Western Desert Meanderings 2008 Part 1 and a half

"The complete Google Earth track and waypoint file for this expedition is available for download at the bottom of this page. This enables viewing of the route and points of interest in Google Earth."

This trip/journey report covers some of the desolate interior of Western Australia and the associated routes to and from the capital city of Western Australia, Perth. The trip had three main goals in addition to getting away from the rat-race that is Perth City. They were:

1: To search for explorer David Carnegie’s elusive Patience Well somewhere in the Gibson Desert.
2: To visit Carnegie’s remote, and presumably rarely visited, Wilson Cliffs in the Great Sandy Desert.
3: To visit the picturesque Rudall River National Park at the western edge of that desert.

These goals, providing the cornerstones of the trip, would also provide the opportunity to see a great deal of countryside along the way. The trip was undertaken in my trusted Landcruiser Ute. My 72 year old father John accompanied me in the two seater cabin.

This blog contains videos, which although are fairly autonomous, should preferably be viewed after reading the relevant section of the blog.

Perth to Hunt Oil Road Turnoff:

We left Perth on Saturday 28 June 2008, relaxed and in no rush, and our intention was to camp somewhere north of Bullfinch. Just before the settlement of Yerbillon one of the back tyres blew out and we unexpectedly found ourselves prematurely unpacking the load to access the spare. The blown tyre was the worst tyre of all my tyres, one that had made it all the way through last years trip, so it wasn’t so bad. In hindsight I should have replaced it earlier or used it as one of my spares. As it was I had six tyres on five rims, but the sheer irony of blowing a tyre on the bitumen on the first day of what would be a major desert trip was not wasted on me.

So our plans were already modified and we now drove onwards to Southern Cross where I called the tyre shop gentleman to open his shop if he would. Here I purchased a new tyre and had it fitted; it was a brand I had not tried before. We stayed in the caravan park in an onsite van and ate at one of the roadhouses. It was already quite noticeably colder at night than in Perth.

In the morning after breakfast we headed north to Bullfinch but stopped to have a look at Hunts Soak first. We then headed north along the Bullfinch Evanston Road and admired views of the Helena and Aurora Range and Mount Jackson. At the Evanston Menzies Road we turned east. Shortly after, we deviated slightly to briefly visit Lake Giles before continuing on and stopping at Hospital Rocks, eventually having lunch at the roadhouse at Menzies.

After lunch we headed north again on the Goldfields Highway until we reached Leonora where we topped up with fuel. We then travelled east on the road to Laverton where we would try and find a place to camp near the road. Soon after, though, a kangaroo came out from the left and slipped under the wheels of the 4WD and gave us both an intensive lesson in the anatomy of the kangaroo when we drove back to look at it. We shortly camped near Murrin Murrin Mine just off the road, and the noise of the workings and vehicles was annoying but tiredness soon overtook all, and sleep was the result..

At dawn we broke camp and headed again towards Laverton where we then topped up the fuel tanks and visited the “Explorers Hall of Fame”; this was my second visit.

We then headed out to the northeast along the Great Central Road. The road was good, but it was corrugated enough to rupture one of my precious 20 litre plastic water containers. I had had this one for a few years and it spent most of its life along one outside wall of my house. We tried to tape over the crack but eventually it was not useable. I had seven 20 litre containers left of which four were of the same age as the broken one. We stopped in at Cosmo Newbery to see if they had any spare containers. They didn’t so we continued on.

We deviated to Limestone Well, not far off the main road, then on to Beegull Rockhole where there was some water above the caves. We decided to keep going to Tjukayirla Roadhouse and arrived there after 4:00pm. There were pet emus and a dog and cat there which kept us company. It was a nice camping spot with good facilities. We were the only guests. We had a good feed from the shop and also purchased two 20 litre flexible plastic water containers.

After a shower and breakfast we departed just after 8:00am. We headed east again with the aim of reaching the Hunt Oil Road turnoff around lunchtime. Whilst travelling the Great Central Road we visited Terhan and Babool Rockholes without drama, and also Walhgu Rockholes, which were not at their positions as marked on the map. Babool Rockholes are off the old track and would be rarely visited now. We continued and visited one more rockhole, Muggan Rockholes, before stopping for lunch at the turnoff to the Hunt Oil Road.

Hunt Oil Road Turnoff to Geraldton Bore:

We wanted to proceed if possible to Mount Worsnop to camp so started to head north up the track that is Hunt Oil Road. The road started out in reasonable condition but deteriorated, after, the further we proceeded. The first signs of spinifex seeds were encountered along the way. We camped alongside the track, some ten kilometres short of Mount Worsnop. We did make good time and we were in the outback, at last.

