Welcome to David and Janet Ribbans blog

We live in Adelaide, South Australia and enjoy travel in the Australian outback in our Oka 4WD motorhome, hence the blog title.



To quickly locate any of our more than 80 travel and technical articles, use the drop down menus below or scroll down the lists in the right hand sidebar. But please read the disclaimer first, we've tried to be accurate and current but things can change...
You can also visit the official Oka 4WD website here.

Pandora Web Archive


We're now honoured to have our blogs archived
on the National Library of Australia's Pandora Web Archive.
Bookmark this link to the archived version in case anything ever goes wrong with Google, or I accidentally hit "Delete All" in a fit of pique. The drop down menus above might not work in the archived version but everything else should...

Sunday 9 September 2012

2012 Outback Trek Blog Sections

During the 3 month period from June to September 2102 we did a long trip across several deserts and outback tracks across WA, NT and SA.

Our blog for this trip has been published in several sections:


Home to Great Central Road via Yulara

Great Central Road to 80 Mile Beach across the WA desert tracks, accompanied by Dave and Pauline
Port Hedland to Carnarvon down the Ningaloo coast
Carnarvon to Marble Bar across the inland of WA
Marble Bar to Derby via Broome
Derby across the Gibb River Road and Wyndham to Timber Creek
Timber Creek to Tennant Creek via Kununurra and Katherine
Tennant Creek to Alice Springs
Alice Springs to Home via the Old Andado and Oodnadatta Tracks

Our trip took us 14,000 km in 3 months across 3 states, 5 deserts and 10 outback tracks.


The tracks we covered were:


Great Central Road (from Yulara to Tjukyirla)

David Carnegie Road
Eagle Highway
Talawana Track
Canning Stock Route (centre section from Well 24 to Well 33)
Kidson Track
Gibb River Road
Parry Creek Road (Wyndham to Kununurra)
Old Andado Track
Oodnadatta Track

The deserts we crossed were:


Great Victoria Desert

Gibson Desert
Little and Great Sandy Deserts
Pedirka Desert
plus part of the Simpson Desert

Considering the pounding and difficulties on some of the tracks we've done, I continue to be impressed with the capabilities of our Oka. It's a 6 tonne monster but it's also our home and lifeline while in remote locations. It's not fast or nimble but there are not many places it hasn't successfully taken us to (and brought us back from).



We had no punctures (although 2 tyres have made their last trips), no major breakdowns (only a broken shock absorber mount) and only a few of the normal electrical problems. All the mechanical mods, upgrades and preparations worked fine.

So another very good trip, the best part being the Eagle Highway section (which has substantially disappeared from view now) while in the company of Dave and Pauline and several casks of wine.

Home to Great Central Road

5th June

Left home 12.30, lunched at Pt Wakefield and reached Mambray Creek rest area for the night after 250km today.

Called D and P for quick chat.

Compiled a TWF (Things We Forgot) list.

6th June

Went shopping in Pt Augusta for all the things on our TWF list and got most of them, and fuel.

While doing 90kph on the Stuart Highway north of Pt Aug we were overtaken by huge road train, and 75000 litres of volatile fuel moving at 110 kph is something you don't want to get in the way of.

96d8bb35-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

A stone thrown up from another road train made a large chip in the windscreen beneath Vinko's a/c label. It will probably spread to become a $400 insurance claim.

Camped at the Bon Bon Campsite after a tiring 400km drive.

Defrosted fruit from an over zealous fridge on the lid of the pressure cooker filled with stew. J thinks there's a mandarin missing.

f2c7098d-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Is there a mandarin missing?

Called in D and P with a shopping list of things we will run out of and possibly can't get more of along the GCR, like fresh veggies.

cca6c3ae-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Road train parked in our rest area ablaze with lights.

7th June

A very cold night, the GPS and Reversing Camera both declined to work initially. I had to prod the camera wiring with my bit of expanded aluminium that I had found by the roadside. (Luckily I had ignored all suggestions to throw it away). I also had to reboot the computer to get the GPS module to respond.

We called in at Coober Pedy for water, more last minute shopping of TWSF (Things We Still Forgot) list and fuel ($1.695). Sadly the cheap fuel place (Bulls) has closed down but the Mobil store half way though the town was much cheaper than the Caltex roadhouse.

North of Coober Pedy there are many flat topped mesa hills, part of an ancient land which is almost completely worn down except for very hard materials protruding from the surface, such as mesa hilltops and road signs.

6776975e-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

J saw a burnt out double decker bus in a paddock, or it could have been a burnt out cattle truck, both of which performed the same basic function.

We stopped at Cadney Park for comfort break, but not fuel at $1.98

Later we came upon a police roadblock for an overturned road train trailer. Pallets of crushed cans littered the verge plus what appeared at first glance to be an upside down small car which we feared might have been involved in the accident. Fortunately I think it turned out to be a small car trailer probably fallen from the road train, since it only had 2 wheels. It looks like the 3rd trailer of the road train wandered off the bitumen and overturned, spilling it's load. Some truck driver will have some explaining to do.

