridges I saw a numberless succession of these terrific objects rising above each other to the east and west. Northwards they ran before me for more than fifteen miles… The scene was awfully fearful, dear Charlotte. A kind of dread came over me as I gazed upon it. It looked like the entrance into Hell. Mr Browne stood horrified. ‘Did man’, he exclaimed, ‘ever see such a place?!’
A solo, unassisted walk across the Simpson Desert from east to west
In June 2008, Alice Springs resident Michael Giacometti will attempt to become the first person to walk across the Simpson Desert from east to west: from Bedourie (Qld) to Mt Dare (SA) through the centre of the desert, covering 485km in 24 days.
Solo, without support en route and away from vehicle tracks. Towing a 180kg cart with all supplies required directly into the steepest face of the big red waves of sand.
Has this been done before?
Simply, no. The Simpson Desert has been crossed many times over the past 72 years since Ted Colson (1936) crossed it twice on camel. Hundreds of four-wheel drive enthusiasts cross it each year along the popular French Line and Rig Road. Previously, for thousands of years local Aboriginal tribes ventured deep into the desert after big rains, utilising claypans and wells, but were unlikely to have crossed the desert away from known water.
Bonython and McCubbin (1973) were the first to walk across the Simpson, crossing from north to south with a re-supply of food and water by air midway through the desert. Denis Bartell (1984) walked from west to east (Alka Seltzer Bore to Birdsville) without support, but mainly along vehicle tracks. The most recent, and significant, was by Lucas Trihey (2006). He crossed from west to east (East Bore on Old Andado station to Birdsville) without support and away from vehicle tracks in 17 days. Several others have crossed the desert over the past 25 years, often with support or utilising vehicle tracks.
So, the Simpson has been successfully crossed on foot before, without support and away from vehicle tracks, but no one has crossed it from east to west. No one has gone this way before because you have to walk directly up the steepest face of the sand ridges. And not just one, but one thousand of them!
What do I plan to do?
Walk from Bedourie to Mt Dare station via Geosurvey Hill, a lone sandstone outcrop in the middle of the waterless sea of red dunes. 485 km in 24 days, not using vehicle tracks, no support en route, just me pulling a 150+ kg cart directly into the high waves of red sand. Some other adventurers I have spoken to doubt whether it is possible.
I will carry a satellite phone for regular media contact, and an EPIRB in case of emergency. If my cart breaks down (a real possibility, and one which has hampered other desert adventurers before) I may need to abandon it and walk out to the nearest settlement or road, about 100km away.
Why am I doing this?
I feel compelled to do it, and the more I think about it, the more compelling it becomes. I want to walk across the Simpson and immerse myself in the desert. I know that the physical and mental demands will be extreme. It will be the hardest walk I’ve ever done. Yet I must do it.
I want to raise awareness of man’s impact on the earth, the footprint of our lifestyle. It will be a carbon neutral adventure by making donations to carbon neutral organisations for tree planting and green energy.
I will also highlight the need for water conservation. I will use only 100 litres of water in three weeks, or 4 litres per day. That equates to just over one half-flush of the toilet per day. In three weeks I will use about half of what the average person uses in just one day!
