Camels & swags & dunes, oh my! A guide to slow travel in the simpson desert

It turns out Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and I actually do have something in common - we both landed somewhere we'd never been before and we both had the most extraordinary adventure.

When Aunty Em and Uncle Henry's house landed in Oz and Dorothy and Toto first stepped foot in that magical land, she knew she'd arrived somewhere special. From the moment I saw the desert landscape from the plane and set foot in remote outback Queensland in the East Simpson Desert, I knew I'd arrived somewhere magical as well.

This my friends is where Dorothy and my stories deviate significantly. I didn't quite land in the East Simpson desert in a house, but I did land in a Rex Regional Airlines Saab 340 plane. I wasn't wearing a blue dress, heels and perfectly curled hair, rather my style resembled somewhat of a feminine Indiana Jones look - complete with wide brimmed hat, gaiters and hiking boots. Dorothy's path to Oz was a reasonably well defined yellow brick road, however my path wasn't even a path - it was the red earth of the outback. Dorothy had Toto, a lion and flying monkeys in her adventure....I had lizards, birds, scorpions and camels.

I'm a dreamer with just the right hint of naivety, and if I'm being honest, I did have some pre-conceived notions about certain elements of the trek including the landscape. In my mind I had romanticised this idea of gliding through a desert landscape of rolling smooth dunes alongside camels with ease and grace, all the while looking effortless and capturing thousands of photographs. Thankfully, the Outback Camel Company sent a very comprehensive information pack and I very quickly realised this experience would be unlike anything I had ever undertaken before...and that made the idea of this trek even more exciting. From that moment, I decided the best course of action would be to simply have no expectation and just embrace the trek however the experience would unfold.

I set about preparing for the trek physically by walking 5km a day four days a week for two weeks, and then upping that to 10km a day four days a week for the remaining weeks prior to my trek. I felt in the best physical shape I had ever been in since my rowing days, and mentally, I was also feeling amazing. Part of that was absolutely getting outdoors and walking, but the other part of it was the anticipation of not knowing how I was going to handle trekking in the desert.

I started gathering all of the necessary clothing, equipment and medications outlined in the information pack sent by the Outback Camel Company. What I learned fairly quickly was that packing for a trek in the desert isn't quite as straight forward as you imagine. You can expect to oscillate between temperatures of 20-28 degrees during the day, to freezing temperatures at night, all the while having limits on bag size and weight due to regional airline and camel baggage restrictions. Ordinarily, I think it wouldn't have been a problem packing as a trekker only - but I was packing as a trekker AND as a photographer, and so that meant packing with purpose. In terms of my camera gear, I had my Canon 6D Mark ii, my Canon 2.8 24-70mm lens, Canon 2.8 100mm lens, my DJ Mavic Mini 3 drone, spare memory cards, three batteries for my Canon, three batteries for my drone, and my Cygnett portable power bank with solar capabilities (plus additional batteries for my head torch). I didn't have any space available for a tripod, and so that meant shooting hand held at all times. All of the camera gear, chargers, batteries and power bank, along with my water and any necessary clothing I would need during the day would need to be kept in my day pack, which meant I would be carrying a pack weight of 7.5 kilograms on my back whilst trekking.

I arrived at Brisbane Airport the day prior, and settled in for a feed and a sneaky beverage and made the most of sleeping in a lovely big bed, having a hot shower, using a flushing toilet and charging my gear, knowing that for the next seven days and nights, I would be completely disconnected from the creature comforts I'd come to take for granted in my everyday life. I arrived at my gate ready to board the plane, and as I looked around I could see some fellow trekkers wearing wide brimmed hats and hiking boots - we were an easy bunch to pick in our unofficial outback uniforms. I could not have asked for a more lovely group of wonderful, thoughtful, kind-hearted and downright inspiring people to trek with, and from the moment we introduced ourselves, my nervous energy started to settle.

The flight out to Birdsville where we would begin our adventure, took 6.5 hours, and was a big day of travel. I had previously been quite nervous about flying in smaller planes, but had been assured by a number of people that small planes were wonderful to fly in, and I could not agree more. Flying in smaller planes meant flying closer to the ground and being able to take in the aerial view of Queenslands landscapes. I loved watching the the landscape change before my very eyes from from the greys of the cityscape, to the greens of the regional centres, to the oranges of the rural centres, to red of the outback. It was in the plane as we were descending into Birdsville where I would first realise that the outback landscape was nothing like I imagined it would be - it was better. On arrival to Birdsville, we walked onto the tarmac and into the terminal to meet Andrew Harper - owner of the Outback Camel Company - and after a short introduction, my fellow trekkers and I headed straight to Birdsville Pub for a quick bite to eat and a pre-trek drink.