52d8a51a-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

The 3rd trailer (far left) is upside down

96fe6084-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

This was the load on the 3rd trailer

J claimed to have seen Sturt Desert Peas but this remains uncorroborated by a competent botanist.

We bypassed Marla since we needed neither fuel nor sustenance and camped at the Chandler Rest Area.

I couldn't make contact with D and P on the radio due to base operator Robert taking up all the available radio time

We've done 431km today and 1081km total, in 2 1/2 days. Oka going pretty well, now cruises at 90kph quite happily (previously it was only happy at 80kph) but of course higher cruising speed equals higher power equals higher fuel consumption (7 down to 6 km/litre). The replaced injector pump seal and air filter housing presumably makes a difference.

8th June 

Only 314 km today but a pretty good day's drive, passed into the NT but passed up fuel at Kulgera at $2.10 .

Called in at Erldunda for fuel ($1.97) and had lunch. They have emus to gawk at and Telstra coverage so we checked the internet and sent emails re dishwasher to MS and A.

We found our first flies today (or did they find us?), not too many and the sleepy winter variety, but a portent of things to come.

W drove down the Lassiter Highway to the Mt Connor Rest area for the night. A beautiful camp site amongst Desert Oaks.

4a5dfb6f-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

We saw a "We Drive on the Left in Australia" sign, not outside an international airport or ferry terminal as you might expect, but on the Lassiter Highway in the middle of Australia! You'd think by the time motorists got this far they would have worked that out.

There were plenty of people at Erldunda, long queues at the pumps, but very few on the Uluru road, and almost no tourist busses whereas the area used to be infested with them. No more busloads of Japanese tourists. The Finke Desert Races are on this weekend which may account for some of the Stuart Highway traffic.

J doing washing, nice dry wind but cool and sunny. Everything dry by evening except woolly socks which always take days.

Tomorrow we'll move to Yulara to do shopping, refill gas bottle, top up fuel and water and head out Sunday morning for the Great Gravel Central Road (GCR) west.

9th June 

We stopped to look at Mt Connor, which is a very impressive mountain and we don't see why it hasn't been opened up for more tourism. It's totally different to Ayers Rock or the Olga's but in the same vicinity on the same road. In fact geographically the three are all aligned and about the same distance apart. It's on private land so the only access is via a few specialised tours (flights etc). Surprisingly there is a nice but unnamed salt lake just behind the sand dunes north of the Mt Connor lookout.

37533d1a-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

We found the dump point in the Yulara industrial area, near a bus maintenance facility.

Supermarket shopping at Yulara was pretty good and not as expensive as expected.

Topped up gas bottle (2kg for $9.90) and fuel ($2.13/l), both less than expected.

Walked up sand dune to see Uluru, saw lots of animal prints, surprising in centre of campground

Spoke with A on phone.

5a575709-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Radio reception was completely ratshit due to the electrical noise emanating from Yulara village so I just assumed D and P could hear me (which he could) and asked him to check Pauline's Facebook page where I had written some notes.

D and P called later and we arranged a radio schedule 12:00 WA time (1:30 CST) the next day, to discuss a possible delay/route alteration due to storms in SW WA.

10th June 

Left Yulara campsite and passed through the NP entrance without having to pay the $25 per person entry fee since we had a permit to travel west on the Great Gravel Road. Nevertheless, we did a circuit of The Rock anyway in gloomy overcast conditions, quite unlike the spectacular sunshine of yesterday.

We struck out for the Olga's in similar conditions but carried on west on the GCR. We reminisced about the "old" days when you could drive all around the domes of the Olgas and could even climb some, but not now, one road, one car park and only 2 defined walks you can take. That means that 90% of the Olga's treasures can no longer be experienced. An unintended consequence of the Mabo decision.

ffd11557-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

The GCR has mostly been regraded recently and was a pretty smooth drive for 150kms until we reached Docker River Aboriginal Community where it returned to its original corrugated sandy state.

But just after starting down the GCR, a large camel darted across the road in front of us. A couple of seconds later and we would have collided with him a-midriff. That would have been catastrophic for both him and us. A ton of camel has a lot of inertia and his body could have ended up in the cab and that would have been the end of our holiday, our Oka and possibly us as well, we have a bull bar but it's not a camel bar. We never thought any of that at the time of course, we just stopped quickly, took some pictures and carried on.

de9620c4-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

This is the very lucky camel that nearly ended our trip and dented his hump

On a good day the GCR would be a nice drive. It's a wide, 1000km lonely gravel road which extends from Alice Springs to Laverton, but most people would never have heard of it let along driven along it. It's relatively smooth (ie a fair bit of sandy/gravelly corrugations more suited to a 4WD but not caravans) and not a difficult or tortuous drive but it is very remote with only 3 or 4 roadhouses at 300km intervals with minimal facilities and absolutely, totally, nothing in between except a scenic desert environment. No Maca's or RAA services out here, you're completely on your own. And you need some (free) aboriginal permits to use it.

