Purposeful Meandering Around remote WA - Week 1

And just like that, we’re off on our latest adventure. Something that feels like it’s been in the making for years (maybe it had) has finally come to fruition. We originally started planning this road trip pre COVID, it ground to a halt as lockdown cancelled all travel, it was even put on hold while we went on an overseas holiday. Yep, this trip has been in the making for a long time.

As our departure date drew near, we almost had to cancel before we started. The unpredictability of the weather saw WA experience unprecedented rain in March, much of which still lies in patches effecting our route to this day. It felt like there was a different hurdle every week, some bigger than others.

Setting off at 4am an err of caution hung over our route from the outset. The weather had thrown us another curve ball, the Simpson Desert and surrounding areas had 25mm of rain fall overnight, turning dirt roads into mud skid pans which in turn, isolates communities and forces councils to close roads in and out of the desert region. Not to be deterred, our 4 vehicles combined for a mid-highway teleconference where plan B was hashed out….. Never let the weather spoil a good adventure and as night fell on day 1, we found ourselves resting up in Mildura.

Another chilly pre-dawn start had us watching the sun rise as we trekked across the Mildura plains. The early morning highlighted the amazing rustic colours of the grape vines as we travelled through the Riverland region of SA, by mid morning we found ourselves in the quaint little town of Morgan, a historic town on the banks of the Murray River and a perfect spot for breakfast. Pushing further west we were amazed by how many wind turbines we seen, they stretched for miles in either direction. We stopped in the small rural town of Jamestown and were surprised to learn it was the birthplace of R.M Williams. With a few planned geocaching stops it was mid afternoon before we reached Port Augusta. From here it truly feels like you’re entering outback Australia, whether you’re heading west or north there’s not much beyond this point. We turned north towards our nights destination of Woomera. Alas our progress was quickly halted by Sunday roadworks which stretched for more than 10km and slowed our progress dramatically. Needless to say the last few kilometres were done as the sun faded below the horizon. We setup camp in Woomera never felt so good.

Monday morning we rendezvoused with our first convoy car in the Woomera village, we shared our stories of our journey thus far whilst looking around military weapons on display. We were soon pushing north to Roxby Downs, a town solely built to support the Olympic Dam mine operations. It was like an oasis in the desert, not for its appearance, but had everything for every occasion. This was the end of the bitumen for us and we deflated our tyres for corrugations that lie ahead. Continuing further north the arid remoteness was quickly at the forefront, the dirt road was in pretty good condition and by midday we’d made it to the Oodnadatta track. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Lake Eyre lookout, unfortunately the cold wind and overcast skies made this less appealing than the last time we were here. Continuing further west, we stopped at Coward Springs where we were pleasantly surprised to meet the remaining 2 vehicles of our convoy. Once again we shared our adventures thus far, while some of us had a swim in the natural thermal pool. Next stop was William Creek and we were surprised to see Pat Callinin’s 4x4 crew in this remote town filming an episode. Pressing on it was another couple of hours of rough trails before we arrived in Coober Pedy. We immediately checked in to Riba’s Underground Caravan Park for a couple of nights. While most of the team took the underground option, we braved the overnight rain scrawls and camped above ground.

Tuesday dawned under cloudy ‘n’ windy skies, the overnight rain didn’t have much of an impact on us but we found out later the roads we’d travelled yesterday were near impassable today. We opted for a rest day having already travelled 2200km in only a few days. By mid morning we headed into town where we posed for a group photo at the “blower truck” before doing our own thing around town. Given the size of Cobber Pedy much the day was spent bumping into one another at a tourist attraction, the supermarket or the petrol station. Returning to the caravan park late in the day we all agreed the underground lifestyle of fossicking for opal wasn’t for us. With another big day ahead of us on Wednesday we spent the remainder of the afternoon prepping vehicles and enjoying an extended happy hour.