We loaded into our transport and headed out to the camp for our first night in the desert. We were given a quick demonstration of how to set up and roll up our swags - and off we went to find our spot to set up our swag for the night. I had never slept in a swag before, and my first attempt at setting up a swag was comical at best. A fleeting haze of nervous energy swept over me - how the hell was I going to do this every single day!? Thankfully though, the previous trek participants were in the camp for the evening and they gave me some more helpful tips on how to set up the swag and I managed to get it done. Packing down the swag every morning would also be a source of great comedy also.

The first night in the swag gave me my first taste of the magic of the outback sky. I laid in my swag with the canvas cover down, and gazed up at the ceiling of stars, shooting stars, satellites and the beauty of the milky way that lay before me. The silence of the outback was something else I had never experienced before either, and just as the silence of the outback beckoned for still, so did the stars...and so my mind had no choice but to surrender and be still as well.

We were observers the first morning, and we watched as the cameleers carefully shepherded the camels into their positions, and then watched them load each camel with care and precision. It was truly beautiful to watch the relationship between the camels and cameleers throughout the course of the trek, and whilst I had never had much experience or knowledge about camels before, I now have an entirely new appreciation for these magnificent creatures. Before we set off, we were given our instructions to walk ahead of the camels and cameleers checking back in to make sure we were heading in the same direction they were, and just like that we started trekking into the East Simpson Desert. Camera in hand, I was ready to capture the desert landscape - particularly the dunes.

The first thing I realised was that the dune systems in the Simpson Desert are very different to the coastal dune systems. As mentioned earlier, I expected smooth rolling desert dunes. What I found were linear dunes, covered in vegetation, with semi compacted orange sand. The dune colours in the Simpson Desert are quite remarkable. The further north you are, the more red the sand becomes, and the further south you are you'll tend to find more orange and white coloured dunes. Each linear dune has two distinct faces creating a ridge, with the eastern slope being more steep and the western slope more gentle. These linear dunes can run up to 200km long, can tower anywhere from 10-40 metres high, and are separated by swales. Desert swales are low depressions of land between the sand dune ridges and every swale would have a distinct landscape of their own. In the Simpson Desert, the swales can consist of grasslands, gibber flats, clay pans, salt lakes and coolabah and/or gidgee trees.

One of the things I loved about my time trekking in the Simpson was climbing to the top of the dune ridge not knowing what would await us on the other side. I'd reach the top of the dune ridge and would look ahead to see the swale in front of me would look entirely different to the swale behind me. As I looked out into the distance, all I could see were what seemed to be never-ending sand dune ridges fading off into the horizon - I felt so small and insignificant in the very best way, and it really gave me a profound sense of just how expansive this desert landscape is. The vegetation covering the dunes consisted of a mix of Yellowtop daisies, sandhill canegrass and lobed spinifex which made for interesting walking. I quickly understood why gaiters and long pants were on the checklist of recommended clothing.

Unlike us trekkers, the wildlife had the right idea, and dotted throughout the landscape were burrows where wildlife would take shelter from the searing heat of the day. There wasn't a lot to see in terms of wildlife. Certainly there were plenty of spiders and lizards, and some of the trekkers saw snakes and scorpions, but footprints in the sand were the only signs we had that emus and dingoes had been in the area. Other than that, there were a lot of flies... a lot. Thankfully, I'd packed my fly veil, and it provided relief from these pesky critters.

Physically, mentally - and by extension creatively - the trek was quite gruelling at times. From 6:30am you're eating breakfast, then packing up your swag, helping the cameleers to load the camels, and then walking for up to 6-7 hours a day with your backpack, before getting to camp and setting up your swag. For me, the day didn't end there. We would generally set up camp at around 3-4pm, and after I'd set up my swag, I would be heading out scouting the area for photographic opportunities and then capturing the landscape as the afternoon light subsided and softened. Out in this landscape, there is everything and nothing, and even though I felt like I wanted to rest, I had no choice but to keep going. There are no second chances to capture photographs on these treks. The distance we walk, and where we stop is dictated by the camels being able to graze and feed. Photographs are absolutely encouraged, but to be clear, this is by no means a dedicated photography trek. It was imperative that we stay ahead of the camels at all times, and whilst there were so many photographic opportunities throughout the day that I wished I could have returned to to capture during golden hour, it was simply impossible to walk back to those areas and return to camp safely, and so, I had to get creative and think on my feet (literally) and learn to work with the harsh daylight to the best of my ability.

Coming back and reflecting on completing the trek, I can honestly say that my slow travel experiences in the Simpson Desert was an incredibly rewarding experience and one of the best adventures I have ever had. I still think I'm processing what I've accomplished on this first interstate leg of the Australian Sand Dunes Project. I've only seen an extremely small section of the Simpson Desert, and I cannot wait to get back out there and explore more of it. To see first hand just how different the desert dunes are compared to coastal dunes has been such an interesting experience, and has only fuelled my desire even more to keep documenting Australian sand dunes.

Till next time,

Deb