But the rain started soon after the camel incident, not a lot, just a gentle but annoying pitter patter on the windscreen, but it carried on like that all afternoon. (Post writing note: and all night). Fortunately the track is sandy so it hasn't turned into a quagmire, yet.

e8594b6e-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

The Great Central Road with a few spots of rain, otherwise a nice wide open track.

At lunchtime we stopped at Lassiter's Cave, where, in January 1931 he sheltered for 25 days after his camels bolted taking all his possessions, food and water. He was searching for his mystical gold reef which he claimed to have first discovered 34 years earlier. He really should have noted its GPS coordinates.

36bfe5fa-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Anyway, after 25 days cave life, with only 1.7 litres of water and the support of a local aboriginal family, he started walking the 140 km east to Mt Olga (in mid summer) hoping to find his relief party. He made it only 55 km before he died, taking the secrets of his gold reef with him. We are travelling in mid-winter and none of the creeks we've crossed have any water in them.

Did I inherently know all this historical stuff? Nope, I just copied it off the signboard.

While at Lassiter's Cave lunch spot we erected our big antenna and made contact with Dave and Pauline who were somewhere in WA, afflicted by the severe storms. Gravel roads on their planned route were likely to be affected by rain so they were seeking an alternative all-bitumen route to meet us on the GCR. We'll contact them again tomorrow to reassess the situation.

We had noticed water leaking from the top of the main water tank while driving but not when we were stopped. I presume one of the breathers on top of the tank has either broken or got knocked out when we filled up with high pressure water from the Coober Pedy water facility. I need to investigate and fit something else to keep out the dust while allowing air to breath in and out, like a washing up sponge held on with aluminium tape or tie-wraps.

In the meantime we have no need to rush, and since the day was gloomy and damp, and we could see none of the interesting terrain, we stopped for the night at the Docker River campground, Kaltukatjara.

cfecdbda-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

It's potentially a nice spot, sandy camping areas set amongst weeping desert oaks and surrounded by red sand dunes, but sadly, like most things Aboriginal, it's suffered from neglect, vandalism and lack of management. The toilets are woeful with no doors and there's no water in the pipes. There is a full page notice in the entry hut apologising for the state of the campground and promising to rectify the deficiencies whenever they could but "it was hard work". There is supposed to be a camping charge but they can't even get that organised. Nothing has changed since we were last here in 2007.

file-153-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Fortunately J liberated a late issue of Women's Weekly from the Yulara laundry so she has some very interesting articles and crosswords to do.

Contacted D and P, route still inconclusive, will contact again at midday tomorrow.

11th June 

Water leak turned out to be nothing more than water slopping about and coming out of the breather, both of which are present and correct.

The rain disappeared overnight and it was bright if not sunny as we headed west again towards the WA border and down to Giles Met Office (which runs on SA time). Nothing stirred there or at the Warakurna roadhouse.

We stopped at the junction of the Old Abandoned Gunbarrel Highway and called into D and P. They are coming up the GCR to meet us as their original route is too iffy, weather wise.

The GCR is now much better than our previous trips and is a 75-80kph gravel road if you keep an eye out for dips and sandy patches, and camels.

d586c0a5-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

Camels on the Great Central Road

We stopped by Len Beadell's Sandy Blight Junction Road plaque, even though it's now 9km from the actual junction due to a road realignment to an aboriginal community.

Sadly I noticed an oil leak from the front diff so I'll have to keep topping it up. Frustrating because I replaced the seals 2 years ago (which is a week's work involving removing the differential assembly and all the hubs, bearings, brakes etc) and unblocked the breather pipe last year.

file-154-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00-2012-09-9-00-00.jpg

The Shire of the Longest Name

We passed through the Shire of the Longest Name but were saddened by the signs imploring us to keep unleaded fuel locked up or handed to authorities for safe keeping whilst in their area.

It got quite hot and sunny for a while, I even tried out the a/c, before clouds re-came-in and we finished the 300kms to Warburton. We refuelled at $2.43/l and are staying in their campground overnight, but apart from access to water, there are much better free desert campsites to be had.

Tomorrow we'll meet up with D and P at Tjukayirla Roadhouse (which I call Chuckalolly Roadhouse), 250kms further west.

Continue our trek here, across 2500km of desert tracks to 80 Mile Beach.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Great Central Road to 80 Mile Beach

This blog section covers the West Australian desert tracks we travelled in 3 weeks accompanied by Dave and Pauline, Oka 137.

