The plan for today was to drive from Dalhousie Springs to Old Andado Station via the Mount Dare Hotel. Our plans were altered in an attempt to avoid spending too much unnecessary time in the company of a dark cloud of annoying bush flies!
Another beautiful morning greeted us at Dalhousie Springs. Chris was up first and popped the kettle on before wandering off with his camera to try getting shots of the spring in the early morning light. While enjoying breakfast we watched the to-ing and fro-ing of the people attached to a group of 5 vehicles travelling in convoy. They were headed in the same direction as us and we wanted to avoid getting caught behind them as much as we wanted to avoid being overtaken by them. They were fluffing about, and we were packed and back on the track while they retrieved washing from the bushes they were hung out to dry on yesterday.
Our first stop for the day was Mount Dare Hotel, 70kms north west from our campsite. The hotel sits within the National Park boundary and has a private lease to operate in this very remote corner of South Australia – just 10kms south of the Northern Territory border. To be clear, Mount Dare is more than a hotel. It serves meals from 8am to 8pm daily. It provides accommodation in the form of dongas as well as camping facilities. It provides vehicle rescue services for people who get stranded attempting to cross the Simpson Desert. They sell fuel, firewood, souvenirs, coffee and limited groceries. A real oasis for travellers in the region.
We stopped and topped up with diesel at $3.05 / litre before chatting with the owners of the business while enjoying a coffee. We learnt that June-July is peak season for them and this year had been especially busy. Their season typically starts around late April and is all over by October as this is not a place to visit in the summer months. There was a basket with a small blankets over it at the other end on the long table where we were sitting. The blanket was raised to reveal an 8-month old joey that was being cared for by the owners. Apparently its mother had been killed for food by local indigenous people; the Mount Dare managers saved the joey from becoming a pet / plaything for the children in the community.
Discussion with the owners confirmed that Binns Track was a beautiful drive and they wished us safe travels as we left. Chris wasn’t sure that Binns Track could be driven without permits but that was all confirmed during discussions.
Section 1 of Binns Track starts from Mount Dare and continues through to Alice Springs. Further sections of the track continue north through to Gregory National Park – a distance of over 2,000kms! The initial section drives through the northern part of the Simpson Desert, ofen running parallel to the (seemingly) never-ending sand dunes.
Old Andado Station was around 75kms further up Binns Track from Mount Dare but still within the Simpson Desert. There was a tinge of green about the landscape. The taller trees and shrubs had burst into life after recent rains and were displaying lots of new growth. Spinifex was shooting up through the rocks on the endless plains of gibber desert.
Cattle were sighted more frequently and they looked to be in excellent condition. They would settle in the shade of even the smallest trees, then jump up and run away as we approached – with their hooves kicking up the dust as they made their exit.
Old Andado Station is heritage listed; it is an excellent example of the tough life station owners had to endure. The original station building dates back to the early 1900s. Mac and Molly Clark worked the station through to the 1970s, eventually establishing a tourism business that Molly continued through to the early 2000s after Mac’s passing. When Molly passed away in 2012 volunteers continued managing the tourism side of the business. Today it is run remotely, and passers-by are able to wander through the old station just as it was in its heyday. Kitchen shelves remain stocked, sideboards have dinner sets and glasses on display, wardrobes are full of clothes, etc. It is a living museum wedged between 2 sand dunes in the northern Simpson Desert.
We had planned to have lunch at Old Andado and stay the night in the campground – but very quickly we had second thoughts when clouds of bush flies descended upon us. Fortunately the old station building provided some respite from these flies and we moved our lunch inside. It was over lunch that we decided to push on closer to Alice Springs and hopefully away from the flies.
We have continued about 100kms beyond Old Andado. The Simpson Desert and its sand dunes appear to be behind us. We have pulled off Binns Track and are camped in amongst some trees with views to the north of a stony mountain range. We have not seen any vehicles since leaving Mount Dare in the late morning so we don’t anticipate the passing traffic will keep us awake tonight.
