Days 12 to 17 30 June to 05 July 2009

30 June 2009 Day 12 – After a bit of last minute fuelling up ($1.59.5c per litre at Uluru) and buying milk we headed off to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) to do the 7.4 km Valley of the Winds walk which is very aptly named, the walk took us just over 2 hours and was breath taking. Well worth the effort even though our legs are suffering, we have walked a total of just over 30 km the last 5 days over some challenging tracks.



Back at the car park we said our goodbyes to the Caseys and headed west through Docker River to the Great Central Highway – Sandy Blight Junction Road (SBJR) intersection where we turned off onto the SBJR at around 2 00 pm. The road was in good condition for the first 65 km until we reached the turn off to Tjukurla Aboriginal Community, it then turned into a 2 wheel corrugated track for all 220 km to Kintore.



We stopped driving at 5 15 pm about 130 km from the start of the SBJR where we camped under a grove of desert oaks at coordinates (S 23 30’ 16” E 124 45’ 50”). The usual routine occurred with a quick set up, a wine in hand, the fire started and dinner organised before we called it a night at 8 30 pm – yes another early night.

01 July 2009 Day 13 – After a good night’s sleep we were up fed and away by 800 pm from our camp in the desert – what a great spot. The sunrise of the Spinifex was spectacular and the wind through the desert oaks made a noise almost like the noise the surf makes.



Shortly after leaving camp the first drama of the day unfolded, we were driving directly into the sun and I inadvertently drove into an abandoned section of the track and became stranded in a deep washout, so deep I was not able to open my driver’s side door and had to get out Linda’s door. We dug the high spots out for over half an hour, with both Linda and Jack providing great help and after a bit of mucking around we were able to reverse out and get back on our way.



Drama number 2 started at 9.15 am about 10 km further up the track with me noticing the camper trailer crabbing to the right. On inspection the driver’s side wheel was back against the mudguard and 4 of the 9 leaves in the spring were gone. After a few choice words, we parked the trailer off the track, unhitched and left Linda with the trailer while Jack and I back tracking to see if we could find the absent leaves. By the scuffing on the tyre I knew I had picked up the problem fairly quickly and sure enough three of the four escapees were recovered within 100 metres of where we had stopped but the fourth leaf and locating pin proved a lot more elusive. We weren’t able to find them.

So after working out what I had to do we set about fixing the problem. With the car jack lifting the opposite wheel clear of the ground and high lift jack lifting the trailer I was able to undo the brackets holding the base plate in place, relocate the wheel to the correct position and reposition the three leaves with the help of a bolt out of the spare bits and pieces box. Once the brackets and base plates were reattached we had lunch and packed up and were on the road again – 3 hours later.



I was quite apprehensive about whether the bush fix up would stay in place with a further 150 km to travel along a very rough and challenging track to get to Kintore by 4 30 am to refuel. One of the upsides of the breakdown was Lindaused the time to work out how to use the Garmin 76 GPS, it has come in very handy and her navigation skills have been spot on.



Well all went well from that point on, we made Kintore just as the fuel bloke was locking up and filled up ($1.57c per litre), Linda topped up our bread and milk from the community store and we headed to the Police Station to enquire about an alternate route to Well 23 on the Canning Stock Route (where we were picking up fuel dropped off by Capricorn Roadhouse).

The Kintore police could not have been more helpful, made a couple of calls for us to ascertain the state of the Gary Highway and the Talawana Track and then asked where we intended camping for the night – we said we intended bush camping out of town. Their next offer was for us to stay in their Visiting Officer Quarters which we gladly accepted. The offer of a hot shower, a real bed and for Jack some kids for company and TV was too much to refuse. So night 13 we stayed at the “Cop Shop”. Seriously though the police were fantastic, their wives came round and made us feel really welcome, provided us with clean linen, and nothing was too much trouble – so full marks to the boys and girls in blue at Kintore. If you come this way, drop in and say hello to Pete, Annie and Steve. So day 13 was a very eventful day - we got bogged, broke down and slept overnight in a Police Station.