 

file-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

 

file-1-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

It includes the David Carnegie Road, the Eagle Highway, the Talawana Track, the centre section of the CSR from Well 24 to Well 33 and the Kidson Track out to 80 Mile beach.

Caution:

The total distance of these desert tracks is more than 2000 km, most of which should not be attempted alone, ill-prepared or inexperienced.

The only fuel supply between Tjukayirla Roadhouse on the Great Central Road and the North West Coastal Highway is at Kunawaritji at Well 33 on the CSR.

While the tracks were dry when we travelled them, after bad wet seasons they can become very boggy, washed away or impassable, and some are so narrow and overgrown as to be barely visible. The surfaces varied from very soft sand and sand dunes, to rocky with deep wash-aways and corrugations.

In dry conditions fire is always a risk so ensure all flammable material is cleared from your vehicle daily, and never park a hot vehicle on dry grass or spinifex (which can be 2 m high on the track). Many vehicles have been lost to fire in these areas.

These tracks are all very remote from any habitation or assistance so carry detailed navigation systems, adequate provisions, emergency communications equipment and a full set of recovery gear. Refer to other entries on safety gear and recovery equipment.

12 June (on the Great Central Road heading west towards Tjukayirla Roadhouse)

 

Saw a herd of camels wandering on and off the road. Camels are an ever present danger as they are heavy beasts and persist in using the tracks as walkways. Hitting a kangaroo may damage the front of your vehicle, but hitting a camel would destroy it.

 

Called D and P on the HF Radio at midday to ensure we coordinated out meeting this afternoon, they were about 20 mins ahead of us.

We were warmly met by D and P at the roadhouse after 18months of emails and 12 months of planning and they'ed even planned a shower for our arrival but we beat them to it. We explained that our mothers warned us about people we had met on the internet, they may be axe murderers. Little did we know that Dave had a big axe, chainsaw (and more) with him but we were obviously worth more to them alive than dead.

We fuelled up and headed up the David Carneigie Road, a much smoother track than expected (we were being fooled of course) to Empress Spring, an aboriginal water hole down a deep cavern.

Darkness beat us to the spring so we camped in a clearing for our first campfire and cool evening of chatter and wine, or maybe the other way around.

13 June

We found Empress Spring, its plaque and visitors book.

The only way down was via a steel chain ladder and none of us found the necessity to test its strength.

I noted our chicken-ness in the visitors book.

e1225de4-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

This very remote country out here and one slip could spell disaster.

Camel shooters had obviously been that way recently and left the remains of the beasts on the side of the road, we had to divert off the track to avoid them. We had wondered for some time how it was that camels always managed to die on the side of the track.

ecf921f9-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

After the Well, the track became, as expected, a narrow 2 lane track but quite navigable, except for more mobile road blocks who will not get off the track, and why not? it's a smooth direct route, unlike the prickly spinifex desert.

d4339965-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

14 June

As we went further north into the Gibson Desert we met a plethora of wash-aways to contend with. We stopped at all the major ones and planned route for the wheels to take to minimise the changes of a rollover or getting seriously stuck. It was slow work but it worked fine so the videos look a lot smoother than the original path would have done. For some we had to divert off the track and create our own path around them through the surrounding scrub and spinifex.

0e93d0a8-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The junction of the DCR with the Gunbarrel Highway

We met the Gunbarrel Highway later that day at Mangkili Claypan Reserve and started up the Eagle Highway directly opposite the end of the DCR.

A few km up this track we came across a sandalwood cutters camp where very friendly team of Fijian workers were busily cutting and pressure cleaning a huge stockpile of sandalwood for the aromatic and wooden ornaments trade. Since sandalwood is an Indian tree, we assume that there is an indigenous sandalwood variety with the same characteristics.

file-163-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Sandalwood Cutters on the Eagle Highway

They all stopped work and introduced themselves and offered anything we needed from their well stocked supply cabinets. We only needed some water which they provided from a bore with an ancient and only partial reliable petrol pump though about 200m of leaky pipes. And very sweet water it was too.

We camped soon after at a clearing near a windmill and tank where Dave tried out his vertical inertia pump on the borehole. It consisted of a plastic pipe with a valve at the bottom and weights inside. When jiggled up and down in the water at the end of a long length of rope water was drawn into the pipe and when full (ie heavy) it was pulled up and the pipe emptied into a container. In the early days a camel it would have done the drawing up but I''m not sure about the jiggling process though.

file_zpsa6c6c226-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Camp#1 on the Eagle Highway

After dinner we cracked open a bottle of Port to celebrate the start of our adventures. Can't recall much else then until the next morning.

15 June

We had some problems with an errant shower tent this morning and eventually had resort to reading the instructions. This didn't help much so muscle power provided the solution.