In the morning I spent a bit of time putting some flywire protection across the front of the bullbar and also directly around the radiator. The spinifex seeds were only going to get worse from here. We travelled the remaining ten kilometres to Mount Worsnop and then headed off the track to the eastern breakaways and admired the view of the area. There were many camels around; more than I had ever seen in one place before.

Glancing at Woodhouse Lagoon, it looked as if it didn’t have too much water left in it. We further explored the breakaway range and followed one valley to its head. I walked for one kilometre east across the top of the range but had only glimpses of views of the other side. We then proceeded to Mount Allott, which we summited. There is a plaque commemorating the Forrest and Carnegie Expeditions. John Forrest came through here in 1874, whilst Carnegie visited in 1896 and 1897.

Just northwest of Mount Alllot, is a track that leads to Alexander Spring, the nearby spring marked by a small rock cairn. We visited the spring which had water in it. This spring was discovered by the Forrest Expedition. We heated up some canned spaghetti for lunch near the rock cairn and rested.

Now our destination would be Geraldton Bore at the junction of this road and the Gunbarrel Highway to the north. It was a fairly straight forward run to the Gunbarrel Highway. Knowing that Geraldton Bore would be devoid of firewood we gathered up pieces as we passed them. We arrived at the bore right on sunset and we were the only ones there. This was my fifth visit and John’s third. The duties of camp were carried out speedily as the final wisps of light were shining.

Geraldton Bore to North on the Gary Highway:

In the morning of 3 July 2008, we started out slowly, as the entire load had to be repacked. As our entire load was strapped on the back of the ute, in various size general containers, water containers, jerry cans, tyres, planks, and loose items, it requires minor adjustment frequently and a complete repacking every few days. We also transferred fuel from the jerry cans and topped up both the tanks. We broke camp to head for Everard Junction. It was only a short distance to the east and we had morning tea there, at the junction.

Now we will head to the north along the Gary Highway until the turnoff to the Patience Well search area south of Windy Corner. We proceeded north and the track twisted and turned near the Young Range. The range was visible from a fair distance to the north and we pulled over into the scrub and admired the view whilst we had lunch. There were a few birds around, and we wondered where they drank from.

We continued north. Huge sections of the desert had been burnt out and there was little live vegetation remaining around the burnt areas. We camped some 25 kilometres past than the Eagle Highway turnoff in an area that was akin to a desert wasteland. For kilometres around there was nothing but burnt shrubbery and bare soil. When wandering around camp the Gary Highway could easily be missed, even if you are only metres from it. It blended very easily into surrounding countryside. We were in real desert country now and one could sense the dryness of it.

In the morning we packed up the camp and again headed north along the highway. At McDougall Knoll we parked atop and had a coffee and chance for a small repack. I had lost a further two water containers due to fatigue so far, so were indeed lucky to have got the extra two at Tjukayirla Roadhouse. This is another well visited spot for us as it was my third time here, and John’s second. We again travelled to the north until we were about 16 kilometres from Windy Corner. Here we will turn off and head east to pursue the whereabouts of Patience Well.


This video is also available on YouTube: HERE

Gary Highway to Patience Well search area:

For a complete separate report of the search for Patience Well see this Blog: The Rediscovery of Patience Well in the Gibson Desert. This chapter however, will include my actual diary for this period verbatim.

Friday 4th July 2008
Left area in morning. Very very windy. Drove north along Gary Highway. Turned off highway 16 kilometres south of Windy Corner to the east and made for the stoney banks I found last year. To my surprise there were some more banks but these would be too far south to be Carnegie's. Lost some empty jerry cans off the back of the ute but went back and picked them up. Arrived at stoney banks in time for lunch. Searched thoroughly for any signs of the explorers to no avail.

Saturday 5th July 2008
Packed up and headed along Carnegie's route and then started to search for Patience Well. Looked all day for the well. Sometimes there was rain in the distance. We did get some sprinkles of rain. No punctures as yet - Also the new bullbar seems to prevent a lot of spinifex from getting in the radiator - All the old water containers have fractured. Down to 100 litres of water.

Sunday 6th July 2008
In the morning after a slow start proceeded to go to a small creek we had sighted yesterday for a closer look just in case the well was in the creek somewhere. Did not find anything like it so we then decided to head along a route we planned last night, taking in the southern and south western areas of the entire search area. We followed the creek along roughly toward its head and I happened to notice a slight depression in some rocks several hundered metres from where we were looking at the creek. It was a rockhole - This may be the rockhole that Carnegie went to which he said was 8 miles ESE of Patience. There was dampness in the soil at the bottom. Most of it was silted with run off over the years. I dug away some of the silt and got some animal bones. A part of a grinding stone was close by. The rockhole was very singular and had no features to point to it, as Carnegie had decribed his rockhole.

