Journey Together
Seek. Listen. Wonder. Discover. Share.
Upcoming journeys
Wildflower covered dune, Madigan line, Simpson Desert 2016
ADVANCE NOTICE:
WA Winter Journey - 24 July - 2 August 2024
Northern Great Victoria Desert
We will travel north from Perth up to Meekatharra and then head east through Wiluna onto the Gunbarrel Highway before heading south and returning to Perth via Kalgoorlie. The dates have been specifically chosen to provide plenty of dark night skies for stargazing. Connection with and learning from local first-nations people will be a focus for part of this journey. Estimated cost per person is $1850, not including your travel to and from Perth to join the journey; the final total cost may vary slightly and will be confirmed at the time of final payment in June 2024.
For people new to Australian Desert Spirit Journeys, please view the information on other pages on this site including 'What is a Desert Spirit Journey?' and 'What to Bring'
Registration is initiated by completing our expression of interest form (see below). Places are limited and priority is given to first-time registrants/travellers. Returning desert journey members are welcome to complete an expression of interest form - please express your reasons for wishing to join us again.
If you have any questions, please use the form below to email us or email direct to spiritjourneywa@gmail.com
If you are ready to register your interest, please complete the expression of interest form below and press submit. You should expect confirmation of receipt of your form within 2 weeks.
Interested in our Winter Journey in 2024?
Please complete and submit the form below.
Please use this form to register your interest in joining a Desert Spirit Journey in 2024. We use your answers to the questions in this form to help us provide the best experience for all on the journey. Even if you have joined us before, we ask that you answer all the questions – your perspective and intentions may have changed subsequent to your last journey.
Our Desert Spirit Journeys involve travel to remote desert areas where emergency response services are not immediately available. We take safety very seriously, which is why we need to arrange a telephone conversation with you prior to deciding to offer you a place on one of our journeys. Places are only confirmed when an offer of a place is accepted by you and full payment is received.
Reflections on the Journey
Gill, 2020, 2021 - Perth
I have journeyed twice with Australian Desert Spirit Journeys in 2020 and 2021. Initially I was seeking a way to experience both remote travel and connection to the desert and ADSJ provided the opportunity to do that.
These journeys have been an enriching experience, the chance to connect and share with others from all walks of life, when our paths may not usually have crossed. We had our individual reasons for going, but also the common bond of wanting to be in the desert.
To see the sunrises, sunsets and endless night sky in this powerful and ancient desert land, has been wonderful. So too, the welcoming, warming camp fires, the camaraderie and laughter, friendships and deep sharing and plenty of wonderful food!
I am grateful for the opportunity to have made these journeys and would encourage anyone who is considering embarking on one to go. Be assured that ADSJ will take care of all your needs. For me, the rest was being open to whatever presented itself and the desert had to show me.
My journeys have been a reminder of what is: the deep silence within and the many things that can blind me to that. I feel like I’ve been stripped down and reset, which is a wonderful way to offset the stresses and pressures of our modern lifestyle.
Alice 2021, Perth
Before my desert spirit journey I was so overwhelmed, constantly frustrated and unaware I was approaching burnout as a 21-year-old uni student. When a position opened up two days before a journey I threw my hands in the air and said ‘all right I’ll go’. It has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
No matter how hard I tried I could not understand the connection between the desert and spirituality. I can’t explain it, but I do now. I’ve learnt that you will never understand what the desert can offer you until you embark on your own journey. I went in blind and broken and came out with clear vision and a new outlook on spiritual connection and self-preservation. My mind and heart rejuvenated and my burnout disappeared, along with the bags under my eyes.
The community, teamwork, connection and camaraderie built on this journey is incredible. There is no judgement on age, gender, sexuality, religion or spirituality. You are seen as a person and that’s that. This trip offers a sense of living on the edge as well as pulling yourself back to reality in a new and improved mindset. I will never forget this experience and will forever be in debt to the desert.
Helen, 2021, 2022 - Perth
I travelled with Australian Spirit Journey team in both 2021 and 2022. At first, I simply wanted to “get away and have fun camping” with others in the rugged desert interior. The experience offered was so much more: new friends, common activities and time to reflect.
We travelled through the sacred heart of the desert, each day opening to extraordinary natural vistas, driving through wild, windy expanses of desert and each evening spent with an open fire, shared meal and gentle conversations.
We were encouraged to explore spirituality in a purposeful and meaningful manner, by speaking and listening with others while considering each other’s perspectives. The journey encouraged a return to faith, intellect and sense of being which I had misplaced in the crush of family and career responsibilities.
ADSJ has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. Between the trips I continue to reminisce on conversations and reflect on meaningful interactions and activities. I still imagine myself in the vast inland space and I draw upon the journey experiences to strengthen my core values and sense of self. A rich and wild experience waits for individuals seeking respite in the desert.
