Who in their right mind who want to travel across the Simpson Desert?

Well, I did. But I’m not really sure I’m in my right mind!

The Simpson Desert is right in the centre of Australia, crossing state borders between South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. It’s one of the driest places on earth, with average rainfall of 150mm. Most of that rain falls in summer when the desert is closed because the temperatures reach around 50 degrees – that’s Celsius. July temperatures, when I was travelling, get down to almost freezing at night and up to the early 20s during the day.

Read more from Kathleen Swinbourne: Dalhousie Springs - oasis before solo desert crossing

It’s close to 500km from Dalhousie on the western edge of the desert to Birdsville on the east, across red sand, and red sand dunes. In fact, it’s the world’s largest sand dune desert. Live sand dunes. Dunes that move - and are made up of very soft sand.

So why did I decide not only to drive across the Simpson Desert, but to do it on my own in a Suzuki Vitara? That’s a very good question.

I didn’t go for the drive. I went for the desert, and the drive across all those sand hills was what I had to put up with for that.

I have spent most of my adult life at the beach, including a time sailing around Southeast Asia in my 20s. I raised my children in a beachside suburb and took them on holidays to another beach. Now, I’m fascinated with outback Australia and with learning more about my own country.

And there is a lot of desert in outback Australia to learn from.

If I’m really honest, I also wanted to go because I knew there wouldn’t be many other people there, and I find it more relaxing when I’m on my own, when I can set my own pace.

In my 20s, I backpacked around Southeast Asia on my own. I didn’t even think of asking anybody to come with me, nor did I consider it may be dangerous. That may seem strange to some (most?), but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to me. I wanted to go, so I just went. I’m not sure what it says about me, but I haven’t changed much in that respect.

Doc has been to the Simpson Desert before. He drove across it in one day. It would have been two days, except one of their party was having car troubles so they had to keep going. That’s not my idea of experiencing a desert. I wanted to spend more time in the desert. Sitting, listening, watching the changing light and hoping for wildlife. My plan was for a week or more from Dalhousie to Birdsville.

I don’t like to admit it at the beginning of a trip, but I was a bit worried. I decided to come into Dalhousie from Oodnadatta rather than go through to Mount Dare. That meant an additional 130k worth of fuel usage before I started in the desert.

I’d calculated that from Oodnadatta, based on all information I had, I would make it through the Simpson and have around 10 litres of petrol left when I got to Birdsville. Not a lot, and not much room for error, but I was fairly confident. Sort of. The car had been using a lot of fuel before I got the head gasket fixed, but it was ok now. Wasn’t it? Problem was, if I ran out of fuel, most other people passing would have diesel, so it may take a while before I could get any help.

But thanks to the kindness of strangers who topped up my tank with their spare fuel, I left Dalhousie with 100 litres of petrol. There are some advantages to being female and travelling on your own: other people can be more worried about you than you are yourself.

I also had 25 litres of water, enough food to last a month, and tyre pressure down to 16psi.

I was prepared for anything. At least, I thought I was.