Wednesday dawned with temps in the single digits and the clouds hung low and rain showers loomed. We had a big day ahead of us with 8+hrs of driving to negotiate. By 8am we were on the road, but for the first couple of hours we drove through rain and fog as we pushed north, We stopped at a few roadhouses which dot the Stuart Hwy. For much of the way we played leap frog with a convoy of Army trucks that were heading in the same direction. Just before lunch we stopped for the obligatory SA/NT border crossing pics. By lunchtime the skies had cleared, the sun was shining but not offering a lot of warmth. It allowed us the benefit of an outdoor lunch at another roadhouse. The driving was endless and monotonous, at Eldurrah we turned west and onto the home straight, but the finish line was still another 260km away. Eventually as the 8hr mark elapsed we pulled into Yulara. We quickly setup camp before heading to the sunset viewing area at Uluru. Under patchy skies the Rock didn’t disappoint us as the sun brought out the beautiful colours for all to see. No sooner was that complete and we headed back to the Yulara watering hole to prepare for State of Origin……. Alas that’s enough about the footy, we all know how that ended and so did our night.

Thursday - this is where our holiday really started, everything we’d done in the past 5 days lead to this point. We woke to the threat of rain, we even had a few spots of rain which had us bouncing out of bed only for the rain to clear and the sun to appear. We spent the morning being tourists around Uluṟu and doing some last minute chores. At midday we rendezvoused at Kata Jutjuta for a quick bite to eat before heading west. For the first 50km of the Great Central Rd we were blessed to be driving on the bitumen and making good time, we were soon airing down our tyres and the adventure was getting real. The outback offered up an array of wildlife that had us constantly watching for traffic hazards, whether it was feral cats, wild horses, cows and the odd camel we were amused by what was on the road. We had a quick stop at the community of Docker River before stopping at the NT/WA border for the obligatory photos and border shenaigans. Pushing further west we eventually made our way in the community of Warrakurna where we setup camp for the night out the back of the roadhouse. After dinner we enjoyed our first outback campfire under the millions of stars.

Friday dawned as our coldest morning of the trip, the thermometer said 3.2deg and coupled with a heavy dew it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. We quickly packed up and headed to the nearby BOM weather out-station where we watched the staff release their daily weather balloon into the atmosphere. Surprisingly it reaches heights of 30km and can drift for over 200km before exploding back to earth as consumable junk. By mid morning we were heading further west where we made it to the local community of Warburton, this is approximately halfway along the western section of the Outback Way and it’s a popular spot to refuel, which they conveniently charge for @ $3:60/ltr for diesel. As they say, “they have it, you need it, so you’ll pay whatever price”. Continuing just out of town we left the main dirt road to join the “Gunbarrel Hwy”. Despite its name it’s actually a narrow, corrugated overgrown 4WD track that throws up countless challenges. For the remainder of the day we averaged 30km/hr over some rough and rugged terrain. The car got some new pin-striping courtesy of the vegetation and on a couple of occasions we had to stop for running repairs. With the sun setting before 5pm we opted to stop early where we hoped to dry out swags from the mornings dew. As night fell, families enjoyed their respective dinners before we all adjourned to the campfire for our first round of port.

Our Saturday morning started really early, a local bird chirped like a persistent alarm with each family blaming the other for not getting up to stop the persistent noise, coupled with a body clock telling us it was a lot later, there was no way we’d be staying in bed much past 6:30am. With week 1 almost complete we’d driven over 3600km and were on the other side of the continent, thank goodness the weeks ahead would start to slow down. Packing up we’d set off by 8:00. The rugged terrain was unrelenting with our speed varying between 10 and 60km/hr it was hard to stay focused. The mornings highlight being a memorial to Len Beadell, the founder of so many outback tracks in the region that nowadays are used by likeminded travellers wishing to explore remote locations. By lunchtime we’d only managed to travel 85km and it looked like we’d be spending another night in the middle of nowhere. Recent rains ensured parts of the track were slippery, muddy and a lot of fun. At some point just after lunch the track literally flicked a switch or we went into a different council zone but we were able to increase our speeds up to highway speeds and for the remainder of the afternoon we made great time. We occasionally had to slow for water crossings or the dumb camel that run down the track blocking our progress for almost 2km’s before eventually heading into the bush. Around 3:30pm we arrived at the remote cattle station of Carnegie Station where we setup camp. With daylight fading we had to do some minor running repairs on the Colorado after a suspension part rattled loose.

1 week down and 7 to go. The hard yards getting to the other side of the country have been achieved, now it’s time to enjoy arid remote locations of WA.