 

 

e94c3394-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Stages of progression: 1, Struggle: 2, Read the Instructions: 3, Struggle some more: 4, Read the instructions again...

The Eagle Highway started off fairly clear but soon became badly washed away and as we progressed slowly north the track became more and more overgrown and eventually disappeared almost entirely in a sea of spinifex.

ec0adf55-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Somewhere there's a track in here

ee2f476c-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We got stuck in these ruts up to the diff and had to reverse out and drive around the rutted section           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing some gardening to form a route out of the ruts.

MVI 8382 from David and Janet on Vimeo.

Several times we had to divert around deep gullies (one of which we got stuck in up to the differential) and it was very difficult to find the original wheel tracks once off the track.

d8caaf2b-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

This rock formation on the track looks just like a crocodile lurking

We didn't know it at the time but yesterday's friendly sandalwood cutter folks were the only people we would meet in 8 days of desert travelling from the GCR to the CSR.

 

file-172-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

It's fairly easy to circumnavigate this sort of difficult track condition since you can see the terrain off the track...

file-2139-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

...but for this sort of challenge you may have to divert a long way from the track around trees and over spinifex which might hide dangers that you can't see, like gullies and tree roots.

           

 

 

We could not have followed the Eagle Highway route without our moving map system, and travelling alone or in a smaller 4WD, or in wet conditions, would have been extremely risky due to to restricted track visibility and deep washouts. Even our Oka's with their high ground clearance and excellent visibility were barely adequate at times.

48369bfc-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Wherethefookarewe?? If you deviate off the wheel tracks around an obstacle it's difficult to find the track again

Sometimes it was easier to follow.

256b137d-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Where fires had removed the bush, the tracks were easier to follow

 

adbf8a43-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Warri Camp area

 

file_zps03899549-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Campsite just south of the Warri Camp

We tried in vain to reach Warri Camp this evening, a location where the last nomadic Aboriginal family had been located in 1977. Due to difficult track conditions and the setting sun on our dirty windscreens we camped for the night in a clearing and found the camp the next morning.

16 June

Warri Camp is a a very remote location exactly centred between the Gibson and Little Sandy Deserts and south of the Great Sandy Desert. There's nothing much there now but it's easy to see how the indigenous people could have lived there undetected for so long. There were some rock outcrops where water holes would have been found and plenty of bushland for hunting.

The brief history of the Warri Site is:

In 1977, a Martu couple – Warri and Yatungka – were escorted in from the desert amidst the worst drought to hit the region in the twentieth century.

 

Their story dates back to the 1930s when the couple eloped from their community, living as exiles in the desert. Theirs was a love-match that was not permitted under Western Desert Aboriginal law, which prescribed strict rules regarding marriage and harsh penalties for those who would defy these laws.

file_zps213b7cfd-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Nothing much at the Warri Camp now. The site has been used for subsequent construction activity as a truck loading bay had been built.

After forty years in the desert together, Warri and Yatungka died shortly after returning to civilization, as did the master bushman Mudjon, their chief rescuer.

About 4km north of the Dragon #1 Well, the track meets a cut line (also called the Eagle Highway on maps) which leads south east to/from the Gary Highway. The north west continuation of that track goes nowhere. The Eagle Highway section we wanted heading north is supposed to be directly opposite the track we had come up from but was nowhere to be seen, even though it's shown as such on the most detailed maps we had (NatMap 2008 1:250,000 topographic digital raster maps).

 

file_zps0ccd13ed-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The tricky navigation challenge at the junction 4 km north of Dragon #1 Well

We tried the north west track for a few km without success and eventually located the actual junction of the track about 1/2 km south east at 24º 02.361' S 124º 33.322' E. It took us 1/2 an hour to locate the 2 thin wheel tracks heading north.

On Google Earth the original track due north can be clearly seen, but at ground level it has disappeared completely near the junction and an alternative track has been formed, presumably to bypass some track difficulties.

file_zps2615dda2-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The original track due north on Google Earth

Several times along this track we had to stop and take stock and determine the safest route though. Often this meant deviating off the track to form our own side tracks through the spinifex and around impassable obstacles.

bea8d3ae-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Me and Dave in discussion over how to proceed

Here's a video of a diversion around a particularly difficult section. It meant negotiating a dry creek bed with a steep entry point.

 

 

This is Dave leaving the track to get around a wash-away...

341753345_640-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

1895592_60x60-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Diverting off the Eagle Highway

from David and Janet

What’s going on here?

Some of your technology may be out of date, which means this video won’t play properly. Please upgrade your browser or install Flash.

Play

...and this is Dave returning the the track.

341752673_640-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

1895592_60x60-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Returning to the Eagle Highway

from David and Janet

What’s going on here?

Some of your technology may be out of date, which means this video won’t play properly. Please upgrade your browser or install Flash.