We continued along our predetermined route still looking for Patience. But when we got close to the point 8 miles WSW we decided to revisit some of the clumps of trees I had visited in 2003. The third one we looked at had a line of rocks which was either pointing in or out from the clump. This clump was only 300 metres or less from our camp in 2003 and was one I had already looked at as a Patience Well possiblilty - However, with the discovery of the rockhole it changed the scenario somewhat as it was almost spot on WSW of the rockhole and 8-9 miles away as opposed to 8 miles that Carnegie had said. - The clump of trees contained many healthy green gum trees which I had not seen anywhere else in the area.
I believe this may be Patience Well - There was grass around and it had an ill-defined creek fed by two parallel slopes of gravel. However - No water was seen - We decided to keep looking around so headed back to the main search area to the south east to eliminate any other possibilities. We camped not long after anyway.

Monday 7th July 2008
We continued in the morning to search in the area to the far east of the main area before heading back to the Patience Oasis. Dad (John) did a map / survey of the Oasis whilst I proceeded to dig for water in a likely looking spot. I did not find water but the ground was dirt and not rocky but very hard. Both of us believe this is the Patience Oasis but the actual well is hard to pin-point as it is 15 feet underground. We then proceeded to the Patience Well Approximate position on the map and camped.






This video is also available on YouTube: HERE

Patience Well area to Kiwirrkurra:

Day eleven of our trip and we set out in the morning to Patience No 2 Oil Well, about sixteen kilometres to the northeast. We followed the faint track for two kilometres before once again going overland towards the well which was reached without trouble. This was an abandoned oil well, which I had visited last year also. There is a good track leading to this all the way from the Gary Highway about 45 kilometres away.

We were in a good mood resulting from the previous days’ activities and now one goal of the trip had been achieved. Now we would start on our journey to Wilson Cliffs which were about 200 kilometres to the northeast in the Great Sandy Desert. We would first head for the community of Kiwirrkurra on the Gary Junction Road to see if we could re-supply and maybe even get a proper roof to sleep under. We would try and get there heading roughly northeast via old seismic lines (old mining exploration tracks) marked on my map. The marked seismic lines went as far as 37 kilometres away from the Gary Junction Road so the last section before the road would again be bush-bashing.

From the oil well we followed the tracks, which were very rarely used. They were not overgrown but rather quite drivable in the first section, but at a corner where we turned right to the southeast the old track deteriorated until I lost it altogether until the next corner. At every track intersection there was a star picket driven into the ground. We turned to the northeast again. Again the track was quite drivable and shortly we came across an abandoned air strip. There were some breakaways nearby and the view to the east across a valley towards some other isolated breakaways was most pleasant, and one got the feeling that we were in a truly remote part of the country.

The views were very pleasant for the next eight kilometres or so further along the track and we stopped at a section of large breakaway which had a resemblance to Mount Worsnop away to the south. We stood upon the summit and again were amazed at the views which reached out for many kilometres; the sheer remoteness and isolation of this area had me awestruck and I felt privileged to be a part of it right here and now.

Another ten kilometres and we came to another junction where we had lunch. The track that joined our track continues for about 60 kilometres where its cuts the track into Veevers Meteorite Crater to the northwest. The star picket at this corner had fallen over. The ground was very hard and we had trouble hammering it back in. Onwards now and the vegetation started to encroach a little more upon the track. I lost the track, or tracks, as there were sometimes parallel tracks, a few times when we eventually came to another star picket. This picket was tagged with EOL (End of Line), and the track did cease right here so from here we will again travel straight through the bush.

We would try and make it to the road before nightfall but we did have a minor goal along the way, that being to visit the confluence of 23° S 126° E. We meandered along what was fairly open country and soon reached the confluence. From here it was about 20 kilometres to the road and we were very conscience of running short of daylight, although sunset was an hour away yet. I continued on our general course and soon came to a very thick belt of spiky bushes about bonnet height. This was actually marked as a patch of vegetation on my map. I veered right and followed the grain of the belt for a few hundred metres as I didn’t want to risk damage to the vehicle or tyres. I then made a less than fantastic decision and headed straight into the belt to try and penetrate it to get to the other side. Trying to get to a destination in a remote area late in the afternoon before dark can cause a bit of desperation and can sometimes cloud what is usually good judgment in a person. This was one of those times.