02 July 2009 Day 14 –What a difference a good night’s sleep and a shower first thing in the morning makes, we were refreshed and ready to hit the road again. The plan was to travel the Gary Junction Road until it met the Gary Highway, a distance of just under 500 km, and head as far down the “Highway” as we could. We intended stopping by 4 00 pm Western Australian time as we had put our watches back 1.5 hours.

The Gary Junction Road was in excellent condition and we were able to average just over 80 km/hour. We called into Kiwirrkurra Aboriginal community to find out a bit more about the condition of the Gary Highway and ring a mechanic in Newman to book the trailer in for repairs. Tim, the manager at the community store, was very helpful and let me use his phone to ring ahead to Newman. The store was very well stocked including an assortment of clothing and footwear, fresh fruit and veges and a wide variety of meat. Fuel (both diesel and opal) was $2.80 per litre.



We made the Gary junction just after 2 00 pm where there is a Len Beadell plaque announcing the junction with the Gary Highway and a book to sign and indicate your intended direction of travel.

The Gary Highway was to 2 wheel track with lots of overgrown vegetation that has redefined the paint job on the Prado, we refer to them as the “Gary scratches” – hopefully they will buff out! The Gary Highway was in surprisingly good condition with very few corrugations and we made really good time covering 97 km by our 4 00 pm stop time. We pulled off the side of the road and set up for the night at coordinates (S 23 11’ 25” E 125 17’ 20”), Jack lit a fire and we sat around with a glass of wine reflecting on what a great day we’d had.



03 July 2009 Day 15 – Another early night saw us in bed by 8 30 pm and awake by 6 00am and back on the track by 7 30 am. We arrived at Windy Corner at 8 30 am and turned west onto the Talawana Track for the 200 km run to the Canning Stock Route (CSR). The Talawana Track was in equally good condition as the Gary Highway, except for the last 20 km through sand dune and salt pan country approaching the CSR. Along that stretch we had a camel escort us for 5 km running on the track directly in front of the car, it maintained 35 km/hour for thew 5 km. It would make a great entry in the annual Boulia camel races – if only I had my camel float with me!!



The CSR lived up to its reputation as being heavily corrugated for the 39 km we travelled on it until rejoining the Talawana Track and heading towards Cotton Creek and on to Newman. We picked up our fuel drop an Well 23 and travelled onto coordinates (S 22 59’ 26” E 122 42’ 20”) where we camped in a dry creek bed. A quick dinner, a couple of scotches and a reflect of the day around the fire and it was off to bed for another great night’s sleep with light rain falling most of the night.



04 July 2009 Day 16 – Our intention was to spend a couple of days exploring Rudall River National Park but with rain clouds looking ominous and still some lingering doubts about the trailer spring we decided to head into Newman instead. Rudall River National Park will have to wait for another trip. The road was in poor condition with endless corrugations and some washouts until the Cotton Creek turn off form there to the end of the Talawana Track was very similar to the Gary Junction Road in condition. We sat on cruise control at 90 km/hour for much of the way and made it into Newman by 2 00 pm.



We went straight to the Visitor Information Centre to get advice on the best Caravan Park to stay at and at the same time booked the mine tour for Monday morning. Across the road from the Information Centre was Newman Fleet Services, so we went over to discuss the options for fixing the trailer.

The people at the Newman Fleet Services could not have been more helpful, giving advice on what they believed need to be done and squeezing us into their busy Monday morning appointments. Rod and Shane were of the view that the spring was fine and all I needed was a couple of spare locating pins and the electric breaks and tail light wiring fixed. Rod’s keen nose smelt fuel and on closer inspection detected a leak under the second fuel tank under the Prado so we’ll also get that sorted at the same time. Better these things happen in a town than in a remote location.

05 July 2009 Day 17 – Pancakes for breakfast and then it was off to the once a month Sunday markets for a look before driving up Radio Hill for a view of Newman and the mine. The rest of the day was spent reading the Sunday paper, making a stew in the camp kitchen and updating the blog. All in all a very relaxing day.

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