Photo Vol. 141 — Wild Camping in the Australian Desert
From late May into early June this year, my brother and I in his Patrol and his mate Micky, Jimmy and Micky’s father in a Hilux embarked on a 4WD wild camping journey into the outback through Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Venturing straight west from Brisbane via Toowoomba, we made our way out to Thargomindah for our first wild camp high on a plateau. After reaching Cameron Corner the next day, we struck south west towards the Flinders Ranges in South Australia via Arkaroola where we tested out the vehicles on the Echo Back 4WD Track.
After witnessing the grandeur of the Flinders Ranges, we turned back north, aiming for the arid desert along the west side of Lake Eyre, stopping on the edge of the enormous salt lake for a windy and stark night in the middle of absolutely nowhere. We then followed the famous Oodnadatta track and beyond into the Northern Territory where our sights were set on the national icons of Uluru and the Olgas.
Amelia, my brother’s fiancée and Micky’s wife Dom flew in to join us on the trip. After our sightseeing, we headed toward Alice Springs via the incredible rock formations of King’s Canyon and Finke Gorge. Amelia, Dom and I flew back to Brisbane while the rest of the crew along with one new addition (Jason) ventured onward to watch the Finke Desert Race and cross the Simpson Desert on their way back to Brisbane by road via Birdsville.
Being more of a wild camping and 4WD experience than a photographer’s trip, I decided to shoot only with my Leica M7 on mostly Kodak Portra 160 colour negative film. Here are a selection of photos I took along the way. I have yet to send off my two rolls of Fuji Velvia 50 and Kodak Ektachrome E100 for processing, but once I have them scanned, I’ll be updating this post.
