TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008 43

The Madigan Line! I must confess that I had never even heard of it until 1984. In that year, Norm Needham and some friends set out to follow C.T. Madigan’s epic 1939 route across the North Simpson Desert from Andado Station to the ruins of Annandale Station and thence Birdsville. Aids to navigation such as the GPS simply did not exist in the 1980’s, so some members of “Smith & Co” as their group was known had to learn astro navigation. In those days, that was the only way you could navigate to specific locations, and provide an accurate fix of your position, deep in the heart of a trackless desert.

Ever since then, I had harboured a very strong desire to undertake that same trip. So, in late 2007, when Rob Alexander offered me the opportunity to accompany him, and some other Club members on a Madigan Line trip, I literally jumped at the chance.

If one thing has remained imprinted on my mind from the story of Norm’s 1984 trip, it was an image of Norm and the crew welding the side gears and pinions of the rear diff of a 60 Series wagon into the hemisphere in the middle of the desert using vehicle batteries. Little did I know that 24 years later, images of a welding job on my vehicle would be recorded on our trip!

The Madigan Line is named after explorer and geologist Cecil Thomas Madigan who, leading a party of nine men made an epic crossing of the

North Simpson Desert, by camels, in 1939. The purpose of Madigan’s trip was to conduct a scientific appraisal of the area. Madigan was a very up to date explorer. On his crossing, he carried a movie camera and a pedal radio. He was the first person to make a radio broadcast from the Simpson Desert. The full and extremely interesting story can be read in Madigan’s book: “Crossing the Dead Heart”.

Madigan’s trip was actually a double crossing of the Simpson. The second and almost forgotten part of the journey was undertaken by Madigan and just three other members of the original party. They followed the Diamantina down to Lake Eyre and then traversed the eastern side of Lake Eyre to Muloorina Station. However, it is the trip across the North Simpson for which Madigan is primarily remembered. A number of prominent geographical landforms passed in the early stages of a Madigan Line crossing are named after members of Madigan’s party; e.g., Marshall Bluff, Crocker Hill, Hubbard Hill and Fletcher Hill.

By way of interest, the first European to see the Simpson Desert was the explorer Charles Sturt in 1845. It wasn’t named however until about 1929 when Madigan had the honour of naming it after Mr. Alfred Allen Simpson, the then President of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, and the major sponsor of his expedition. The first successful crossing of the Simpson Desert by a European was in 1936, by E.A. (Ted) Colson, (after whom the Colson

MADIGAN LINE

THE MAGICAL, MAGNIFICENT

John GreigAndrew climbs another sand dune

44 TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008

Track is named). Colson’s crossing was in the south of the Desert. The first successful crossing by a motor vehicle was by geologist Reg Sprigg and his family in 1962 on what is now the Rig Road.

Alf Johnston, who accompanied Rob Alexander on our trip, had been very successful in some research, and had unearthed a copy of the original footage taken by Madigan’s photographer, David Marshall, during their crossing. It was held by the National Film Archives. A private screening was arranged, and those of us who could, made the trip into Woolloomooloo to view it.

Looking at those grainy, jumpy, black and white images recorded on Madigan’s trip was both interesting and enlightening, and provided some graphic depictions of what lay in store for our group in trying to follow in Madigan’s footsteps.

Madigan had taken 35 days to make his west/east crossing. We anticipated that our trip should take some 10 to 14 days.

We also had the benefit of talking with some long standing Club members about their experiences, during their own more recent Madigan Line crossings. And, unlike Norm and his cohorts, we had the benefit of knowing that all of Madigan’s 24 camp sites had been clearly marked. In July, 1994, David Owen of Owen Correa Expeditions, had set out to mark Madigan’s camp sites on behalf of Hema maps, and had placed a star picket with a small plaque at each of them. If you look at any detailed Hema Map covering the Simpson, the results of David Owen’s work is there in plain view about 120 kilometres north of the SA/NT border. Madigan’s 24 camp sites and their GPS locations are clearly shown.

We were also fortunate in having tracked down a copy of David Owen’s original strip maps of the crossing, which assisted our research greatly. But even more fortunately, we also found that a company by the name of Design Interaction, had very recently published a booklet covering the North Simpson Desert. That booklet, which proved to be absolutely invaluable, contains hundreds of GPS waypoints covering the entire Madigan Line crossing, and a few other related areas. The research and photography which led to the booklet being published was undertaken by the late Ian Stabler, who had worked at Mt. Dare, but was regrettably killed in a motor vehicle accident near Kulgera before he was able to see the fruits of his labours. Anyone who travels the Madigan Line in the future using the booklet as a guide will owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ian Stabler.

The booklet was published due to generous sponsorship by Engel Fridges and Piranha Off Road Products. We obtained our copies from ExplorOz.

A Madigan Line crossing is not a trip to be taken lightly; there is no made track. The “track” shown in the North Simpson Desert booklet is simply the GPS “breadcrumb trail”. Wheel tracks will be discernible, clearly so on many days, but equally, there will be many, many hours of travel where wheel tracks will not be visible at all, and on many other occasions, they will simply disappear as you cross a sand dune. Cross country travel simply following a “Go To” line on the GPS, over some awesomely big sand dunes, and rough to very, very rough sand moguls and spinifex clumps made into even bigger “moguls” (or “mongrels” as we dubbed them), due to the centres filling up with sand, became the order of the day for hours on end.

Rob, Alf, John & Claude on top of the twins

TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008 45

The trip is extremely hard on both vehicles and occupants. Suspensions are constantly working from full extension to full compression; shock absorbers get extremely hot; drivers and passengers are constantly buffeted from side to side, and backwards and forwards by the ever present rolling motion of the vehicle (dubbed the Madigan Shake by our crew); and many, many times each day, engines and suspensions were asked for maximum effort to climb the two to three metre high, at times almost vertical, raw sand ridges topping so many of the dunes. Extreme care also had to be taken dropping off the dunes on their eastern sides, as many were extraordinarily steep.