As soon as I drove into the thick bush I realised I was going to be in serious trouble if I continued my vector. I had visions of losing all four tyres simultaneously as I used all my concentration to avoid running directly over the stems as I heard the stems cracking underneath the vehicle. I then swung in a large clockwise arc to go back in the direction from which I had come. Safely out of the mess I surveyed for damage and luckily two small slow leak punctures where the only result. I veered around the thick belt for about one kilometre before managing to get past, something I should have done the first time.

From here there were large sections of the land burnt out in recent fires which was of further concern as there were many sharp bush remnants protruding from the ground. We did strike one of these and stopped to repair the tyre and continued on with only about 20 minutes of sun left. We were forced to stop and camped only five kilometres from the Gary Junction Road in an area which was fairly devoid of firewood due to the fires.

It was now 9 July 2008 and we were approximately on the border of the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts as the gravel of the Gibson was gradually changing to the fine sand of the Great Sandy. We hoped that we would have a proper roof over our heads tonight as it would be a pleasant change to our tent and we wouldn’t mind a proper wash either, our last shower being at Tjukayirla Roadhouse ten days ago.

We started off, anticipating a fairly easy day, when no less than five minutes after we broke camp we heard the undeniable sound of the fast release of compressed air emitted from the rear left tyre. Sure enough, there was a 12mm hole. We were still in a fairly burnt out area, and with yesterdays reasonably good luck we were still having a run of good luck with punctures. We changed the tyre over with a spare and carefully headed on our way again. We shortly arrived at the Gary Junction Road, and then we proceeded to the east.

Shortly, we passed an oncoming vehicle, the first other vehicle we had seen since the Great Central Road. We stopped for a while at Terry Range, and admired the surrounding view of the area and then briefly visited Jupiter Well, with its hand pump. We arrived at Kiwirrkurra around midday and went to present ourselves at the Shire Office as the sign at the entry asked of us. Kiwirrkurra is on Northern Territory time.

After we had made ourselves known we had some lunch to the amusement of some of the locals and their dogs. We also stocked up on fuel and general stores. The general store was very busy and it made time for interesting conversation with the locals. The studio is interesting as all the art is produced there and it is quite original. We were after a room, and it took several hours to confirm, but we were granted a room in a house used by a couple who worked there. It was a great gesture and we accepted the room for a small fee. It was great to make use of the facilities and also do some laundry whilst also engaging in conversation with the couple.



Kiwirrkurra to Wilson Cliffs:

Our plan from here as mentioned previously was to attempt to get to the extremely remote Wilson Cliffs. These cliffs, which were visited and named by Carnegie, were over 100 kilometres away to the northwest with many, many sandridges in between. Carnegie had camped there 24 September 1896 and found a dry rockhole which has always been listed “position approximate” on maps. It would be nice to try and find this rockhole and confirm its position.

Originally we had planned to head west along the Gary Junction Road to where we cut it from the south and roughly follow Carnegies original route from 1896 to get there. Now we had learned of the existence of a track which goes from Kiwirrkurra all the way to Balgo Community almost 300 kilometres away. Our thoughts were to now use this track until we reached the latitude of the cliffs and then head to the west. We asked several of the local people about the track and made our intentions known. As this track was technically subject to Part III of the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972, permission was required to use it, but none of the locals showed any concern for our proposed journey, instead they rather helped us with directions.

We finally left Kiwirrkurra after having lunch from the shop, and chatting and having some coffee with some fellow tourists at Len Beadell’s burnt out supply truck, and then headed in an easterly direction along the only track that fitted the local people’s descriptions of the one we wanted. We followed the track for some time, and as there were other tracks deviating from the main track we were not entirely sure we were on the right track. We continued on and saw the upper portion of the spectacular Mount Webb to the south across the sandridges. As we really wanted to head in a northerly direction, and as Balgo was to the north, we expected at anytime for the track to start to veer that way but it headed about another 30 kilometres slightly north of east until finally it went to the north.

The huge expanse that was Lake Mackay was to the north now and we started to think that perhaps taking this track was not the best idea as we were a long way off course. Kiwirrkurra was about 70 kilometres to the west now and the latitude of Wilson Cliffs was more than 60 kilometres to the north still. As we approached the lake we hoped that the track would veer to the west; we didn’t want to think about what we would do if the track went into the Northern Territory to the east. Our worries were unfounded though.

