In 1984, Australian explorer Denis Bartell walked 390km from west to east across the Simpson Desert in a three-week solo journey with no backup vehicles. Bartell had already crossed the desert more than 30 times in four-wheel-drive vehicles and studied the records of earlier explorers before making the journey on foot. His route took him across the desert’s red interior, where he followed the history of exploration associated with figures including John McDouall Stuart, Burke and Wills, and David Lindsay. A year later, Bartell began his 2,500km Gulf to Gulf Odyssey from Burketown to Adelaide, travelling alone across Australia and again crossing the Simpson Desert.
How a man crossed Australia’s Simpson Desert alone in 1984
According to Australian Geographic, Bartell’s 1984 journey as a walk “west to east across its red heart”. The account says he was interested in the history of early exploration and hoped to gain an understanding of what had driven explorers such as John McDouall Stuart and Burke and Wills to travel through Australia’s interior during the 19th century.Bartell had also studied the records of explorer David Lindsay, who crossed the Simpson in the 1880s by following a series of wells made by Indigenous people. Australian Geographic says Bartell rediscovered these wells during his own traverses of the desert. One of those wells later proved useful during his Gulf to Gulf walk after he became lost for a time.
How the 390-km Simpson Desert crossing was completed solo
The Simpson Desert crossing specifically as a “3-week solo walk from west to east across the Simpson Desert 390km, no backup vehicles”. The source does not describe the journey as a 1,000km crossing, so that figure is not used here.The same account lists the Simpson Desert walk among a series of solo journeys undertaken by Bartell. His later Gulf to Gulf Odyssey involved a five-and-a-half-month walk from north to south across Australia, again passing through the centre of the Simpson Desert. That later expedition was considerably longer and included a 560km cross-country section with “no road, no tracks, compass only”.
PC: Australian Geographic
Bartell’s 2,500-km Gulf to Gulf Odyssey across Australia
Bartell’s familiarity with the Simpson Desert continued after his 1984 crossing. In 1985, he began his Gulf to Gulf Odyssey at Burketown on the Gulf of Carpentaria, travelling south towards Adelaide. He left on 7 May 1985 and reached Glenelg Jetty on 15 September after trekking 2,500km alone across Australia.A quarter of that later journey was spent crossing the Simpson Desert and its parallel dune system. Bartell already knew the desert well from his earlier 4WD crossings and his 1984 walk. His later expeditions included further solo journeys by vehicle, boat, canoe and on foot, including a two-month solo canoe journey towards Kati-Thanda/Lake Eyre.