The desert in those latitudes is reasonably well vegetated, but thankfully, none of the spinifex was in seed. This meant we didn’t need to use the shadecloth coverings we had made to protect the entire fronts of the vehicles from a build up of spinifex seed heads. The spinifex stalks and other vegetation did however build up in the nooks, crannies and crevices underneath the vehicles, which required regular cleaning out.

The country we were traveling through was just stunningly beautiful. The intense red sand of the dunes contrasted markedly with the green, yellow and black of the vegetation. Early on in the trip, particularly between Camps 2 and 6, we were at times pushing through cane grass which was higher than the vehicles. And, quite often, there would be cane grass growing on the tops of the dunes.

I think all of us who undertook the crossing would agree that the Madigan Line was probably the hardest trip, both on the vehicles and the participants that any of us has ever undertaken. Its success depended on good research, good preparation, and above all great teamwork and cooperation by a dedicated team of participants. Our team was just fantastic.

On the first day of the trip itself (Wednesday, 21st May), we left Mt. Dare after morning tea and headed for Old Andado which is 107 kms away. We were all fairly heavily laden with 260 litres of fuel each plus 130 litres of water. On the way we called in to Andado Station to personally say “thanks” for the permission we had been given to visit Madigan Camps 1, 1A and 2, which are all located on their property. (“Andado” and “Old Andado” are two separate properties. “Old Andado” is 10,000 acres of freehold property located within and completely surrounded by “Andado”, which is a pastoral lease).

Old Andado was pretty much as I remembered it from previous recent visits. A very lovely retired couple, John and Liz Spencer, have voluntarily taken on the task of caretaking the old heritage listed homestead for its owner, Mrs. Molly Clarke. Molly, who is now in her late 80’s, is living in Alice Springs, due primarily to failing eyesight.

And what an absolutely fantastic job John and Liz have done, and continue to do. Two large areas of native couch grass have been established around the homestead itself; not for camping on of course, but to provide a couple of patches of cool green in an otherwise sandy and barren landscape. They have also established a thriving vegetable garden giving credence to the story that you can grow many things in the desert, provided you have the water.

Liz maintains the inside of the old homestead exactly as it was left by Molly and ensures that the insidious and ever present sand and dust are kept at bay. John has recently replaced the old leaking water tank on the top of the high tank stand; not

an easy task; and undertaken a lot of fence maintenance. He is currently repairing and rejuvenating a walkway to some dongas (which can be rented for a night or so). When the walkway is finished it should provide a canopy of wonderfully cool, green shade. The gardens have also been given some tender loving care, and now contain a variety of native plants. Almost every day, John drags an old railway sleeper over the entire camping area to keep it smooth and comfortable.

Each night John also lights the old wood fired donkey boiler; so there are hot showers for any campers (and flush loos) at the very reasonable rate of about $10 per person per night.

Old Andado, and Molly, rate a mention in the “Lonely Planet Guide to Australia”, so they get lots of overseas visitors wanting to experience and see life as it was in the “real outback”.

Before dinner that night, we were told not to have a dessert as the Mawbey camp was preparing “something special”. And “something special” it was. The meringue, strawberries and whipped cream were thoroughly enjoyed by all!!

I’m not sure whether that “something special” was a gauntlet being thrown down and which demanded to be surpassed, but that “something special” was the forerunner to a whole series of unbelievably delicious desserts. Vanilla cakes and lemon cakes (with icing), chocolate mud cakes, chocolate and carrot cakes, self saucing chocolate puddings, cinnamon, apple and pecan rolls, scones, sultana dampers, apple and pear crumbles, and other gastronomical sensations became the order of the night. All produced from camp ovens, and mostly from basic ingredients. And I had thought I might try to lose a bit of weight whilst I was away. Fat chance!!

After topping up our water supplies with Old Andado’s beautiful, sweet water, Day 2 (Thursday 22nd) saw us heading out to Mac Clarke (Acacia Peuce) Conservation Reserve. The Conservation Reserve is named after Molly Clarke’s late husband, who was instrumental in gaining protection for the very rare Acacia Peuce trees. Also known as “Waddi wood trees”, Acacia Peuce only grow in two locations in Australia. The second location is about

Madigan Plaque The Twins

TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008 47

14 kilometres north of Birdsville on the road to Boulia. Waddi wood is very hard and extremely termite resistant, so it was in high demand by the early settlers in the region.

Prior to leaving Old Andado, John Spencer had warned us that oil and gas explorers had been, and still were, very busy in this western area of the North Simpson, and had bulldozed kilometres of new tracks.

On reaching the Conservation Reserve, we observed a very large water tanker filling up at North Bore, and then heading out on one of the new tracks. The water was being used to bed down the tracks and lay the dust.

After having a good look at some of the very rare waddi trees, which remain reasonably stunted in their growth, notwithstanding that many live to be over five hundred years old, we drove around the outside of the Reserve’s perimeter fence until we reached the north east corner, where we picked up the track to East Bore. At East Bore we made a left turn and followed some fence lines before, for the very first time this trip, striking out across country towards the location of Madigan Camp 1. There is no marker at Camp 1, as it has been shifted to a site known as Camp 1A, to facilitate visitor access.

At a site where a number of our GPS’s confirmed it was the location of Camp 1, we drove a piece of reasonably straight dead wood into the ground, and wrote “Camp 1” on it. At its base we left a bottle with a note recording who we were, and when we visited.

Leaving the site of Camp 1, it was a cross country trip again to the location of Camp 1A. On the way, we experienced our first real sand dune crossings. Most of the guys managed to scale each of the dunes without too much trouble, but yours truly experienced a few difficulties. Tyre pressures needed to be lowered even further than anticipated which got us over the first difficulty, and then on another dune some time later, a quick snatch was called for, which had us quickly on our way again. Up to that point I hadn’t even contemplated using the diff locks, but after a brief discussion the factory lockers were put to use and quickly proved their worth. I also needed to readjust my mental approach to desert sand driving.

