G'day everyone!
Just did a run from
Alice Springs to
Perth this week in an '04 model 2WD petrol Hilux, via the Tjukaruru and GCR.
Didn't experience any serious problems, and the roads are quite suitable for 2WD's with modest ground clearance.
I got warned about
Kata Tjuta to DOcker River being the worst section - but I found
Kata Tjuta to the W.A. border, was in quite satisfactory condition.
From
Kata Tjuta Westwards, the first 50-60kms of the Tjukaruru road is below average condition. It's rutted and contains patches of corrugations and soft loose gravel. Despite this, I was able to keep up 90-95kms hr with no major dramas.
Loose sections of gravel in this area contain a few fist size gibbers that could easily destroy tyres, you just need to be alert and avoid them.
From about 60ms West of
Kata Tjuta, heading West, the road improves gradually. This section about the middle appears to have been graded about 6-8 weeks ago.
As you approach Docker River, the grading is more recent and the road condition improves markedly. The graders were working right at the Docker River community on Thursday 23rd October 2014, with the road freshly graded. The short section between Docker River community and the W.A. border was in poor condition and was obviously slated to be graded soon. Speed was down to 75-80 kms/hr here.
From the W.A. border heading West to Warakurna/Giles, the road condition is below average.
It's deeply rutted, contains corrugations, and loose gravel in many sections. It's been many months since this section was graded.
From Warakurna heading West to
Warburton, the road condition is average, with numerous sections below average. These sections are rutted and corrugated.
Despite this, I was able to mostly sit on 100-105 kmh without slowing down too often.
About 40 kms from
Warburton (Eastwards) the road conditions improve substantially due to recent roadworks. The last approximately 20 kms into
Warburton, going Westwards, is on a new, upgraded formation with new gravel sheeting. Roadworks are currently ongoing here, on a sizeable scale.
From
Warburton Westwards towards Tjukayirla, the first approximately 40 kms is dual-lane bitumen. This turns into a good average gravel road with some short sections that are below average with rutting and corrugations. I was able to sustain 110 kmh easily on the bitumen and 100 kmh pretty easily on most of the gravel, through this portion of the GCR.
From Tjukayirla to
Laverton, the road is fairly good overall - but there's a number of sections that suffer from deep rutting and corrugations due to poor gravel quality.
I was able to keep up 100-105kms/hr along most of this section of the GCR.
I was running on standard 2WD Hilux tyres - 185R14C - and I only took one spare, with some basic tyre repair equipment and a compressor.
I ran the tyres at 32 psi (220 Kpa) and I never had a single tyre problem of any kind.
A couple of the days were around 39 deg C - but I was running lightly loaded with only basic camping gear and food, 20L of water and 60L of fuel in jerry cans.
I had no problems with items carried on board, apart from the compressor punching holes in its el-cheapo plastic case.
It was carried upright on the tray and secured with a ratchet strap - but the compressor isn't held firmly enough inside the case.
I only travelled daylight hours, and never saw a single hopping marsupial of any kind until about 35 kms East of
Laverton, when a solitary 'roo bounded out in front of me. He was easily avoided with straight-line braking.
I came across at least 6 groups of camels on the road, mostly West of Warakurna. You virtually have to stop for them, they're very reluctant to move, particularly the older camels.
Saw one big very fat brush turkey (bustard), the biggest I've seen in years. The grasshopper supply must be good out there at present.
The biggest road dangers are the abandoned or burnt cars belonging to the locals. Had to pull one Falcon off the road, it was abandoned right in the centre of the lanes with a blown front tyre and it provided a major
hazard - if lighting conditions were poor, you would almost certainly clean it up.
There are numerous burnt wrecks lying on the road shoulder or just off the road edge.
I camped at Warakurna one night (unpowered site) and I found Warakurna quite good with very reasonable charges and a good
camp kitchen and ablution block.
Remember Warakurna operates on NT time, and that you can get booked in and get the ablution block key up until 20:00Hrs NT time, even though the roadhouse shuts at 17:00Hrs.
Didn't stop long at
Warburton, the place is too depressing.
Stopped quickly for fuel and a steakburger and chips at Tjukayirla - the food is good, but with Opal at $2.45 you don't want to be taking on 150 litres of it!
Overall, had a pleasant run through from
Alice Springs to
Perth from Tuesday afternoon (21/10/14) to Friday night (24/10/14).
It wasn't an extended sightseeing tour, just a run to get a ute back to
Perth, quickly.
I hope to get out there again soon and see some of the sights along the way in more detail - and hopefully after the Federal Govt has poured that $30M they are talking about, into the
Outback Way!
Cheers, Ron.