The END To My Epic Simpson Desert Crossing - The Long Ride Home | A Souvenir | Lots Of Memories

Total days – 13

Route – Adelaide | Coober Pedy | Arckaringa | Oodnadatta | Dalhousie | Mt Dare | Simpson Desert | Birdsville | Adelaide.

Total Distance – 3180km (1975mi)

THE LONG RIDE BACK HOME

After a long late night of sharing travel notes with fellow travellers and listening to locals' yarns at the Birdsville Hotel, we got up early in preparation for our long drive back home (1100km).

Our sentiments were quite bittersweet as it was also the official end of our trip. I wasn’t looking forward to the long ride back home to Adelaide, so to make the most of what remained, I got up at the crack of dawn to stroll through the town, soaking in the sights, sounds, and the many historical locations. As I walked about, the sleepy little town was slowly coming to life and the distant aroma of camel pies, bread and pasties being freshly baked at the Birdsville bakery lured me in its direction. It was time to, one last time, celebrate our maiden crossing of the Simpson Desert and the end of an epic outback trip with a traditional camel pasty.

As we headed towards home, I bid farewell to the Outback promising to be back soon. There were so many places that remained to be explored. My bucket list just got a whole lot bigger.

A SOUVENIR

When I travel I try to take back home something authentic from each trip so that it remains unique and will give me many a talking point when I have friends and family over.

During this trip, I collected layers of the varying colour red sand from the Simpson. The storage "jar" was one of the "energy beverage" bottles we took along :)

Collecting the last layer of red sand on the top of BIG RED

Another souvenir to my collection

HEAPS OF MEMORIES

As my Simpson series comes to a close I would like to thank you all for having taken the time to read my posts. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I am able to share my travels with other travellers from around the world.

As I start planning my next outback trip, I leave you with some of my favourite pictorial memories.

Start of our epic trip.

Outback Sunrises are as spectacular and refreshing as it's sunsets.

Cold desert mornings takes a bit of getting used to. Nothing coffee cannot fix.

Lifegiving nature's elements in the middle of this desolate land.

Despite the harshness, life remarkably exists.

Dry river beds that occasionally​ flow makes up the array of every changing landscape.

When in the midst of a land dating back several hundred million years the feeling is hard to describe.

Spectacular night driving.

At the end of crossing over a thousand sand dunes.

#tinyplanet #teamaustralia #overlanding

If you missed the previous parts of this eight-part series, please use the links below to read all the posts from this amazing trip through Outback Australia.

PART 1 - An Underground City | SiFi Movie sets | Dynamite From The Local Supermarket.
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-part-1-of-8-an-underground-city-dynamite-from-the-local-supermarket-sifi-movie-sets

PART 2 - The Breakaways | Longest Dog Fence In The World.
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-2-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-longest-dog-fence-in-the-world-or-kanku-breakaways-conservation-park

PART 3 - A 80 Million Year Old Painted Desert.
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-3-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-an-80-million-year-old-painted-desert

PART 4 - Hot Water On Tap In The Middle Of The Outback.
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-4-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-dalhousie-springs-or-hot-water-on-tap-in-the-middle-of-the-outback

PART 5 - Car Trouble in the middle of nowhere with night approaching!
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-5-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-mt-dare-hotel-or-car-trouble-in-the-middle-of-no-where-with-night

Part 6 - My Epic Simpson Desert (Munga Thirri) Crossing - Into​ The Simpson | Big Sky Country
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-6-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-into-the-simpson-or-big-sky-country

Part 7 of 8 - My Epic Simpson Desert (Munga Thirri) Crossing - BIG RED | 3 States, 3 Time Zones - All in one place
https://steemit.com/travel/@overlandjournals/part-7-of-8-my-epic-simpson-desert-munga-thirri-crossing-big-red-or-3-states-3-time-zones-all-in-one-place

Live life to the fullest, it's too short to procrastinate​!
Duncan Udawatta