The Simpson Desert is perhaps the last place on Earth that you would associate with the word ‘river’. Yet there it is … at the northern end lays the Hay River and its revered track. Forget packing the swimwear though, for the ‘river’ just does not flow. In fact, even with heavy and consistent rainfall, the water flow on the surface barely makes a mark on its northward journey. Nope, any water here in this dry bed lays about two metres underground.
We take on the Hay River Track after spending a few days at Birdsville and the Big Red Bash. It was the year of Paul Kelly and Jimmy Barnes, when heavy rain brought the concert into the heart of the town. We did an awesome ‘Outback Pub Crawl’ out to the bash that year, which you can check out here.
This comes from issue 025 of Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures magazine. To read the story, grab yourself a copy at the Online Store.