The marker for Camp 1A was located early in the afternoon, about one sand dune further east than where the GPS’s were showing, and right beside what looked like a four lane highway. Yes, it was one of the new mining roads. (Camp 1A is normally accessed by station track from East Bore, which is the preferred route).

The new mining road led off in the right direction for Camp 2, so follow it we did. But, after about 12 kilometres, it was obvious that it was leading us ever so gently away to the east of our needed route. So we drove back towards Camp 1A to where some wheel tracks had previously been sighted which seemed to head in what appeared to be the right direction. Those wheel tracks, which were difficult to pick up due to the high winrow thrown up by the bulldozer or grader blades, led us straight to our first GPS “Go To” for Camp 2, which confirmed that we were spot on track.

In due course, the old, abandoned Case Tractor came into view, which was an obvious compulsory photo stop. In the distance, we could also discern two small bumps on the horizon. Those bumps were “The Twins” which were beyond Camp 2, and were our proposed camp site for the night. The going to Camp 2, was relatively easy over flat ground on reasonably well defined wheel tracks. Camp 2 came into view, and was duly recorded. We then pushed on to “The Twins”, and found quite a good camp site immediately to their north. We had achieved 117 kilometres on the day.

The weather to date had been absolutely superb and continued so for the duration of the crossing: warm days with temperatures in the mid 20’s; cool nights, and best of all, once you were well away from the cattle properties, virtually no flies and very, very few insects. Day 3 (Friday 23rd) was no exception, dawning cool and bright with an absolutely clear sky.

Two cairns sit atop the northernmost “Twin”. Under one of them Alf managed to locate a tin containing the names of some previous visitors, plus a few geocache trinkets. On the other cairn there are two plaques commemorating Madigan’s epic journey. The view from the top of “The Twins” was awe inspiring. After the obligatory photographs, we set off to gain the Colson Track and head towards Camp 6.

Camps 3, 4 and 5 are all located on aboriginal land. To gain access to them you are required to have a Permit issued by the Central Land Council. The only problem is that the Central Land Council will not issue the appropriate Permit. They claim there are just too many sacred sites in the area. The Colson Track is similarly affected where it passes through the aboriginal land. The areas are all clearly marked on the Hema Maps.

What this means is that to access the Colson Track from Camp 2, you must head south and then north east to gain the Colson at a point known as

Bob fuelling Ian's vehicle at Mount Dare John bogged again

48 TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008

“The Pivot”. It’s where two adjoining triangular end areas of aboriginal land almost, but not quite, abut each other at the apexes of the triangles. There is an area of land a few hundred metres long, which is not designated as aboriginal land. This point gives access to the Colson Track. You then simply strike out across country towards Camp 6.

The wheel tracks to access “The Pivot” disappear and re-appear. They traverse rocky areas and rough gibber tableland. But equally, you will pass through some very picturesque swales. Some very large and awkward dunes with quite steep eastern exits make travel difficult as you approach the Colson Track. But once you cross the Colson and head towards Camp 6, the dunes begin to flatten out a little and become more manageable.

Every vehicle in the group, with the exception of Rob Alexander experienced one or more punctures, due mainly to staking of the side walls, heading to Camp 6. All were quickly plugged, with some requiring two, three and even four plugs to stem the loss of air. In my case, we simply changed the wheel.

We camped very late that afternoon on an area of flat ground, about a third of the way towards Camp 6 after leaving the Colson. We had achieved 78 kilometres on the day. That night, after pitching camp, Claude and I mended the only puncture we sustained on the entire trip. My puncture was caused not by staking, but by the tube being pinched by the tyre, due to the very low pressures we were running at the time.

Cresting one of the many smaller dunes crossed on day four, (Saturday 24th) we were again confronted with what looked like another four lane highway. Yes, another of the new mining roads. Turning on to it, we followed it for some little way, until again it became obvious that it was gently leading us well away from our GPS track. So turning back to a point where some very faint wheel tracks had been sighted heading east away from the four lane highway, we again found ourselves back on track for Camp 6. Thankfully, that was the last time we encountered the new mining tracks.

Shortly after turning on to those very faint wheel tracks we found ourselves crossing a shady, dry creek bed. It was an ideal spot for morning tea. Today was also Col’s birthday, so an absolutely delicious fruit cake was produced, birthday candles lit, and Col was serenaded with “Happy Birthday”.

Camp 6, as is the case with most of Madigan’s Camps, is located on a largish, flat claypan. After taking the obligatory photos we were about to leave to look for somewhere a little more pleasant to have lunch, when Ian reported that he had no brakes. A quick inspection revealed that brake fluid was leaking profusely from one of the rear brake lines. Col Mawbey and Rob Alexander had a more detailed look at the problem and concluded that one of the rear brake lines, which was in a very awkward position between the chassis rail and the body, was fractured. After a quick lunch at Camp 6, the rear brakes were isolated, and for the rest of the trip Ian operated with front brakes only.

We camped early that night in a very pleasant swale lined with Desert Myrtle and Snappy Gums, about half way between Camps 6 and 7. The going for the last day and a half had been very, very rough, with sand moguls and spinifex humps making the suspensions work extremely hard. The shock absorbers were getting very, very hot indeed. It was also very hard on passengers and drivers due to the constant sideways and backwards and forwards rocking and rolling motion. And every now and then, a larger than usual sand dune made the crossing a very interesting proposition. At least the wheel tracks were reasonably clearly defined, although every now and then they would disappear

TLCC plaque

Alf on the abandoned Case tractor

TLCC NEWS OCTOBER 2008 49

altogether as we crossed a dune. 1st and 2nd gear running was the order of the day, with average speeds only being about 10 to 12 kmh.

That night Andy produced a most delicious vanilla cake, which was iced by Ian and Bob, and topped with some “Clinkers”. Col was again serenaded with another stirring rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

Sunday, 25th, (Day 5) dawned fine and clear once again, after a cool and beautifully moonlit early part of the night. We had been enjoying a few hours of full moonlight each night, but the moon was setting earlier and earlier, so we knew we would lose it in a few days time. We were hopeful that today we might get through to Camp 8.