Recent Journeys
Recent Journeys - 2023
Our 2023 journey mirrored the previous year’s journey in only one respect - the route was almost identical. In contrast, we spent a whole day immersed in aboriginal culture, travelling on country with a local elder, learning about Mallee Fowl nesting behaviour, how to find your direction using the Kurrajong tree (which is also a source of water in an emergency), and contemplating the customs and lifestyle of generations past who travelled across the land, stopping at different places at different times of the year. The group consisted of 12 people, 8 first-timers and a leadership team of 4 experienced desert travellers. The age range was late 20’s to late 70’s. The learning experiences from each other almost matched the deep learning from our aboriginal host and we returned enriched individually and collectively by our desert experience.
Recent Journeys - 2022
Once again we headed east through Laverton and out into the Great Victoria Desert, leaving on July 20 from Perth. A Native Title Determination had been awarded to the Nangaanya-Ku people in late 2021 and we successfully applied to the Board of the managing body for an entry permit. We enjoyed a cultural immersion experience with an aboriginal elder on our second day, and then travelled through Laverton to camp at Rason Lake before heading further east via the Anne Beadell Highway to camp east of Neale Junction. We completed our loop by returning once again to the Hanns Track, camping at Millar Range before returning to Laverton and then Perth. The journey took 10 days and covered over 3,000 km.
Perhaps not surprisingly, this journey was more impacted by the pandemic than the two previous journeys due to the WA border opening in February. At one stage we had 12 participants but due to a variety of factors the final group numbered only 7 - one of our smallest groups for some time. The group included a father and his 28 year-old-son who enjoyed sharing a unique experience of desert immersion, while the remaining members of the group appreciated the depth of their relationship!
Once again the weather was kind to us, and the stars were brilliant under moonless skies. Helen’s testimony about her experiences on the 2021 and 2022 journeys provides you with her personal perspective.
Recent Journeys - 2021
The Pilbara again beckoned for the 2021 Spirit Journey but restrictions on access to various parts of the east Pilbara again prevented us heading north. Instead we headed north to Mount Magnet and then east to Sandstone, Wiluna, onto the Gunbarrel Highway to Warburton, then south on the Connie Sue Highway and returned to Laverton via our favourite Hann’s Track, and Anne Beadell Highway.
The journey departed Perth in early July in the pouring rain, but by the evening of day 1 we had out-run the rain and we had only one wet morning in the entire 12 day journey, despite Perth receiving record rainfall for the month of July, with rain almost every day of the month. The 12 participants spanned a 50 year age gap, with 3 people experiencing their first journey and 5 only their second journey.
The dates were chosen partly to ensure we had many moonless nights, which made the night sky viewing stunning, and also pleased the camera enthusiasts. The 12 journeyers formed a great team, and a number of people returning with memories of deep and meaningful experiences from conversations, quietly sitting and listening to the desert, and observing the stunning environment.
For more details of these experiences, see the testimonies from Gill and Alice above.
Recent Journeys - 2020
2020 was of course a year full of uncertainty and interrupted plans for many businesses and individuals as the world population dealt with the first true global pandemic in a century.
Our initial plan was to undertake a journey to the Eastern Pilbara and we had a large group signed up and deposits paid before the pandemic started to seriously impact Australia in March. Although the virus was well-controlled in WA, sufficient uncertainty over the presence of the virus in the community even in June forced a change in plans to stay closer to medical help if a situation arose that required urgent medical evacuation.
So instead we had a delightful 10 day journey to the Manning and Helena and Aurora Ranges, part of the banded ironstone country to the north of Southern Cross. The weather was very kind and travelling in August (around 4-6 weeks later than our usual time of year for Spirit Journeys) gave us the added benefit of longer daylight hours so more time to explore in the daytime. The Helena and Aurora Ranges are stunningly beautiful and remarkable in their vegetation remaining undamaged by the grazing of cattle and sheep due to the lack of permanent water sources.
Six people enjoyed their first Desert Spirit Journey with us in 2020.
Recent Journeys - 2019
In 2019, our three journeys were conducted sequentially involving three vehicles and a total of 23 spirit journeyers, 9 of them ‘first timers’ enjoying a totally new experience. The weather was superb for all three journeys. The lack of rain over the previous months was very evident, with many rockholes dry and evidence of recent bushfires in many areas.
Highlights of the first journey from Perth to Alice Springs were camping in a grove of whispering desert oaks on the Sandy Blight Junction track for two nights, and spectacular views of both sunset and sunrise from our campsite near Haasts Bluff, just south of Papunya.
The second journey immersed us in the Simpson Desert with rest days spent on the Colson Track and camped in the Finke Riverbed just north of Mt Dare Station. Return to Alice was again via the Finke River Gorge, a spectacular and challenging 4WD track.
The return journey from Alice Springs to Perth saw us retrace our route from the first journey down the Sandy Blight Junction track, and included a unique experience of a flock of Zebra finches gathering to drink at one of the few remaining watering spots in Bungabiddy Rockhole, only to be hunted out by a pair of athletic and acrobatic Peregrine Falcons as they zoomed overhead. Return to Perth included a rest day in the beautiful Millar Range on the Hann’s Track.
