Corner Country and Simpson Desert Adventure
Corner Country and Simpson Desert Adventure.
When: July 2008
This was the first family holiday that my 8 month old daughter Holly got to go on. And what an adventure she had.
We left rainy Melbourne at 5am and headed up to Broken Hill, from there we headed for Silverton were we met up with the rest of the convoy. We then headed north following the ‘Dog Fence’ up to Camerons Corner, continued north to Haddon Corner then west to Birdsville. Left Birdsville went over Big Red then followed the QAA Line. Jumped onto the K1 south to Poeppel Corner then west again along the French Line. Had a quick stop over for a swim at Dalhousie Springs then north to Mt Dare. The convoy broke up at this point and we decided to follow the ‘Old Ghan Track’ up to Alice Springs.
For those who have never done the Simpson, I highly recommend it. Just be careful on the ‘Old Ghan Track’ as it is extremely rough, actually pulled the shock absorber off the wish bone.
After having a couple of days in Alice we headed south. Stopped at Coober Pedy and stayed underground (best sleep in, even Holly didn’t wake up as it was so dark).
Left Coober Pedy and got about 200 k’s south when disaster happened. A Road Train decided to overtake a car towing a caravan on a 1 km stretch of road, they were coming head on towards us. I did the right thing and slowed down to 40 km/h moved into the gravel verge but the Road Train ran the car/caravan off the road. They lost control and hit us head on. Two cars, one caravan a write off, Road Train continued failing to stop (PricK). Took ambulance over two hours to get to us, rescue about three hours. All taken to Woomera Hospital with minor injuries. Cars got taken to Coober Pedy with all Holly’s clothes, nappies, formula, pretty much everything.
Spent the next morning trying to organize to get back to the car so we could at least get the basics for Holly. Found a lovely English couple with their kids who offered us a lift. Once back at Coobers placed wife and daughter on the first plane to Melbourne. I stayed up and stripped the car and loaded everything into a hire van. Three days later I was back in Melbourne with my family.