Camp 7 was achieved by mid morning without too many problems, and we then set off for Camp 8. The going became extremely rough once again, with some quite large dunes presenting a few difficulties, but after changing some of our approach angles and crossing points we were able to successfully cross each of them. By this time I was finding that simply running in low range 3rd was the best alternative for my vehicle. 1st high was using too many revs; 2nd high was too low in revs which was causing too much “roll over” knock, but 3rd low seemed to be ideal. And I was finding that 3rd low was also the best gear to use to cross the dunes. It provided sufficient momentum, and more than ample power to get up and over the quite high, and at times almost vertical lips on many of the larger dunes.

But then a very strange thing occurred. After cresting a few dunes beyond Camp 7, and at its eastern base, we were suddenly confronted with a very well worn and extremely clearly defined set of wheel tracks heading off

to the north. That of course was away from the direction we needed to be heading. A very faint set of wheel tracks could also be seen heading off in the direction we needed to go. But where had the other set of very clearly defined and well worn wheel tracks come from? Where did they lead to? Who had made them and when? Were they actually a by-pass around what might be some very large and perhaps impassable dunes? Would they rejoin the wheel tracks we had been following?

All of these questions and a lot more were the subject of some discussion between us all as we stood on the top of a large, and stunningly beautiful red dune. Alf and Rob were leading on the day, and Alf was absolutely certain that we needed to follow the less clearly defined set of tracks which were definitely at least, heading in the right direction towards Camp 8. Ian and Bob drove down the newly discovered set of wheel tracks for a few kilometres and confirmed that they simply kept running north straight up the swale.

The staff at Mt. Dare had told us that a few weeks earlier a group of twenty vehicles had supposedly traveled up the Colson to Camp 5, and then headed across to Camp 6 and beyond. They only knew this because one of the vehicles had turned back and driven to Mt. Dare as a consequence of a medical problem. But strangely, we had seen virtually no evidence of anything like twenty vehicles having preceded us to Camp 6 and beyond. However, the clearly defined wheel tracks we had just found could most certainly have been made by a group of twenty vehicles.

Alf’s advice was followed, and proved to be absolutely correct. After more very difficult and extremely uncomfortable driving, and after

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climbing quite a number of very high, in fact some almost unbelievably big, and very red sand dunes, we finally achieved Camp 8.

Some of the dunes we had been crossing were up to 30 metres high and more. It was an absolutely awesome sight to be standing on the top of one dune and looking across at the next, perhaps half a kilometre away, and seeing what appeared to be little dinky toy vehicles slowly crawling up its side till the first one reached near the top where the power would go down, as it endeavoured to claw its way through at times some very, very soft sand of the most intense red colour to achieve the top of the dune. Most times the vehicle would make it, but occasionally it wouldn’t. The sand would be flying into the air from four spinning wheels, until it became obvious that there was no way the vehicle would make it over. Backing off down the dune, the little dinky toy would traverse across a bit more of the face of the dune looking for an easier area to attempt a crossing. Some of the drop offs on the eastern sides of the dunes were also very, very steep, with wind blow outs occurring on the southern sides of the moguls on the dune tops. Some very acute side angles were encountered at times as we made our way off the tops of dunes.

After the obligatory photo stop at Camp 8, we set off for Camp 9. Today, we had made better progress than we had hoped. The wheel tracks were still very faint, and every now and then we would lose them as we crossed a dune. Sometimes we were able to pick them up again, at other times we weren’t; but mostly at some time whilst we were traversing the next swale, we would again locate very faint wheel tracks. Some of the swales were extremely pretty, with Desert Chinese Lanterns, Grevillia Rattle Pods and Native Fuchsias growing in profusion. Yellow and Red Mistletoe were also prevalent in some of the Gidgee trees and desert gums.

It became plainly obvious at Camp 9 that nobody had been there for a long, long time. The wheel tracks were very faint indeed, and extremely difficult to discern. It also wasn’t a particularly pleasant spot, located in a very open swale, with no shade and just a few, very stunted trees. Not a good place to camp at all. So we decided to push on and see if we could find a better location for the night. After traveling a further 10 kilometres we found a reasonably good spot in a swale, with quite a bit of shade from some gidgee trees. We had traveled 74 kilometres that day.

Alf and Rob for some time had been commenting that they were actually following a set of dingo tracks, as the dingo had been trotting up the very faint wheel ruts. Whenever they lost the wheel ruts, they would start looking for the dingo’s tracks, and lo and behold, when they found them again, they were inevitably in the very faint wheel marks. We owe a vote of thanks to that long distance overlanding dingo, as we followed his tracks for about two days!

We were also looking to have a rest day in the immediate future. Camp 11 held promise of that, but only time would tell.

In the next issue, a middle of the desert bush welding job, a game of cricket on the MCG and those all important statistics!

Some of those dunes were tough

Alf Phil and Andrew change a tire

The intrepid explorers

Rob Alexander & Alf Johnston 80 Series Landcruiser Turbo

Ian Fergusson & Bob McCowage Nissan 3 Litre Turbo

Andrew & Frank Boyd75 Series Troopy with 1HDFTE Turbo engine and Intercooler

Colin & Philip Mawbey 80 Series Landcruiser Turbo

John Greig & Claude Donaldson 78 Series Turbo Troopy

46 TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008

Next morning (Monday, 26th – Day 6) we set off for Camp 10 which was only about 9 kilometres away. The distance was achieved with relative ease, and after the usual photo stop we headed out for Camp 11, just one kilometre away.

Madigan had left Camp 10 extremely worried about his camels. Jack Beejah, one of his two expert Afghan cameleers had expressed serious concerns that unless they found water and feed in the immediate future, the camels would begin to perish. After crossing just two sand dunes Madigan was very relieved to find a claypan full of water, with lots of “munyeroo” around which was very good feed for the camels. So after just one kilometre of travel Madigan stopped and again made camp. They stayed for a few days to allow the camels to graze and regain some of the condition they had lost on what had been a very arduous journey for both man and beast.

