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a landscape , often with varying degrees of success , the Frontline Safari has seen such cases when riders simply put their hands skyward and proclaim enough is enough . This year was vastly different .
With a base in the South Australian town of Marree , riders started with a night or two at the towns famous hotel , the only multi-storied building in the region . Publicans , Phil and Maria , wave off the bikes as they headed north along the infamous Oodnadatta track following the line of the old Central Australian Railway , a two-day ride before they reach the outpost of the Mount Dare Hotel and what is considered the start , or finish , of a Simpson Desert crossing .
Entering the dunes from the west is a daunting experience yet less so than from the east where the dunes rise high and steep , the west is a way to ease into the sand and experience what is one of Australia ’ s unique landscapes .
Eight riders enter the desert , all eight would also finish , followed by a convoy that could only be
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