Willem posted:

Will it work this time?

farmer112 posted:

Hi Richard,

I have been out there in May last year before we did the Simpson (via French Line, hell of a fun, playing in the sand) and the Anne Beadell Highway.

It was a very nice drive to Chambers Pillar, no difficulties at all. The track from Maryvale Station is a little bit rough in places.

The jump-up mentioned by Willem is now bypassed. You come over the range and just slow down. Then you see the track splitting. In front of you is the very rough jump-up, but to the right is a nice negotiable bypass track. Go slowly! The first time I went to Chambers Pillar one year before, I nearly crashed into that bloody jump-up, while I was still wondering where that track to the right was leading to.

The last kilometres in to the reserve are quite sandy, track becomes very narrow. Danger of head-on collisions. A sand flag would be a good idea, UHF radio should be carried and set to the channel which is named on the sign near the entry.

Chambers Pillar is an absolutely awesome experience, especially for sundown and sunset. Sunset can be viewed from near the camp spot, while you have to walk around for the perfect sundown view. Getting up early will pay off by fantastic photos. We camped there all alone - a beautiful experience after all those bloody tourists from Europe at the big stone... ;-)

You can combine Rainbow Valley with Chambers Pillar in an easy one day's drive from Alice if you start not too late in the morning. Hugh River Stock Route is a very good track, but prepare for opening and closing many gates.

Enjoy!

Cheers from bloody cold and boring Dortmund/Germany,

Juergen

PS: If the bloody Gerries can do it, you can also do it! ;-)

Member - Phil G (SA) posted:

If you run your gennie, everyone will be swearing AT you........

Motherhen posted:

We are well set up with solar Richard, so ours is only for the caravan air conditioner on rare occasions, and for power tools in an emergency. We did need it in the Kimberley, as our solar panels let us down. The neighbours didn't mind - every one with gennies in the camps had Hondas - nice and quiet. I don't know if they are permitted in the NT parks. Ours sat in the box on the front of the caravan from when we last needed it in June, until i got it out in January when we had a power failure during a bush fire. We hadn't even emptied the fuel out of it. It started first pull, and ran the two way base, a radio, aquarium pumps, and in turns two big old household fridges and the freezer, with lights also in the evening. Marvellous.

Mh

Member - Phil G (SA) posted:

Hi Mh and Richard,
My flippant comment wasn't against generators as such, but more the fact that Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley are such small camp areas where a generator will annoy your neighbour. But I will admit to hoping like hell that anyone with a generator in those places would run it through the day and not in the quiet of night.
Cheers
Phil

Motherhen posted:

Generators are NOT permitted in the Chambers Pillar or Rainbow Valley reserves. Only some NT parks have camping areas allowing generators; most do not allow them to be used.

Mh

Member - Kiwi Kia posted:

I agree with Richard, the few sand dunes have been graded and now have excellent visibility, you probably will not even realise that you have crossed them. The 'hill' is still a bit steep and loose on the pillar side but you should have no problem.

Where will you be coming from when you head in to Chambers Pillar ?

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