The Camp 11 marker sits in the middle of a reasonably sized, grey coloured claypan. A book in a tin box which had been placed by the Range Rover Club of Queensland records the names of visitors. The old

book was very dry and crumbly, and absolutely falling apart, so someone had left a new book there last year. We were not at all surprised to find that we were the first group through this year. The last group through had recorded their names in October of 2007.

Searching through the few used pages of the new book we found the names of Peter and Sandy James as the second entry in July, 2007. Peter is a long standing member of the TLCC, and made a crossing of the Madigan Line last year in his Hummer with members of the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Club. And following them, there were a further five entries. So between the middle of June, 2007 until October there had been just seven groups through.

But more importantly to us from the TLCC was the sight of two old and weather worn plaques attached to an equally old and weather worn star picket. That star picket had been placed at the site of Camp 11 during a 1981 re-enactment, by camel, of Madigan’s epic journey. The other two plaques had been placed by “Smith & Co” in 1984 and 1985 respectively.

Having decided that camp 9 wasn’t the best place to camp our intrepid explorers pushed on for another 10 kilometres before finding a reasonable place to set up for the night.

The Mad 10 at Camp 24

THE MAGICAL, MAGNIFICENT

MADIGAN LINE Part 2

TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008 47

We could only marvel at how much more difficult the trip would have been back then for Norm and his companions, and at the accuracy of their celestial navigation. Absolutely no wheel tracks anywhere to follow. And no information except that gleaned from the pages of Madigan’s book, and the research they undertook with the Australian Geographical Society and National Mapping. Two of their four trucks were petrol vehicles, and notoriously thirsty ones at that, so the amount of fuel they would have needed to carry was quite high. Their petrol vehicles averaged 3.6 kilometres per litre, whist their diesels averaged 3.9. We, by comparison averaged about 5 kilometres per litre. (The 1985 plaque was placed during a later north/south Simpson Desert crossing by “Smith & Co”. Norm Needham was not a member of that particular trip).

Camp 11 also didn’t appeal as a pleasant camp site for a lay day, so we consulted our invaluable little yellow North Simpson Desert book. A good camp site was shown about ten kilometres away and about half way to Camp 12 at a location known as Madigan’s Claypan. So leaving Camp 11 we headed for there. And the book was right. Lots of gidgee trees, plenty of wood, and lots and lots of shady, comfortable camp sites. We set up camp, and made the decision to stay there for the rest of that day, and all of the next, which would be Tuesday, 27th May and Day 7 of the trip. It was also Claude’s birthday.

We attended to some necessities that afternoon. Punctures were located and repaired. Ian found 3 in one tyre. Vehicles were checked over and a few running repairs made. Clothes lines were put up and the washing brought up to date; sleeping bags were also given an airing. I used about half a bucket of water for clothes washing using some very wonderful “Earth” brand eucalyptus wool wash, which doesn’t require anywhere near the rinsing that normal detergents do, and then used the same water to give the body a bit of a cleansing. It was the first time we had used water to actually wash in since leaving Old Andado. We had simply been using some very big “wet wipes” for face and body cleansing. Those big “wet wipes” proved to be extremely good.

Andy and Frank had sprung a leak in one of their water tanks and had lost about thirty litres of water before it was discovered. Not a catastrophe as none of us was using the amount of water we had anticipated, so amongst the group we still had plenty left. But after I had washed with the half bucketful, I offered it to Andy and Frank to wash their feet, which was gladly accepted. We also topped up our water tank from the 15 litre drums we were carrying. So far Claude and I had only used 30 litres of water, which was about five litres per day between the two of us.

Last night was probably the warmest night we had encountered so far. There was a bit of light cloud around which kept the warmth in. Rob had commented that at this point we were almost assuredly the most isolated group of people in Australia. A thought with which we all concurred. Where we were camped was right under a flight path, and so far we had seen two aircraft flying over us. Our camp site would have to present an incredible sight from the air. A few small pinpricks

of light and a reasonably good camp fire. It would certainly make some very comfortable airline passengers sit up and take notice.

After having a wander around some of the dunes surrounding our camp site, and taking a few photographs, we enjoyed a more boisterous morning tea than usual whilst relaxing in the shade of the gidgee trees. The reason for the boisterousness was that we enjoyed another cake with birthday candles to celebrate Claude’s birthday, and of course we all sang another lusty rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

After morning tea, it was time for a game of cricket on Madigan’s Claypan. A 22 yard pitch was cleared of stones; 3 shovels were set up as stumps; and the game began.

Some quite quick bowling and some very big hitting, not much of which was caught in the deep soon separated those who had played the game from those who hadn’t. Bob proved to be the biggest hitter of all and could have taken his place in most “20/20” sides. Obviously, the sight of eight grown men either in or approaching their 60’s, chasing balls around a claypan littered with stones in the middle of an Australian desert, wasn’t going to be too long lived, so after about 2 hours play, sweaty and hot we called it all off, and retired to the relative cool of the gidgee pavilions for lunch.

The afternoon was mostly spent resting and recovering from the exertions incurred playing cricket on the “MCG”; that’s the “Madigan Cricket Ground”. For some reason, the flies were also more in evidence at Madigan’s Claypan than elsewhere. Alf and Philip had taken to sleeping out in their swags on the tops of the dunes that inevitably bordered our camp sites to the west and east. And tonight was no exception. Next morning Alf found dingo paw prints around and very near to his swag. And he said that he had just caught a glimpse of a beautiful, sandy coloured dingo in the very early hours of the morning. Might it have been our dune traveling friend wondering why we were now lagging behind him?

