Simpson via Hay River - Travel Times please
Submitted: Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 10:54
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Member - Mick O (VIC)
Greetings all,
the big trip continues. Just breezed into Alice to attend to some tyre problems and the washing. Due to time constraints we have to make a few quick decisions. Could anyone give me a best estimate for completing the
Hay River Track south to
Birdsville. Trek notes say 9 days from GemTree. Can someone who's travelled the track lately give a an idea of number of days from
Goyders Pillar down. Thanks.
Trip going exceptionally
well. For those doing the
Gary JUnction - Heavily Corrugated north west of Kintor up to the
Gary Junction. Overall fair to average. Good from
Gary Junction to Kurnawarritji (
well 33) bar the corrugations around that intersection.
Grader was on the Talwana from
Kunawarritji to
Jigalong so it's a super highway.
Rudall main track from Telfor south in fair to average conditionwith deep patches of heavy sand and corrugations. Back route out is an adventure drive- Fires have burnt out the area around Queen desert baths but it's stilla great spot to visit.
Puntawarri is in good shape getting a fair bit of use these days on the section from the Canning to
Puntawarri itself. Notgrown over at all.
Hunt Oil Road in Good condition. Very little in the way of corrugations. Not much use. Cleared fallen shrubs. Hundreds of Camels around
Alexander Spring.
Sandy Blight Junction Road is all corrugations. Very slow going but survivable. Some areas the bumps are 25cm high and 80 cm apart. A
test of nerves that one.
Great Central is as you'd expect after the holiday season. Fairly poor and shocking fromDoccker into Yalara.
Giles - Mulga Park also in poor to fair condition with sand,stone and corrugations. Get's worse around the communities.
Fuel: $4 per litre at Cotton Creek - Cash Only. $3.20 at Kurnawarritji, $2.40 at
Jigalong, $2.80 all along the
Gary Junction, $2.70 at
Warburton.
More detailed report when I get the chance. Hope some one can offer advice on the
Hay.
Globalstar - Still friggin terrible!
Cheers.
Mick
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:21
Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:21
Gday Mick,
Glad your trip's going so
well and thanks for the reports.
From Alice,
Minimum times if you just drive:
Day 1 Batton
Hill
Day 2 South of
Lake Caroline
Day 3 Near the
shotline
Day 4
Birdsville
Add one day at batton
Hill to do Bushtucker trip
Add one day to veg out and explore
lake caroline
Add one day to explore some of the
Madigan Line -
camp 14, 13.
Add one or two more days to take your time in the nice parts of the Simpson
AnswerID:
317644
Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:29
Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:29
Sounds about right to me.
We took it easy and camped 4 nights in total south of Batton
hill 5th night in
Birdsville (we actually did it reverse way around)
FollowupID:
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Reply By: TimS - Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:58
Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:58
Hi Mick,
From QAA line turnoff to Plenty Hwy took us less than two days only three weeks ago. We travel pretty quick though and we were on our own, so no need to wait for slow coaches.... :)
We didn't see anyone else on the track itself but it's apparent that it's getting plenty of use. GPS not necessary to find your way, although it might be handy for confirming your position.
The 9 day estimate is way over the top for my money, 4 to 5 days to
Birdsville would be heaps as mentioned above.
Rgds,
Tim
AnswerID:
317651
Reply By: Member - Bob of KAOS - Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 21:24
Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 21:24
If you allow three nights on the track you will be just strolling. (Oct 07)
AnswerID:
317753
Follow Up By: Member - Bob of KAOS - Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 21:36
Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 21:36
PS I am surprised that you found Globalstar wanting. When I had an Ericsson R280 I never had a problem. It worked everywhere. My current Telstra Motorola thingy is a dog due to the voice delay (which Globalstar doesn't have). Conversations with people unused to the 2 second delay are almost impossible.
Having owned both I would clearly prefer the Globalstar.
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