Play

file-164-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Here's a video of the Eagle Highway

7ccfb50b-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Some creatures are quite happy living in this area. This web was as strong as fishing line and could easily support small branches.

 

17 June

We passed through the Connolly Basin to the the Talawana Track junction.

The Connolly Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater, barely discernible at ground level as it's 9km across and only 25-30 m high at the rim. It's situated near the Talawana track at the top end of the Eagle Highway and was first determined as an impact crater by Eugene Shoemaker (a friend of Len Beadell) in 1985. It was Beadell's track construction that allowed the Shoemakers to explore this region of Australia. [They also confirmed the nearby Veevers Crater (off the Gary Highway) as an impact crater in 1974].

On the map, the Connolly crater can be imagined from the series of dry gullies that drain into its centre from the surrounding countryside and from the almost circular contour line around it.

ebb999a7-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The Connolly Meteorite ground zero point is marked by a cairn of stones and an old pole, but you wouldn't want to be standing there, 57 million years ago.

23630a3b-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Ground Zero marker

file_zpscc8fb388-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Both sides of a road sign at the northern end of the Eagle Highway

file_zpsb4231a99-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Looking back down the Eagle Highway. Doesn't look so bad does it?

At the Talawana Track junction there is a glass jar packed with notes from previous travellers. We also put a cautionary note in the jar about the conditions on the Eagle Highway but J post-dated the note as 17 Sept instead of June, to avoid any litigation issues. I expect rude emails to start appearing soon.

file_zps1d625238-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Reading the notes in the visitors jar at the Eagle/Gunbarrel Highway junction

We passed by the remains of an old LandRover, the same model as we traveled around the world in, but in a slightly worse state of repair.

f7aa6676-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

The Talawana Track is a typical Len Beadell track, straight, between sand dunes, and corrugated. We made a nice desert campsite alongside the track. At last it was starting to warm up a bit.

18 June

We searched out and found Midway Well, long since abandoned and overgrown. It was certainly an important water source to Aboriginal inhabitants and would have been a lifesaver to desert explorers.

0dc72ee7-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We also located a more modern well which had been fitted with a hand pump and trough. The water was so good and close to the surface that we decided that a lay-day was in order so we could do some maintenance before attacking the CSR and the ladies could do their (our) washing.

71e34736-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Midway Well and very good water

file-167-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

8c8dac30-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Midway Well Campsite

19 June

On the way out of the well site, we stopped to mark an old oil drum with the directions to the water for other travellers and continued down the Talawana Track. This was another example of never, ever passing by an oil drum, star picket or other signs of human habitation without exploring them. They are never put or left there without a good reason.

 

3064321c-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

We passed by the wreck of an old trailer that only needed some wheels, a dab of paint and a total mechanical rebuild to be as good as new.

20 June

Today we completed the Talawana Track and reached the junction with the CSR just short of Well 25. We left messages on the sign and were surprised to see a sign saying the track we had just come down was now on Martu Native Title land and access is completely prohibited but there was no sign at the other end.

Warning Rant Follows:

We are getting disgusted that chick-livered governments and just handing over vast tracts of Australia to people who don't need, and will never make use of the land. And in any case Rights Of Way should have been excised from the Native Title claims so access can always be made to these remote parts of the country. If it hadn't been for the endeavours of pioneers such as Len Beadell, this land would never have been made accessible to the people who now "own" it.

End of Rant

Once on the CSR (most of which fortunately is still a Public Access track), we were met immediately by a huge sand dune which caused us a few problems (videos to follow). Previous gung-ho drivers with smaller 4WD's and camper trailers had obviously decimated the lead-ups to the dunes, spinning their wheels and leaving large uneven hollows we had to bounce up though, threatening the suspensions of our 6 tonne vehicles. Being the first large dune we had come across on this trip, we had to adjust the tyre pressures, speed and gearing to get over it successfully. Ironically, we had both done this section of the CSR before and don't recall this dune being a problem, an indication that overuse is adversely affecting track conditions.

47e760de-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

This a very high and steep sand dune, with soft sand all the way and deep hollows to bounce in and out of.

4df53dfd-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Parts of the CSR were a bit tricky...

But we overcame that dune and many others that day and met our first other travellers in 8 days. It had been a pretty lonely but satisfying journey since leaving the GCR 8 days previously.

Further up the CSR is Well 25 where I relocated a tree that I first reversed into in 2007. It's wounds have healed up but my memories haven't.

I wanted to visit Well 25 since I had an altercation with a small tree there in 2007 and wanted to relocate it to see how it was doing. I had reversed into it on our first drive down this part of the CSR in 2007 and broken the rear gate. We had to stay the night there to fix up the damage.

file-179-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The tree I reversed into in 2007

 

11f45408-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We relocated the same tree and found it had recovered far more easily than my memories had, and there was no scaring left on it.

Well 26 has been completely restored in the last 2 years and was buzzing with people.