Wildlife generally had been reasonably scarce during the daylight hours of the trip. A couple of dingoes had been spotted and perhaps 20 to 30 camels, mainly in smaller groups. Birds weren’t particularly prevalent, but we did see some small flocks of budgerigars, and finches, (which meant water had to be nearby), plus a few birds of prey. And earlier on

Andrews party trick – Birdsville Hotel

Amazingly we found water

TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008 49

we had seen some quite large flocks of corellas and galahs. Our most unusual sighting was of a male Mistletoe Bird. All of the wildlife we did see however appeared to be in excellent condition. A very amusing incident happened during a meal break after leaving Camp 2. An obviously very tired and perhaps very lost black cormorant flew in and tried to land on our vehicles, but he kept overshooting his target and landing on the ground nearby. We did try to offer him some water, but eventually he flew off. It did make us wonder though whether there may have been water somewhere nearby.

It was a different story at night though. The sheer volume of various little paw and claw tracks that covered the ground each morning was simply amazing. Bob had been setting a couple of small traps on a few nights and did the same thing last night. This time though he had some success trapping two Sandy Inland Mice. Both became very popular film stars before they were released.

Next day, (Wednesday, 28th – Day 8) feeling rested and rejuvenated, we headed out for Camp 12, which was about 10 kilometres away. Once again, the very faint and obviously little used wheel tracks would disappear for hours at a time, and then re-appear from time to time. The dunes were a little smaller now than they had been, but the ground we were traversing was just as rough as previously, and continued to make travel uncomfortable for both driver and passenger.

By lunch time we had achieved Camp 13, after having stopped at Camp 12 for the usual photo shoot. Camp 14 is 26 kilometres from Camp 13, but we were aiming for a spot a few kilometres short of Camp 14 that was marked in our trusty little yellow book as a “good campsite with trees and shrubs”. We intended camping there for the night. All up that would have been about 44 kilometres achieved in the day.

The going had been a little bit easier today than some of the previous days, but there were certainly patches where the spinifex mounds and sand moguls had again been very, very rough and uncomfortable to traverse.

We were about half a kilometre from our destination, and it was about 3.30 in the afternoon, when without any warning, there was a very loud, “bang” from the front right hand side of my vehicle. We immediately stopped and had a look. My heart sank at what I saw: there was oil running out of the diff housing near the right hand side trailing arm; and the bracket that secured the trailing arm to the diff housing was split straight down the middle on both sides! What the heck do we do now?

Col and Rob came up and had a quick look, and said “OK, let’s get it to some level ground and have a good look”. So very gingerly and very slowly indeed, with the hubs in “free wheel” and in two wheel drive, we traveled the last 500 metres to our proposed camp site. The vehicle was jacked up, and the front right hand wheel removed. A detailed inspection revealed that not only was the bracket split on both sides, but a lump of metal about the size of a ten cent piece had been torn out of the diff housing, which was the primary cause of the oil loss.

It’s in situations like this where the expertise and abilities of some members of the Club really become apparent. Col and Rob assessed the damage and quickly came to the conclusion that it was quite repairable. The trailing arm was removed; the sway bar and bottom of the shock absorber were disconnected from the bracket, the broken part of which then simply fell away from the vehicle. The edges of the part of the bracket still attached to the diff were cleaned up, as was the broken part.

The welded repair

50 TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008

The vehicle batteries were disconnected, and joined in series by the heavy duty jumper leads carried for just such a situation, and a third battery also joined in series. A piece of fencing wire was placed in the loop to absorb some of the amperage, but not affect the voltage, and Col began a serious bush welding job by first puddling up the hole. The amperage was still a bit high, so three turns of fencing wire was placed in the loop, which achieved the needed result. Col then fitted the bracket and a piece of steel plate reinforcing into position and located the bits with vyce grips. The set up was checked for fit to the trailing arm and was then welded back into place. The fencing wire absorbing the amperage glowed red hot in the advancing darkness as the job continued on into the early evening. By 8.30 pm the whole job was complete; trailing arm back into position; shock absorber and sway bar refitted and the diff refilled. All up the job took four and a half hours from start to finish. Thank God for guys like Col and Rob; their expertise, knowledge and abilities, and of course their willingness to help are just beyond belief.

(As an aside, the repair job was still totally intact when we got back to Sydney. The vehicle has now been in to my friendly Toyota Dealership for assessment, and a complete new diff. housing has been fitted under my very valuable and very well utilised Extended Warranty).

Next morning (Thursday 29th – Day 9) we set out as usual, with both Col and Rob saying to me to simply drive it as normal on the basis that the repair job was now probably stronger than the original bracket. For the first half hour or so of that morning the track was over some fairly reasonable ground, and a few groans were coming from the repaired front end area. But once we got back into the rough moguls and spinifex clumps, the groans ceased, and never returned for the balance of the trip.

My heartfelt thanks and eternal gratitude to both Col and Rob.

Camp 14 was reached soon after our departure, and after the usual photo stop we then started out for Camp 15, which is only three and a half kilometres away. There is a three way intersection at Camp 15: the track north takes you up the Hay River to Batton Hill and the Plenty Highway; the track south goes to Camp 16 and Madigan’s Blaze Tree, and the track we came in on from the west is the Madigan Line to Camp 14.

At this point, we began to feel that the worst was now behind us, and that we were well on the way to succeeding in what we had originally set out to do. But there was also a tinge of sadness, as we now began to feel that the wonderful sense of isolation and remoteness that had been so prevalent was rapidly dissipating. We were now essentially back on a well used track and could encounter people again at any time.

The traveling was now also very easy compared to what we had been experiencing for the last 8 days.

Heading south we were primarily following the dry bed of the Hay River. At a point about half way between Camps 15 and 16, the track wends its way around the end of one of the most stunningly red sand dunes I have ever experienced. The colour of the sand was simply magnificent.

Ian and Phil mark our passing

Some statistics of the trip:

■ The trip from Mt. Dare to Birdsville took 13 days all up, which included two rest days.

■ We covered 878 kilometres.

■ Average distance traveled per day was 80 kilometres at an average speed of 14 kmh.

■ We were driving for approx five and a half to six hours per day.

■ We crossed 685 sand dunes. That’s one dune every 1.28 kms, or 62 on each day of driving, or one dune every six minutes of driving time.

■ We each used in the vicinity of 90 litres of water during the crossing.

