2012 Expedition into the Gibson, Little Sandy & Great Sandy Deserts of West Australia

[micko]

2012 Expedition into the Gibson, Little Sandy & Great Sandy Deserts of West Australia

This 6 week expedition was to see us cover some extremely remote and unvisited locations in the Little Sandy Desert. It was also to visit locations made famous in Dr Bill Peasley's narrative of their search for the last of the Traditional Australian nomads, Warri and Yatungka in 1977 (See publication “Last of the Nomads”. Other aims were to follow in part, some of the route of the ill fated Calvert Expedition of 1896 in which two party members perished from thirst.

Using original journals and maps from the Calvert expedition, we had managed to extrapolated back to locate their exact position on the 29th June, 1896 at a time when they first sighted several distinct geographical features including the Calvert Ranges, Constance Headland and Lady Victoria Range. One aim was to be at this location on the same date 116 years later. The trip required arduous cross country trekking that saw us at times a distance of over 600 kilometres from the nearest settlement (a small aboriginal community of 200 persons), over 400 kilometres to the nearest Main road and up to 120 kilometres from the nearest outback track (Track....not a road). As per previous expeditions, we carried four Arctic Cat 700cc Diesel ATV's. The diesels are the only things that can operate safely in this country, as the sticky spinifex tends to catch fire and burn petrol models exceptionally quickly!

Later stages saw us back in Australia's most remote and second largest National park, Karlamilyi (Rudall River) National park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Here we used the ATV's to investigate the amazing features of the Throssell and Broadhurst Ranges making discoveries of uncharted rock holes and ancient art.

The trip was not without its usual "Oh ****" moments involving minor mechanical issues and outback disasters. The odd wheel nut sheered, trailer axle breaking, dirty fuel, numerous punctures and the odd CV boot requiring replacement (on the ATV's). 6 weeks and 14000 outback kilometres later, we returned to the east coast battered but thoroughly enjoying this years outback adventures.

I have written some of the days up blog style already as well as creating short videos of each days highlights. I will embed the videos in this post and those who would care to read of the adventures and see more photos, please follow the link to my blogs for that day above each video.

If you want true desert adventure and absolute remoteness, come down under!.

Cheers Mick

A brief History of the Calvert Scientific Expedition of 1896

http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.750/12/2011/The_Calvert_Scientific_and_Exploring_Expedition_of _1896.aspx


[video=vimeo;56234173]https://vimeo.com/56234173[/video]



http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.750/7/2012/Karlamilyi__Rudall_River__-_A_bustard_of_a_day__Plains_Turkey_that_is__Luck_f inds_us_at_Tjarra_Pool.aspx


[video=vimeo;56622268]https://vimeo.com/56622268[/video]


http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.75/7/2012/Karlamilyi__Rudall_River__-_To_Darlsen_Pinnacle_from_the_South_-_An_ATV__Quadbike__Adventure_.aspx?ky=&p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx


[video=vimeo;56745349]https://vimeo.com/56745349[/video]


http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.75/7/2012/Karlamilyi__Rudall_River__-_An__OH_****__moment_near_the_Desert_Queen_Baths_. aspx?ky=&p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx


[video=vimeo;57516295]https://vimeo.com/57516295[/video]


http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.75/7/2012/Karlamilyi__Rudall_River__-_DISCOVERY_-_The_reward_for_research_perseverance_and_a_stiff_ walk_.aspx?ky=&p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx


[video=vimeo;56843347]https://vimeo.com/56843347[/video]


http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.75/7/2012/Karlamilyi__Rudall_River__-_An_apocalyptic_drive_to_the_Gary_Junction__Via_Te lfer_and_K-Mart__.aspx?ky=&p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx


http://www.exploroz.com/Members/92954.75/7/2012/The_Gary_Junction_Road_-_More_bush_welding__or_what_you_do_when_the_axle_breaks___-_2012_adventures_.aspx?ky=&p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx



[video=vimeo;57258440]https://vimeo.com/57258440[/video]



Outback tyre repair using volatile substances!
[video=vimeo;61169818]https://vimeo.com/61169818[/video]

 

[Juddy]

Bet that was a great trip.

What tyres were you running.

 

[Cruisn]

Wow, an amazing trip. good videos, diesel quads are awesome, didnt know they actually made them

 

[micko]

Juddy, most of us are running Toyo Open Country Mt's. I've just moved from 285/75R16 to 315/75R16. On the mog, Larry is runnning40" Michelin tyres. The issue is actually the rims which don't have a safety bead on the inside of the rims. The minute they get below 10psi, the pop off...Damn!

Cheers Mick

 

[micko]

Wow, an amazing trip. good videos, diesel quads are awesome, didnt know they actually made them

Yep, Arctic Cat are the only ones that do these days. Polaris used to, but A/C do it well. They use the Lombardini 700cc diesel motor. We like them because their lower running temperature means they are a lot less prone to catching fire out in the spinifex!

They aren't for doing donuts and showing off....they are a very utilitarian machine. Built for a purpose and one we are only too happy to expand upon with our expeditions.

Cheers Mick

 

[Cruisn]

Yep, Arctic Cat are the only ones that do these days. Polaris used to, but A/C do it well. They use the Lombardini 700cc diesel motor. We like them because their lower running temperature means they are a lot less prone to catching fire out in the spinifex!

They aren't for doing donuts and showing off....they are a very utilitarian machine. Built for a purpose and one we are only too happy to expand upon with our expeditions.

Cheers Mick

Now that is the type of quad I need. haha, my guess is they are steep in price.

 

[Tony LEE]

Are the quads all road registered?

I know one group - Against the Grain - managed to get very special approval for their vehicles, but it was said then that there would be no repeat.

 

[mph]

awesome!! my little trips to the deserts of Utah and mountain of Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho seem just that...LITTLE!!!

Thanks for sharing...Awesome videos

 

[micko]

Tony,

they can get a limited Primary Production registration for farm purposes and/or "specific purpose" rego for say surf clubs, city councils etc for the purposes of third party insurance but in the main, no. They don't even allow them recreational registration.

Cheers Mick

 

[micko]

awesome!! my little trips to the deserts of Utah and mountain of Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho seem just that...LITTLE!!!

Thanks for sharing...Awesome videos

It's a bloody big country MPH. I have a chuckle when I saw a video on here about finding the most isolated place in the US north west...35 miles from the nearest gazetted town. On the last trip we were 600 km from the nearest outback town, an aboriginal community of 90 souls. Our nearest Main Road was 400 km west and the nearest rough track 200 km. We are so fortunate to have such wide arid expanses to explore and "find" ourselves in.

Cheers Mick