Broken Hill to Home

We had a quick look at the maps, and decided to take a bit of a detour on the way home. the original plan was to scoot straight down the silver City highway to Mildura.

Flinders Ranges/Broken Hill

We drove to Parachilna where we had a late “road-kill” lunch and a beer.

The Oodnadatta Track

Today we had a relatively short drive of 460 klm from Alice to Marla. there’s not much at Marla except a road-house, with a bar and a camp area out the back.

Tanami Desert

Today we packed up early and hit the road heading for a fuel top up at Halls Creek. This would be one of the last places to get reliable fuel for close to 800 klm. We reached Halls Creek about 11:30 and wasted no time. We filled up, checked the jerry cans were full, and aired down the tyres for the 100 klm of dirt road.

 

I chose 28psi in the front and the camper and 32 for the rear tyres, as there is a fair load on the tow-bar. I always like to go slightly higher then check the next morning when the tyres are cold.

We arrived at Wolf Creek Crater at about 3, and staked our plot in the camp-ground. i call it a camp ground as this is the designated camp area. It only consists of clearings in the spinifex, with 2 drop loos. The camp area is about 800 metres from the actual crater, and 1 klm from Wolf Creek. Already i have spotted a head on a stick!

We set up camp and headed off to walk up the crater (in 35 degrees heat). It is an amazing view from the top. And hard to imagine the force to create such a hole. The crater is the second largest in the world caused by a crashing rock of 300,000 tonnes. Or was it 300,000 years ago. Doesn’t much matter as it’s pretty big and happened a long time ago.

		Wolf Creek Crater VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I told Carolyn we should build a home here, as what would be the chances of another one hitting in the same spot? The witch was not too  keen and mentioned there is no water for about 30 klm.

So far the track has been pretty good, in places up to 90 kilometres per hour, and others down to 40, but so far, not too bad. Looking at the map and guides, tomorrow looks like a big day as there is not much within 400 kilometres. It is a place that you cannot just head off the road a bit and set up camp. The giber stones (rocks) and prickly spinifex just does not allow it.

Next stop Renahans Bore at 550 kilometres it was going to be a big day, so we set off at 7:30. why drive so far?  What with spiny spinifex and gibber stones, well there is absolutely no place to get off the road to camp. There are a few pull-offs for parking, but with massive road-trains grumbling through at night, and only being about 20 metres off the road, it did not seem too appealing.

As the Rabbit Flat Roadhouse permanently closed in January 2011, and unless you carry heaps of fuel, you have to top up at the Billiluna Community, which is about 1 kilometre off the track. Here we paid the most for fuel for the trip so far, at $2.60 a litre, and needing 60 litres, it was an expensive re-fill.

Like most of the bores along the roads, they have either dried up or been capped.

Renahans is one that just ran out of water. after 50 years of gushing forth, it ran just out. There are a few clearings in the mulga, but no facilities, so after dark we fired the diesel hot water up and had a magnificent hot shower under the stars.

  

We watched a beautiful desert sunset, and the sky turn to deep purple before the desert stars appeared. It is an awesome feeling sitting out in the desert listening to dingoes howl and seeing the stars so clearly above. A cuppa billy tea and an Anzac bickie, my best girl by my side (albeit her head was on a stick)what else can a man ask for.

Today was another early start as we wanted to reach Alice Springs (wow, that’s over 1150 klm in 2 days on some pretty average roads), a VB will taste extra good tonight. A quick stop and re-fuel at Tilmouth Road-House and we were on our way. by the way, Tilmouth has a huge selection of local indigenous art at very reasonable prices, so we just had to by a painting or two. This type of art work takes on a totally different meaning when you have visited the area.

Road Trains use the Tanami as it is the shortest trip from the Centre to the West Coast. These are big, big boys, and it’s worth stopping when they approach as the dust is amazing. The drivers are all pretty friendly and give a wave or a “hi” on the UHF

 

We counted 38 rolled-over or wrecked cars on the track. This track has a reputation as a car crusher, but as i keep saying “tyre pressures and speed, get it right and you travel safely”!!

From Tilmouth the road is sealed right into Alice, although some of the road surface is a bit average. Once we hit the bitumen it became very boring. We would so rather a thousand kilometres of rough unsealed, corrugated road, going through a desert than  sealed road where all you have to do is keep the car going straight.

Now back in Alice, and hopefully will be able to meet up with Terry tomorrow, as he is headed north as we head south.  

The Gibb River Road

The “Gibb” is one of those iconic tracks that we just had to do. Why? Because it’s there, and It won’t be too long and it will be sealed and the massive road-train type caravans will be trundling along and all of the beautiful pristine low key camp spots will become large sealed caravan parks.