D accidentally kneecapped a fellow tourist with the handle of the well bucket handle. We lowered and raised the very heavy bucket using the windlass several times collecting water but one other traveller misread how heavy the bucket was and the handle got away from him and hit his leg just below the knee, laying him out cold.

42899a8f-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The kneecapped traveller receiving first aid from Dave, a bucket of cold water...           

 

0d3fef32-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

...and then receiving attention from a nurse. He seems perkier somehow, must have been Dave's cold water.   

Fortunately his leg didn't appear broken, just very severely bruised and we administered what first aid we could in these circumstances (cold water and ice packs and told him to keep up his fluid intake) but it was still 15 minutes before he could get up and hobble away. There were a couple of nurses in his party so hopefully he would recover OK but driving and walking would have been a painful exercise for a few days.

72c40e29-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The bucket, windlass and steel cable are very heavy, even empty. They hold around 30 Litres of water

b08813eb-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We made camp at the foot of the Slate Range of hills.

Later I fell into deep do-do for successfully burning J's favourite piece of pork fillet on the campfire and she was sorely not amused. Fortunately it tasted superb and I was eventually forgiven.

21 June

Today was our only cloudy day of the trip and it was bitterly cold and windy as well.

We explored the Slate Range, Well's 27 and 28, both of which are in ruins, and made an early camp with a roaring campfire. We engineered a warm throne seat that we took turns in occupying.

8c99186f-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Pauline in the warm Throne Seat

13313076-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

My turn on the throne

At least the receding clouds made for some stunning sunset photos.

b29aeb67-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The toughness of the track was contrasted by the beauty of the desert sunsets.

22 June

Today we explored Thring Rock. We have no idea what a "Thring" is and how you use it but it was very cold wandering around it's fringes.

9930a38c-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Thring Rock from atop a sand dune

Sand dunes are getting a little easier as move north but the triple headers still demand some respect.

We also explored Well's 29 and 30 and made camp at Well 31.

23 June

After a few last large sand dunes (which caused one of our party a few problems, but not me), we made Well 32 for lunch and then headed over the well known very corrugated section of track towards Well 33 and our final destination on the CSR for this trip.

 

file-170-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

A tricky but straight sand dune

Well 33 had been restored by the Kunawaritji community and has beautiful water. There is even a small lake with birds and green grass surrounding it. We camped at the nearby campground and copious amounts of washing were done.

24 June

This was an enforced lay-day since the community is not open on Sundays and we need some fuel to get us to 80 Mile Beach up the Kidson Track. So we did some more washing, a bit of maintenance and a lot of lazing around until it was Happy Hour time again.

25 June

We fuelled up at the Kunawaritji Community (at $3.40/litre, served by Maurice, a very engaging Aboriginal worker), bought a few supplies at their much improved store and headed down the Kidson Track.

The first 100 km or so are in very good condition since it forms the now main (gravel) route from Alice Springs westwards to Marble Bar and Port Hedland. At the junction on Lake Auld, the real Kidson Track branches off north and immediately becomes a 2 lane desert track again.

J complained about the need for so much skin moisturising cream and claimed that it was because "the water was so dry".

Didn't quite make Razor Blade Bore so we camped in an old gravel scrape, not flash but better than spinifex.

26 June

A dingo came to visit us at breakfast time.

740e2c99-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

There were no babies here so after inspecting our domestic arrangements he moved on.

file-174-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Met a team at Razor Blade Bore doing "cultural survey" for a mining operation in the area. This involved driving and flying a group of indigenous people around in a helicopter (at our expense) identifying sites of significance. Obviously they were easier to find if everything was burned to the ground.

While in the air the helo pilot dropped phosphor bombs to burn the vegetation. The result was a landscape which resembled the Kuwait oilfields after the Iraqi tourists left in 1991, and some of the fires were dangerous close to the track.

In this remote location, we could see no reason to burn the vegetation except for long established cultural reasons which are now completely irelevant. The local indigenous people now do their hunting and gathering in exactly the same places that we do, Woolies and Coles.

c6425e77-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

file-1120-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Sometimes the fires got dangerously close to the track, especially if you have a canvas camper on the rear of your vehicle

Had the usual difficulties with wash-aways and had to build several side tracks to get around them.

341753345_640-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

1895592_60x60-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Diverting off the Eagle Highway

from David and Janet

What’s going on here?

Some of your technology may be out of date, which means this video won’t play properly. Please upgrade your browser or install Flash.

Play

Reached Swindell Field, an abandoned WAPET airstrip and camped at the end of the runway where we had a good view of the fires but where they couldn't creep up on us overnight.

file-317-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

27 June

Had a real struggle with a couple of sand dunes which had been capped for trucks in the 1980's but had been badly washed away. (Dave used to drive road trains over these roads but they've deteriorated somewhat since then).

