Packing early and hitting the road we were eager to make it to Birdsville. 

Cooper Crk looking healthy

It did not look too far on the map, but for those of you who have been there before, you will understand when I say it is a bitch of a drive through the vast gibber plains (Gibbers are fist sized stones, the gibber plains are basically these stones and nothing else covering the whole country side) and rough tracks. This Disco was happy sitting on 90 - 100 kph through here which helped smooth the ride somewhat. We started to get our first taste of the amazing outback landscape on our way into Birdsville. Flat and featureless all the way to the horizon. Incredible. 

At the Birdsville turnoff

We finally reached Birdsville early afternoon, and stopped at the famous pub for the mandatory beer. It tasted good for a QLD beer. From here we decided to trek into the desert proper and camp at the base of Big Red.

After about 35 kms we crossed a handful of dunes, guessing which might be Big Red.

We came to one that looked rather steep, and charged up, stopping about 5 meters short of the top....nearly made it, but decided that I'd drop the tire pressure and lock the centre diff and try again. No problems, the disco cruised up with ease. The same was said for the over loaded Hilux following behind. We wondered what Big Red would be like, then James said that there was a sign at the base of that last big one saying it was Big Red....We were all a little disappointed. After hearing all the horror stories of having to make 4 and 5 attempts, cars having to take the bypass track etc, we were expecting something a little more challenging.

Big Red..??

Maybe we hit Red on an easy day...??

After another 5 dunes we found a dried up clay pan that made for a perfect camp site. That night was our first look at the stars from the desert.....awsome. So too were the flies. Tenacious little buggers that knew to climb in behind the sunnies and start burrowing into the corner of your eye.