Punctures:■ Andy had two punctures and

had one tyre ruined.

■ Ian had 5 punctures.

■ Col had 4 punctures and ruined one tyre.

■ I had one puncture.

■ Rob had no punctures.

TLCC NEWS AUGUST 2008 51

Camp 16 was quickly reached. This is the site of a tree which in 1939, Madigan had blazed. The tree is still there, quite intact and looking very healthy indeed. Comparing it with a picture in his book, it was evident that the general shape and vegetation of the tree has changed little in the ensuing 70 years, but the blaze has almost completely grown over. Over the years various travelers have attached plaques to a series of star pickets at Camp 16. Again, there were two old, weather worn plaques bearing the “Smith &Co” marks from 1984 and 1985. Clear evidence again of what Norm and his companions had achieved some 25 years ago.

There is also a book, and some official plaques at the site. Prior to leaving Sydney we had prepared our own plaque recording our trip and the participants names. So in due course, Rob, Ian and Andy all had the honour of hammering in the star picket for its first few inches. Then each of us in turn hammered it in a little further. Hopefully, it will stand the test of time, as have the plaques of “Smith & Co”, and will be there for some time into the future. Andy also made an appropriate and very fitting entry in the Visitor’s Book.

Camp 16 also marks about the furthest east one can proceed on the Madigan Line in that area. The next Camp, being Camp 17, is just outside the western edge of the Queensland Simpson Desert National Park. To proceed eastwards beyond Camp 17 to Camp 18, which is right in the middle of the National Park, you must have a Permit from the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service. The only problem is that the QNP&WS no longer issue such Permits. So travelers are obliged to proceed from Camp 16 down a reasonably well defined track to the

Eagles Nest, and thence to Beachcomber Oil Well, and then west along a shot line to the abandoned Honeycomb Mining Camp and a further reasonably well defined track running south to Poeppel Corner Oil Well and the QAA line into Birdsville. We however had permission from the owner of Adria Downs (a three million acre property immediately east of the National Park) to visit Camps 19 to 23 which are located on Adria Downs itself. So, rather than driving straight into Birdsville, we proceeded to Camp 19, which is just outside the eastern edge of the National Park on Adria Downs.

Two days later (Saturday, 31st May – Day 11) we found ourselves at Camp 19. Proceeding roughly south again, we twice crossed the old, and now abandoned, Vermin Proof Fence, which was interesting in itself. Then as we were approaching Camp 20 and Kuddaree Waterhole on Eyre Creek, we could suddenly see water! Water!! Would you believe it!! The very first we had seen since leaving Mac Clarke (Acacia Peuce) Conservation Reserve nine days previously.

Kuddaree Waterhole and a lot of Eyre Creek were surprisingly full of water. The picture in the trusty yellow book showed no water at all in the Waterhole, yet now it was quite full. Some graceful black swans and a pelican completed an idyllic picture post card setting.

The marker for Camp 20 was easily located with the aid of the yellow book. The picture in the book shows it nestled in front of a medium sized tree, and there it was. The plaque for Camp 20 though has obviously suffered some serious water damage over the years. It looks as though it has been submerged for long periods, which could well

52 TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008

have been the case. No inscription whatsoever was visible on the face of the plaque, which was full of small pit marks.

Alf and Bob at this point decided it was time to have a quick dip in the Waterhole, and let the water wash away a bit of the sand and dust from the last nine days.

Leaving Camp 20, we entered the flat and dusty Mulligan Floodplain and for the first time in ten days, actually got the vehicles up to about 60 kmh in 4th gear high range. We were headed for Camp 21, and then to the ruins of the old Annandale Homestead. The marker for Camp 21 was about 100 metres off the track on the left.

The book and the map both show the access track to Annandale as being south of the ruins. However, shortly after leaving Camp 21, a well defined set of wheel tracks headed off in the right direction, and as we crested a small dune, the ruins of Annandale could be seen off to our left about 300 metres further south.

It’s interesting, but very sad to wander around the ruins of old homesteads such as Annandale. What secrets and stories they hold! Annandale in particular has an extremely sad history. Annandale was established sometime in the 1800’s. In 1896, the Kidman Brothers acquired the property, and it became the basis for the development of the Kidman Empire in Queensland. However, in the early 1900’s, the

station manager’s wife was left alone on the property for a considerable period whilst her husband was away droving. Weeks went by with no sign of the droving party returning. Annandale was in the grip of a quite severe drought, and the supplies at the homestead were beginning to run out. Apparently fearful that she and her two young daughters might slowly starve to death, the manager’s wife poisoned the two girls with strychnine, and then tried to kill herself. The very next day, the head stockman returned from Birdsville and found her wandering in the dunes, “in the depths of madness”.

The graves of both the young girls can still be found at Annandale to this day. A considerable amount of artifacts from the period also remain as a permanent memorial to those very difficult early times. Of particular interest is the incredible timber work that had gone into the making of some of the old yards near the property. And, in the shade of an old gidgee tree there is a plaque commemorating the fact that the area was traversed by Madigan in 1939. The plaque was placed by the 1981 re-enactment party. There is also a blazed tree.

As it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to camp at Annandale Waterhole on Eyre Creek, in the immediate vicinity of the Annandale ruins. Showers all round quickly became the order of the day. Pelicans were also enjoying the waters of the Creek, whilst a pair of white egrets was stalking small fish in the shallows. Sitting quietly on the bank we were treated to some synchronized aerial gymnastics by a couple of flocks of budgerigars. And to make this very picturesque and uniquely Australian scene complete a large flock of noisy, squawking corellas landed on the muddy bank for a drink just a few metres away from us.

Next day, (Sunday, 1st June – Day 12), we spent a little more time exploring the ruins of Annandale before setting off for Camp 22 further down along Eyre Creek. Exiting down the marked access track to the ruins we stopped at a plaque commemorating the fact that Charles Sturt had camped nearby in September, 1845, during his fruitless search for the mythical “inland sea”.