Not long after leaving Kununurra we turned onto the “Gibb”. We immediately met 2 massive road-trains who had stopped and were taking air out of their tyres, apparently it takes nearly 2 hours to “air down” all of the 40 odd tyres. We stopped a bit further on and aired our tyres down (20 minutes), as we had 800 kilometres of reputedly horrible corrugations, holes, bull-dust, tyre splitting, diff destroying road. Was it that bad? No, not really, it was very corrugated, but generally pretty good, as long as you have your air-pressure and speed correct.

We were heading for Home Valley Homestead, as we had been told to give El Questro a miss, as it is over-rated and very expensive. We arrived at the turn off to “EQ” and looked at each other wondering why we were not going to have a look, so we turned in and booked in for a couple of nights.

 

We were glad that we did. It was no more expensive than any other camp ground we had visited and the walks, gorges and warm thermal pools are really something. However, it is nothing like the advertising you see, with the units on top of the cliff. These are totally closed off to the campers and general public.

 

There is a good restaurant and food, we had entertainment which was pretty good. A C & W singer guitarist.

We then moved onto Home Valley Station. On the way you have to cross the Pentecost River. the crossing was pretty smooth, with only a few brumby rocks to negotiate. when we got to the other side we noticed a film crew set up. we stopped, as you do and asked them what they were filming?

They were waiting for the road trains that we saw earlier. They had 4 generators on the trucks, taking them up to the Kolumburoo Community to replace the town power supply.

		The Gibb River Road VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Due to the sensitive equipment and the condition of the road, their top speed is 40 klm per hour. so there we sat for over an hour to see them cross. The crew were filming for the series”Out Back Trucker” due to go to air later in the year.

After ter we saw them come across the river, which was a bit of a let down, as the water did not even come half way up a wheel, we headed off to Home Valley.

Home Valley is a 1 million acre cattle property that due to the export beef ban, and the drop in beef prices, has had to turn totally to tourism to make ends meet. The remaining cattle have been left to go wild. They bring in drovers once a year to round up what they can and ship them south.

Unless something happens in the next two or three years, all of these Stations will be totally derelict, it is such a shame that these historical pioneering families will move on.

We did the walks and a couple of 4wd tracks offered by the Station, all well worth the  effort.

The next destination was Drysdale Station for a night.

Then off to Ellenbrae Station. We had been told that you have to stop at Ellenbrae for morning tea, as they bake their own scones. Can you imaging, you are in the middle of some of the most inhospitable country in Australia, sitting in a little oasis of green, eating freshly baked, hot scone, jam and cream and coffee!

Next stop Drysdale Station, which is on the Colomburu road, for a nights sleep. Drysdale is yet another cattle station that has turned to tourism to supplement the income. They do still run cattle, but are very much in a “wind down” phase.

Again, as with most of these places, that serve pretty good meals, and have entertainment. the guy playing here was very good and knew an incredible mix of music types. If you are a beer drinker, expect to pay from $8.50 to $9.50 a stubby. Fuel in the out-back ranges around $1.70 to $2.30 i litre for diesel.

From Drysdale Station, we we heading for the Mitchell Plateau, the road deteriorated with corrugations and large gibber rocks on the road. It was a slow arduous days travel. Our average speed for the 100 klm was about 35 kmph.

 

Once at the Plateau’s camping ground (which is all National Park), we quickly found an camp spot and established ourselves for a few days. We booked a helicopter flight up to the falls for the next day, and were so glad that we booked an extra 10 minutes, making it a 30 minute flight. the view from the air is spectacular to say the least and gives you a real appreciation of how much water flows over these falls in the wet.

The one and a half hour, hot walk back was amply rewarded and decided to return again.d by a number of “croc free” pools to swim in. We discovered Little Mertin Falls with a huge pool, where we swam until exhausted

Whilst at Mitchell, I baked my best damper yet. It included fruit and was sensational just out of the camp-oven, smothered in jam, accompanied with a cuppa billy tea. Life just does not get any better.

One evening the ranger, who has been in the area for 20 years, and 11 as ranger gave a slide show/talk under the stars. He knew every plant and animal and worked very closely with the local indigenous people, some of whom are employed by Parks to help maintain this magnificent land.

we learned that a mining company (i seem to recall Rio) have a mining lease over the whole Plateau to mine bauxite. t appears the only thing that has stopped them is the rugged remote country, and there is a move a foot to hand the lease back. It would be a tragedy to see any of this area mined and all Australians' need to fight to keep this land as it is for generation to come to  be able to visit and enjoy.

We did a couple of great walks on the plateau which were very enjoyable, but had to sadly move on for another adventure. We headed back down the track and after about 60 klm, i heard a strange rattle. It’s funny how your ears become accustomed to sounds. The noise coming from the engine and corrugations was very loud, however when a new strange rattling sound started i heard it instantly. Pulling ver and checking everything, i could not see any problem. After another 5 klm i pulled over on the track again and had Carolyn shack the camper while i poked around underneath.