Lake Mackay was a huge salt lake, the fourth largest lake in Australia. We spent some time on the shoreline admiring the view of the lake all the way to the horizon to the northeast. There was a shimmering haze above the lake. David Carnegie actually saw this haze and predicted the lake’s existence on his return journey from Halls Creek in 1897. The well-defined and obviously well-used track followed the southern shoreline of the lake to the west and then around to the north. We had yet to see a vehicle since leaving Kiwirrkurra.

We followed the track as it veered off to the west at the most western part of an arm of the lake. The track went west for about 30 kilometres and we thought that it was great that it was going west as we knew that each kilometre it went west was a kilometre less that we would have to bush bash to reach the cliffs. Now the track went north again. There were still about 35 kilometres until the latitude of the cliffs so this direction was still in our favour. In a couple of kilometres we reached a solar powered water-tank and stopped for a look. Water was available and it would be very useful in emergencies for the locals who used the track, not that we had seen any around yet.

Again we were blessed with more luck as the track continued north for about 30 kilometres before veering west about ten kilometres and out of the Central Aboriginal Reserve. We went another ten kilometres after another change of track direction where we stopped about fifteen minutes before sunset. All we had come was about 205 kilometres since leaving Kiwirrkurra at lunchtime. As we were setting up camp the first vehicle we had seen on the track passed without stopping, heading south. Here we had our first bush barbeque with meat purchased from the Kiwirrkurra store this morning, a rare treat, as we were travelling without any form of refrigeration. That night we discussed amongst other things just how fortunate we were to use this track as we were now only about 70 kilometres from Wilson Cliffs which was slightly north of west, and the track we were on was now heading northwest.

In the morning of 11 July 2008 we set off after packing up camp and followed the track for about eight kilometres before it started to head north, so we decided to leave the track. Wilson Cliffs were now roughly to the west and any further travel on this track would make the trip to the cliffs more difficult, as even if the track took us a bit closer there would be more sandridges to cross. It was now or never!!

Now here was a moment of thought and slight hesitation. I had been to remote places on this trip and on trips in days past, but this stage of the trip at this time surpassed all of these. If I could complete this next planned section without drama, I would consider it a significant personal achievement. Most people would not even consider doing this in a group of people let alone doing it only with one single vehicle with their father as company, as it does involve some risk. We would hope to eventually come out on the Canning Stock Route at Well 37 or 38 and these wells were over 220 kilometres away from here. Wilson Cliffs were over 70 kilometres and about 180 sandridges averaging twelve metres in height north of the Gary Junction Road, over 150 kilometres to the east of the Canning Stock Route, over 60 kilometres west of our current position and to the south of some of the last remaining remnants of isolated desert country left in Australia extending to the southern portion of Lake Gregory 200 kilometres away. To the cliffs we would now head.

We turned to the left and west, off the track and headed into the scrub. The ground was more like the Gibson Desert here, with loose gravel around and the sand sturdy and firm. We soon came across our first feature, a small unnamed hill which I would have stopped to investigate if I was not so single-minded about reaching the cliffs, besides, if I stopped to look at every interesting thing we came across we would hardly make any headway anywhere. We were in an open plain about fifteen kilometres across and the parallel sandridges that run roughly in a west-east direction beckoned. We would enter the swale between two sandridges and try to keep between sandridges until the cliffs. Theoretically this was possible if my maps were correct, but maps drawn from aerial photographs sometimes can be a lot different to what is the reality at ground level. Anyway, we stopped on a high patch of gravel within a swale and had some morning tea and the view was already quite desolate but awe-inspiring. It already seemed quite the remotest location and we had only just started.

We continued on in the swales and two or three times pushed our way through some very thick bush country until we had lunch by a single lone tree with its shadow hardly covering the cab of the ute. That section was quite an adventure – pushing on and on through virgin bush. I wish I could elaborate further on it but, although quite a vehicular challenge it was quite monotonous in regard to features. I could hear the slow release of air from one of the tyres. In the distance to the west we could see a flat section of horizon, which we correctly assumed to be the top of the cliffs which were only about twelve kilometres away now.

We continued on until we reached the top of Wilson Cliffs just after 3:00pm and admired the view. David Carnegie arrived here 111 years earlier and wrote, “From the top of the cliffs an extensive view to the South and North was obtained. But such a view! With powerful field glasses nothing could be seen but ridge succeeding ridge, as if the whole country had been combed with a mammoth comb”. We, with all our technology had managed to get here from the Lake Mackay track without cresting a single sandridge due to plotting our route from maps imported into a GPS system; something Carnegie could never have even imagined.





I'm still working on completing the blog - Time of the spare type, is all I need!!

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