Holidays & Travel

[Dangles]

Okay. I've never been to the desert and for some reason I've always wanted to go to one. Maybe it was because of that song by America? Anywho, can anyone suggest a good place to stay in Australia that's located in or near a desert?

*I thought I'd call this the Holidays & Travel thread so in future people could use it to ask questions or pass on information relating to holidays and travel.

[Lazza]

I think RB (Rude Boy) has great experience of travelling in the Aussie desert mate. Hopefully he sees this thread and replies to you.

[Skids]

Come over to WA. I'm at work in the desert rite now. 160ks north of Meekatharra.
It's pretty awesome this time of year (beat the heat that starts in about 4 weeks). Amazing sunrises/sunsets. I run on tracks after work, 10 or so k's from the camp, do some breathing excercises and meditation as the sun goes down. Let out a loud scream and everything goes silent, not a sound. It's magic👍

[Lazza]

[Dangles]

[partypie]

Friends of mine are camping at Lake Ballard, near Menzies, near Kalgoorlie and loving the desert before it gets too hot.lake Ballard is a large salt lake and there are fantastic sculptures by Anthony Gormley based on the people who live in the area. It is also a great time to see the fantastic windflowers Western Australia is known for. I live in the south west and the air is full of beautiful scents and the bush is coming alive with colour.

[HAL]

Where in Holland?

[Tannin]

Talk to me, Dangles. I love deserts, have spent any amount of time in them. Possibly this is because of the years I spen in and around Alice Springs as a small child. Whatever the reason, I like Australia's deserts better than any other part of this wonderful continent.

What sort of thing are you looking for?

Any of these places appeal to you?

http://tannin.net.au/browsestate.php?state=3&substate=9

http://tannin.net.au/browsestate.php?state=2&substate=3

http://tannin.net.au/browsestate.php?state=1&substate=1

[think positive]

Death Valley is pretty cool! Well it's warm actually, but a grous place!

[Dangles]

[Tannin]

The Little Desert is a great place, Dangles, but it's not actually a desert. It gets the same rainfall as all of the surrounding wheat growing country - places like Horsham for example. Most of western Victoria is ancient sea bottom. The Little Desert is an area where the currents and winds (as the sea dried out) happened to produce especially sandy soil. (It's well to the west and bordering on the South Australian limestone country - hence the pure white sand. Compare with the red, orange and brown sands further east and north.) So, although it gets the same rainfall, it has different vegetation structure because of the very low soil fertility. It's no good for cropping and it looks a bit like a desert, hence the name. Round about right now is the time to be there: the wildflowers are brilliant!

Sadly, no Little Desert wildflowers on this page. I really must attend to that! http://tannin.net.au/browsestate.php?state=1&substate=2

Summary: lovely place, but not an actual desert. For desert in Victoria, look further north. Depending on how remote you want to go (4DW only for much of it), the Sunset Country is great. And huge!. Wyperfeld is justly famous - you can work your way down the remains of the ancient dying Wimmera River system - and Hattah provides a wonderful contrasting mix of Murray River floodplain and semi-desert dunes side by side. Mungo (further north in NSW) is another good one.

[watt price tully]

Melton

[Dangles]

[Lazza]

Actually Bacchus Marsh is the hottest place in Victoria because it is always close to Melton..........

[John Wren]