 

file-178-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We had to do some extensive gardening before we could make a safe passageway for the wheels to avoid a potential roll over. It took us about an hour to complete the job.

Here's a video of our attempt at climbing the washed-away section of the sand dune.

It doesn't look so bad in the video because we'd done our homework and planned ahead, but it was also on a steep part of the dune.

392114804_640-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

1895592_60x60-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Negotiating a difficult dune on the Kidson Track after some extensive gardening

from David and Janet

What’s going on here?

Some of your technology may be out of date, which means this video won’t play properly. Please upgrade your browser or install Flash.

Play

Negotiating a difficult dune on the Kidson Track after some extensive gardening from David and Janet on Vimeo.

This is the same sand dune from another perspective but low resolution.

On the other side there were also potentially dangerous weak points along the edges of the track we had to avoid.

 

5ee0bc1f-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

e56bee1e-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Dangerous wash-aways could have caused a roll-over

Found and old windmill and tank where we had lunch but there was no water available. However we did find an old tractor with a Perkins engine in it, albeit an earlier vintage than ours.

Camped at the foot of a Rocky Outcrop in a very nice sheltered clearing.

0f21c47b-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

28 June

Did some maintenance on Dave's windscreen wipers which decline to pass 20º without blowing fuses. It took an hour of dismantling but we removed the self-parking mechanism and it all worked again (except of course for the self-parking mechanism).

Our apprehension about the track conditions evaporated completely today after the appearance of a grader. We had heard that the track was being graded from the Coastal Highway end but didn't realise it had reached quite so far. According to our sources, the grading will extend 400kms from the highway (including the difficult sand dunes) and then a further 80 km off the track to a mining site. Sadly this will ruin the Kidson Track as an outback adventure for years to come. Only the 100km from Telfer Road junction at Lake Auld to the the start of the sand hills will remain a narrow demanding track. It also appears to now be a Martu Native Title area (hence the earlier "cultural surveys") and restricted access notices are appearing.

Dave met an old mate driving a grader that he hadn't seen for 31 years. We stopped in the middle of the track for a chat.

3383b334-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

We came across 2 huge rolls of steel cable that had fallen off a truck 50 years ago and were too heavy to recover. They are still there and are marked on the map.

7894a88d-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

2 huge rolls of steel cable that have sat here for 50 years

Disparaging remarks by a construction engineer we met about indigenous activities in the area were apparently quite OK because he claimed he was a registered racist.

Camped alongside a construction company bore and "turkey nest" (a small dam made from a raised ring of dirt and lined with plastic). This wasn't flat but was the only non-spinifex area in a hundred km.

29 June

Thousands of budgies came at breakfast time to drink and the noise of their wings while hovering over the water was surprisingly loud.

7aa5ab8f-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

 

Here's a video of the budgies as their flock increases in size, wheeling and swirling like an immense school of fish, until a hawk appeared and they were gone.

 

341729114_640-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

1895592_60x60-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Budgies on the Kidson Track

from David and Janet

What’s going on here?

Some of your technology may be out of date, which means this video won’t play properly. Please upgrade your browser or install Flash.

Play

Budgies on the Kidson Track from David and Janet on Vimeo.

We completed the Kidson Track and met the busy North West Highway, our first bitumen for 2500 km.

da349e57-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

We drove straight on across the highway and on the 9km into 80 Mile Beach to complete our journey to the sea.

104933d2-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

The view of the blue green sea after weeks of red desert sand was spectacular

c0a7ed2c-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

f632eaea-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Dave and Pauline frolicking

file-729-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

After lunch and a frolic on the beach it was white knuckle stuff as we raced down the highway at 60+ kph towards Port Hedland.

We camped at Pardoo Roadhouse for the night so we can have a final drink and dinner out without the usual campfire, washing up and packing dramas.

37a59e40-2012-09-8-00-30.jpg

Real grass to camp on, washing machines and flushing toilets. We had forgotten such things existed.

"Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" was emblazoned in dust on the back of a dirty horse-box.

Had fresh fish and chips made from freshly thawed fish, and apple pie with ice cream. No too bad considering our location.

Opened and completed emptied a bottle of red wine I had carried from Adelaide and handed back all the things we had borrowed from D and P and vice versa.

30 June

We drove on to Port Hedland, which is never a pretty sight, being a very busy iron ore exporting town, with dusty trucks and mining utes everywhere, and down to the shopping centre at South Hedland.

Sadly, we parted company with Dave and Pauline outside South Hedland shopping centre after 3 great weeks of fun and scary bits across 3 deserts and 5 outback tracks. They are heading back to Perth down an inland route and we are heading to Ningaloo for a few days snorkelling and R and R before heading north via an inland route to avoid the caravan crowding and mining activity on the coastal highway.

Continue out trek here down the coast via Ningaloo and Waroora Station to Carnarvon.