Canning Stock Route Talawana Track

Blog 9
Our decision at this point was to return via the Talawana to the fuel dump at Well 23 on the Canning and travel south to Wiluna. We did this, and arrived safely and happily in Leonora last night after 10 days driving and camping. They were excellent days.

Transferring fuel from a 44 gallon drum to a car turned out to be straightforward using a jiggler hose. Clever Kevin! Splashed diesel and red dust make a messy combination! There were about 30 full drums at the site and at $500 each that’s a bit of money for Capricorn Roadhouse! I should mention, that back in Newman, Ross received a call from the Capricorn Roadhouse to say that someone had taken his fuel but that the Roadhouse had supplied another. Not sure of the whole story - maybe the person sought the OK via sat phone - could be the case. Whatever, it does show that the fuel is not entirely safe.

I will try to make further entries about the CSR but suffice to say, we had wonderful camps, enjoyed the sand dunes and the wildflowers and of course the ever-changing scenery. Highlights at this point, and without much thought, were being there, the Calvert Range, Diebel Hills, rock art and the water pools: Durba Springs, Water 17, Calvert Range and Windich Springs (pretty but not “special“ as were the other places). The mulga changed colour from place to place and varied in its lusciousness. Coming across mallee was always a treat. The corrugations were hideous but quickly forgotten. (I;m not sure that Kevin or the LC agree.) There were places that afforded long distance views: the Pierre Range in the south and also Mt Davis just to name a couple. The idea that people had lived there for tens of thousands of years was constantly with us.

A great , but distant, pall of black smoke was to be seen as we left our Diebel Hills track campsite one morning. We instantly thought of a burning vehicle. As we approached Durba Springs, we finally heard that local people and a ranger were burning off. From a vast distance we could see flames travelling up the side of the Durba Hills. We went on that day to camp at Sunday Well and were shocked to see, on the way, that a stand of Desert Oaks had been included in the burn. This mystifies us. We saw no evidence in our travels that fire is a “good thing” for these beautiful trees. Maybe a bit of research when get home will explain it to us.

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