This is when i discovered a shocker bush had destroyed itself. Mmmmm, there lay a problem, as who puts spare bushes in their kit? Certainly not me.

After a bit of temporary bush mechanic work, we limped in Drysdale Station. By the way, the temp repair consisted of wrapping half a roll of electrical tape around the metal sleeve and whacking the whole thing in with a hammer. Believe it or not, it lasted over 100 kilometres.

As there are hundreds of different bushes, there was not a hope in hell i would be able to get a replacement. They kindly sold me a very over-size truck bush, which i was able to carve down over two and a half hours (and a few stubbies) with a Stanley Knife. Finally with sore fingers and blisters, and just a little pissed, i managed to slide it in, and the next day were able to continue as planned and head for Winjana Gorge

Winjana is a very special place and was the hide-out for the outlaw Jandamara. My good friend Terry Denton, is on the road north to Kununurra as i write this, to attend the release of his latest book about Jandamarra. I will include a link when i can get one.

Winjana has a lovely walk along the gorge, where we saw more fresh water crocs, that we have ever seen in one place. we counted over 30 in a 200 metre stretch.

From Winjana we headed to Derby. Derby was not on the tinier, however before tackling the 1800 klm of rough dirt (on the Tanami and Oodnadatta tracks) we decided to see if we could get some spare shocker bushes. we were told that derby was not worth visiting as there is not much there. However we were pleasantly surprised, and after a bit of looking around, found a shop where the owner was so helpful and had a bag of 10 bushes put in an air bag for me. I ordered at 1pm one day and had them at 2pm the next. He apologised as he had to add freight to the cost. They ended up costing me $30!

We had a great cheap meal and some of the best coffee i have ever tasted (there own blend on the pier. Well worth the 3 day stop over.

Next was Broome. Broome is one of those places that everyone wants to visit, however. I have never seen so many “old” people in caravans. This is the final destination of all of the thousands and thousands of grey nomads.

to give you an idea. Unless you have booked your camp site one to two years in advance, generally they will not take bookings. When you phone, they tell you just to turn up and queue in the morning and they will try to get you in. We finally found a park that was willing to give us 3 nights. We have now heard that 2015 is totally booked out.

I think Broome might have been a nice spot 10 years ago, but it is fast turning into another Queensland. So far there are no high-rises, but i am sure it will not be long.

there are new housing estates and roads going in everywhere. the average house is around $700,000 and nothing to pay well over $1m

Having said this, Cable Beach is all it is made out to be and Carolyn and i spend long lazy days on the beach, swimming and relaxing.

Our next destination was middle Lagoon up on the Dampier Peninsula. We had no idea what it was going to be like. It is an aboriginal community run camp area. Very limited power, mostly un-powered which suited us, solar showers and flush loos, what else is needed.

This place is paradise, with the lagoon as blue as sea can get. The local kids spend their days (now school holidays) swimming and collecting shells from the rocks. The older guys go out fishing nearly every day and return with Thread fin Salmon, queen Fish, Spanish Mackerel, Green turtles and if they are lucky a dugong, although it is a bit early in the season for them at the moment.

the camps are so close to the beach, it is only a couple of minutes walk to the whitest cleanest sand. Here we watched boats come and go all day with their catches.

The sun sets(best viewed from the rocks on the point) were the best we have seen anywhere. Of course enjoyed with either a cold beer, a gin and tonic and a nice glass of red, or maybe one of each.

After 5 days, we really did not want to move. If it had not been that we had arranged to meet our friends Glenn and Susan back in Broome for a final dinner, we would have stayed another 5 days or months!

We were about to start the long trip home, and this was to be the final destination we would be able to catch up with them. Glenn and Susan are continuing for a further 3 months down the west coast. we had a lovely tea at Zanders, a really nice restaurant on top of n the sand dunes, over-looking Cable beach.

So, here we are on our way south after visiting some of the most magnificent country imaginable. First stop the historic Fitzroy Crossing. We arrived at 3:00pm (again they do not take bookings) and were told, there were no powered sited available. You need to be checking in about 10am to get one.

So we took an unpowered, and moved in the morning. We met some great people here, that we got to know at Middle Lagoon, and swapped travel tails over a coup,le of “quiet one’s. Late into the night the whole camp was woken by a couple of families having a huge domestic, which ended up in the early hours with police attending and taking a fellow away. The next day they were back, to ensure the parks eviction went without a hitch, another guy had a free ride to the ,local lock up. Needless to say, we slept pretty well the next night, and were assured by management that this is very unusual and has never occurred before.

We were going to do  a tour of tunnel creek, but due to  a mix up with bookings, and the tour being cancelled anyway, we unfortunately missed the tunnel. So decided to cut our stay at Fitzroy and head for Halls Creek, which is the start of the famous or infamous Tanami desert Track.

Next:- The Tanami, Alice Springs, The Oodnadatta Track – HOME!