On the way to Camp 22, we took a short detour off the track and had a look at a not so old, but obviously very immobile and broken down Fordson tractor. Nearby were a solar powered bore, tank and overflow, just south of Dickory Waterhole. A small group of brolgas excited our

Damaged axle housing

Old machinery at Annandale Station

Smith & Co plaques 84/85

TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008 53

interest for a few minutes before gracefully taking to the air. Camp 22 was duly located a couple of kilometres further on and just off to the left of the track. A few kilometres further south we needed to make a left turn and head east to see whether a locked gate, as shown on all of our maps, was in reality locked. If it was locked then it meant we had a very long detour to make to access Camp 23. Camp 23 sits right beside the access track to Muncoonie Homestead, which is part of Adria Downs, and is used as accommodation by the station manager and his wife and family.

Thankfully, the gate was not locked, but there were some awesomely big dunes to traverse prior to, and after, reaching the gate. Approximately 20 kms further on we located the Camp 23 plaque right beside the track.

Whilst we were photographing the plaque we noticed a large dust cloud approaching us from the direction of Muncoonie Homestead. And, shortly thereafter, a vehicle pulled up containing the manager’s wife Judy, her daughter and a couple of gorgeous, young blue heeler pups. They were the very first people outside of our group that we had encountered since leaving Mac Clarke Reserve, ten days previously.

Judy was aware from her husband that a party had been given approval by the owner of the property to visit the Madigan Camps, so our presence caused her no concern. We did however, make some inquiries as to whether the owner could be contacted in Birdsville, as he had previously indicated to us, that whilst he was happy to give us access to all the other Madigan camp sites, he could not give us approval to go overland to Camp 24. So we wanted to have a further talk to him about the feasibility of accessing Camp 24 by any other means.

Judy was on her way to meet her husband Don, who was droving some cattle back to a set of yards about 10 kms further down the track. She suggested that we have a talk to him as the owner was away overseas. So we followed her down to the yards, and a short while later Don came in on his motorbike. After explaining the situation to him, and having a chat about the tracks that existed in the area

Vehicle problems encountered included:■ Rob Alexander: all exhaust brackets broken and a

leaking waste gate actuator on the turbo, which was only evident at higher speeds, had shown up earlier in the trip. The exhaust brackets were welded in Birdsville.

■ Col experienced a broken Panhard Rod prior to leaving Mt. Dare, which was repaired at Mt. Dare. His compressor relief valve failed, and the front stabilizer bar mounting bracket on the RHS of the diff housing fractured at the weld.

■ Ian experienced a broken brake line; which later turned out to have been caused by a broken rear coil spring tower, which had crushed up against the body fracturing the brake line. Both problems were remedied in Birdsville with the expert assistance of Col Mawbey. Ian’s engine management system also began to cause him some problems in the latter stages of the trip, but mysteriously corrected itself on the run down the Blue Mountains to Sydney. Ian also had an unexplained coolant loss early in the trip which was remedied by the addition of black pepper to the coolant.

■ I experienced the broken front trailing arm bracket as previously described.

■ Andy experienced no vehicle problems.

TLCC NEWS DECEMBER 2008 55

of Camp 24, Don indicated that he had no difficulty with us accessing Camp 24 from a particular track he showed us on the map.

We camped that night further down near the southern boundary of their property quite elated at the prospect of actually getting out to Camp 24, being the very last of the Madigan Camps. Early that evening a huge flock of corellas descended to the ground not too far from where we were camped. The noise they were making was deafening.

Next morning (Monday, 2ndJune – Day 13) we visited “Big Red” before heading off to Camp 24. Driving up the eastern side of “Big Red”, we parked on the top and walked over to the western side. “Big Red” now appeared to be more the size of “Little Red”. Whether it was simply the effects of the enormous size of some of the dunes we had been

traversing during the previous two weeks or that “Big Red” had really shrunk in size was difficult to say. So in turn, we drove down the western side, turned around and drove straight back up and over it. Looking at it from its base on the western side I would have to say that it does appear that about five metres or so has been knocked out of its centre, probably due to the sheer numbers of vehicles scaling it.

After that little interlude we traveled further down the QAA Line and picked up the track to Birdsville. A short distance later we turned off it onto the appropriate track and drove out to a point where we could travel what appeared to be a short distance overland to Camp 24. But, there was a problem. We had previously discovered that we had two different GPS points for the Camp. So Bob and Ian proceeded off to the nearest of the two locations, which very quickly proved to be the correct one as they sighted the star picket and plaque. We all rapidly followed them, on a reasonable track, crossed over two dunes, and there it was right before our eyes: Camp 24! We lined up all our vehicles and ourselves and took a number of photos. This was the very last of all of the Madigan Camps.

All that remained to do now was to make our way into Birdsville, and visit the Memorials to Madigan and to Ted Colson which are across the side street between the pub and the airstrip, and then to visit “Camp 25”, which is the Birdsville Pub itself. On the door between the Bar and the Dining Room, there is a brass plaque, identical to all of the others with “Camp 25” engraved on it.

Our journey across the magic of the magnificent Madigan Line was finally complete.

John Greig

On behalf of: Rob, Alf, Ian, Bob, Andy, Frank, Col, Philip and Claude.

Photos courtesy of all the crew with special thanks to Ian Fergusson (utopiaimagesonline.com)

The MCG (Madigan Cricket Ground)

Our fuel consumption was as follows:

■ Rob Alexander’s 80 series which had its engine almost completely rebuilt prior to the trip consumed 156 litres which was 17.7 litres per 100 kms.

■ Andy Boyd’s 75 Series with its 1HDFTE intercooled turbo engine consumed 168 litres which was 19.1 litres per 100 kms.

■ My 78 series consumed 175 litres which was 19.9 litres per 100 kms.

■ Col Mawbey’s 80 series consumed 188 litres which was 21.4 litres per 100 kms; and

■ Ian Fergusson’s 3 Litre Turbo Nissan Patrol consumed 193 litres which was 22.2 litres per 100 kms.

■ The most expensive fuel purchased was $2.17 per litre at Mt. Dare.