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Photo: Simpson Desert in South Australia
Located in the
centre of Australia, the waves of ridged red
sand that ripple endlessly across the Simpson
Desert is one of the most parched and hostile
regions in the world. Covering an area over six
hundred thousand square kilometers, the familiar sight here at
the Simpson Desert, first set eyes upon by
Charles Sturt, is ridge upon ridge of deep red
sand that stretches from horizon to horizon in
the dry heart of Australia. Particles of iron
oxide give the sand its red color, but around
the few watercourses it is white and the dunes
were piled up by powerful winds in prehistoric
times. Water is seen rising to the surface at
several natural springs since below it lies the
Great Artesian Basin.
Sunrise and sunset
emphasize the symmetry of the dunes, for the
slanting light picks out the red crests like
undulating banks of burning coal, and their
hollows seem like deep pools of ink. Seen
between the dunes are clay pans and gibber
plains which are flats of jagged stones. With an
average of just 125 mm of rain annually, the
Simpson Desert is the driest place in the
country and only plants such as the gnarled
shrubs and cane grass can sustain such heat
together with the lizards and hopping mice. When
rain does come down, the parakeelya plants cover
the desert floor and the water drains southward
towards Lake Eyre.
Charles Sturt
believed that there was an unmapped expanse of
water in the interior of the desert and he then
set out in 1844 to try and locate it but was
unsuccessful despite crossing an immense,
gloomy, stone-clad plain which is now known as
the Sturt's Stony Desert. In 1939, Dr Cecil
Madigan led a scientific expedition into the
desert in which he later named it after Alfred
Simpson who was then the president of the South
Australia Branch of the Royal Geographical
Society. Visitors to this spectacular area can
drive across the desert but they must keep in
mind that there will be sandstorms, stones, mud
and searing heat to accompany them in their
challenging journey.
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