The customised campervan that famously got stuck in the Simpson Desert more than a month ago has finally been recovered.
Perth couple Ori and Lindsey Zavros, and their two young children Zane and Zoe, had been on a major Outback trip when they were caught out by heavy rains and became badly bogged.
After spending a week stranded in the Simpson Desert, about 150 kilometres north-east of Oodnadatta, they were winched to safety by helicopter on November 17.
However, the ABC reports that their purpose-built campervan, complete with an extensive entertainment system, was reluctantly left behind in the mud.
This week though, the Zavros family has finally shared the news on their Facebook page that the campervan has been retrieved.
“We are so happy to let you know the truck and camper are out of the mud and safe,” they wrote. “Next step is to figure out the best way to get her to Perth.”
The family write that their insurance would cover the cost of recovering the vehicle.
The ABC reports that the campervan was recovered by Simpson Desert publican, Graham Scott, who said it took all day to dig the campervan out of the mud.
The campervan had been stuck since November. PIC: Graham Scott / ABC
“Obviously we couldn’t do anything when they first got bogged, because no-one could drive on that country, it was unpassable, so we had to wait until the country dried out,” he said. “It was fairly well embedded in mud but with a bit of digging and a bit of help from our Unimog, it popped out.”
Mr Scott, who runs the Mt Dare Hotel, told the ABC that it took ‘about four hours’ to drive to the scene.
“We spent about, let’s say an hour and a half to two hours, digging it out, then pulled it out with our big recovery truck,” he said. “It is now back at Mt Dare waiting for arrangements to be made to get it back to WA.”
