AnswerID: 83018 Submitted: Thursday, Nov 04, 2004 at 15:22
navaraman
replied:
Twigiee I've borrowed this from another site, it's recent, about two weeks old. If the track isn't up to much grab a copy of "Mallee Tracks" and try some of the other drives in there, there are plenty to choose from.
rom 4WD out of
Adelaide forum
I know - you are already correcting me - "it's the border track".
However, after spending the weekend there I can report that it is not
the same old track it was last time I passed through less than a year
ago.
Remember all those fun clay pans on the way to
red bluff? They are no
more. All gone! The areas have been posted, and signs saying "Re-
vegetation area - do not enter" placed strategically in your path.
And they have graded a nice new flat track, which you could drive a
ford laser over, and used road fill to fill in other clay pans. (No
joke - real road fill) So yes - there are now small sections of the
track, that have become unsealed roads
:-(
I found this all very disappointing, as it gets less challenging each
year. Also, a few of the old sand dunes were also bypassed, again to
my disappointment. However all is not completely lost, and there are
still a few dunes on the way to the bluff that have some relatively
challenging tracks over them, and a couple of the heavier cars in our
pack was unable to get over some of the tracks. So the weekend was
not a complete loss from the driving perspective. I have a wrangler,
and went easily over all of them in high 1st – and didn't find the
need to use low range – which I have in previous years.
The place is still a magnificent arid desert land, and probably does
need conserving, or it is in danger of getting shut off to the public
forever. On the wildlife side, we stumbled across a number of Roos, a
3ft goanna (which I have never seen there before), heaps of varying
lizards, and some strange mammals that look like 2 inch high
kangaroos – some kind of mouse – they scamper off like the wind! (any
one able to identify these small mouse like creatures – I would be
interested in knowing).
Scorpion springs was dry for the first time since I have been there.
A hole that the boys and I dug the entire length of my arm still only
produced damp sand – whereas it would usually fill up with murky
water. I think it would have produced if we got our spade and dug –
but for me – this misses the point. However – this is still a
fascinating pursuit, thinking that aboriginals would rely on this
stuff to live. (When you see the water it produces, you will know
what I mean!)
If you haven't been there before, it is still worth a visit, but if
you haven't been for several years (or even a year and a half) you
will find the place to have changed significantly, and it is much
less challenging for the four wheel driver. Of course – many people
may appreciate this – and want to visit mainly for the beauty of the
area, and experience the arid dessert conditions – if so then you
will certainly not be disappointed!
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