This series is dedicated to Denis Bartell — a man whose knowledge of the desert was unmatched, and who spent decades chasing Australia's remote places. Rest in peace, mate.
The 2023 Simpson Desert trip came together with a solid crew: Steven, Chop, Dave and Kylie joining for what was shaping up to be a proper desert crossing. The plan changed almost immediately. If you're thinking about doing the Simpson yourself, the resource I keep pointing people to is the Simpson Desert guide — and if you want the full picture before you leave, the Simpson Desert Travel Guide is the book that covers it properly.
These first three videos run from Farina on the South Australian outback fringe all the way to Purni Bore on the northern edge of the Simpson Desert itself.
Part 1 — Farina, the Maree Man, and Anna Creek
Set up camp at Farina and waited for Dave and Kylie to arrive. Cold night — well below zero — but a solid first night before the desert proper.
First change of plan before we'd even left South Australia: the track out to the Neck was closed. Too much water. So we headed to Muloorina Station instead — a pleasant detour, decent campground, big bore lagoon — before turning back toward Marree and the Oodnadatta Track.
The Maree Man was on the list. In 1996, someone flying over this stretch of outback spotted a massive stick figure etched into the desert floor — kilometres across, visible only from the air. Rumour has it a local artist from Elka Springs created it. He never confirmed it, never denied it, and died sometime in the 2000s. So that mystery stays where it belongs: unresolved, out there in the dirt.
We tracked across country trying to find the right vantage. Got a look at it from the right angle. Then pushed on down the Oodnadatta Track toward Anna Creek siding — an old railway stop where we camped for two nights. Good vibes in that place. The kind of spot that doesn't feel unwelcoming.
Along the way, Dave stopped at a spot marked on the map as Ted Colson's old homestead. If you don't know the name: Ted Colson was the first person to cross the Simpson Desert. In 1936, he and his indigenous companion Erringer Peter grabbed five camels and headed northeast from this very property — going just shy of Birdsville before turning back. No fanfare, no big expedition. A farmer and his mate.
Denis Bartell recreated that crossing roughly 20 years ago, taking Ted Colson's son Danny along for the trip with camels, following the same route as closely as possible. Both the original crossing and Denis's recreation are mentioned in the video — it's a piece of history worth knowing if you're driving this country.
Part 2 — Desert History, the Y62 and Satellite Communicator Test
On this trip I was carrying both the Garmin InReach Mini 2 and the Zoleo to properly compare them in the field. Both were running across the entire crossing — tracking, messaging, and monitoring battery draw simultaneously.
Dave's vehicle on this trip was a Y62 Nissan Patrol — making its desert debut. Good to have a different platform in the group for comparison.
Part 2 covers the Maree Man area more closely, a stop at Mr Peck's grave — one of those markers the outback scatters along its tracks — and the remnants of old oil drilling operations out here. The early petroleum exploration in the Simpson left these sites scattered across the fringes: old infrastructure sitting in the sand like the exploration companies simply walked off and left it, which is more or less what happened.
The dune crossings were getting harder. One in particular caught the group out — the top of the dune was deceptively soft, and that's where you lose momentum if you're not committed all the way through. The dromedaries continued to appear in significant numbers through this stretch.
And the bush shower. When you're a few days into a crossing and you find a spot with a bit of shelter from the wind, that's when the shower bag comes out. Whatever works.
Part 3 — Day 4, a Snake Encounter and Dune-Top Camp
Day four into the crossing. The drone work was getting better — learning to hold position over the dune faces for the descent shots. Worth the practice if you're documenting a Simpson Desert trip. The light from a good dune-top camp at the right time of day is hard to beat.
A Cooper's Eastern Brown entered the picture on this stretch. Close encounter. Eastern Browns are not something you take lightly — they are responsible for most snake-bite deaths in Australia. Not something that gets less serious with desert experience.
The crossing takes you past Tricky Bar — one of those desert landmarks that earns its name — and the footage from the dune sections is some of the best from the whole series.
Gear-wise: the Redarc solar blanket was getting proper use in the desert conditions. The Nebo light was also reviewed on this leg. More detail in the video. Both held up, both worth carrying in this kind of country.
The Zoleo was showing its limitations by this point. Battery management was fine, but the connectivity issues that started appearing here foreshadowed what was coming in Parts 4 and 5.
Eringa Waterhole and Purni Bore
Back in Part 1, the stop at Eringa Waterhole was one of the highlights — a genuine oasis under towering gum trees about 188 kilometres north of Innamincka, near the ruins of an old homestead. Beautiful spot for a camp. The day was good.
The night was not. A storm moved through with no warning — strong wind, dust everywhere, the stretcher tent catching wind on every side. Not a good night's sleep. That's Eringa Waterhole's full character: beautiful setting, rough overnight in bad weather.
Purni Bore was cold. That was unexpected. An artesian bore is supposed to push warm water — this one was running surprisingly cold. Not quite the warm shower finish we'd anticipated after the Oodnadatta stretch.
Navigation — Memory Map
I run Memory Map For All with the HEMA 4WD map pack on every remote trip. In country with no phone signal and tracks that shift after each flood, offline topo detail — station tracks, bore locations, water points — is not optional. Full breakdown in the navigation app review.
Parts 4 and 5 are covered in Simpson Desert 2023 — French Line to Bedourie. The French Line, Poeppel Corner, flooding, a fuel tank crack and a lot of punctures. All Simpson Desert trip reports are collected on the guide page. See you along the tracks.
