Description
The Great Central Road is the most accessible route linking the
Red Centre to
Western Australia and is well travelled by tourists throughout most of the year. In fact, the number of vehicles travelling the route each year is around 10,000.
The area however, is remote and the road is actually a sandy dirt track that weaves through extremely remote desert scrub country with very limited facilities and attractions for travellers. This is predominantly land occupied by aboriginal communities. It is advisable to travel in a 4WD vehicle, although a 2WD vehicle will make the trip. The track is frequently graded and it is generally ok for trailers including caravans however conditions vary from sand drifts and corrugations making driving far safer and comfortable in a 4WD vehicle.
The route also passes directly into Aboriginal communities in the Central Reserves and it is a legal requirement for travellers to hold a valid Transit Permit at the time of travel.
Outback Way
The
Outback Way is made up of seven inter-connecting roads including The Great Central Road (WA); Tjukaruru Road, Lasseter Highway, Stuart Highway and
Plenty Highway (NT); and Donohue Highway and Min Min Byway (QLD). Collectively these are called The
Outback Way.
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Great Central Road
From: Laverton
To: Yulara
Distance: 1147.06 km
Direction: 68 °
Average Speed: 72.59 km/hr
Travel Time: 15 hours 48 mins
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Permits
Part III of the AAPA Act, stipulates that transit
permits are legally required for any person visiting or passing through an Aboriginal reserve unless they are of Aboriginal descent; a member of either House of Parliament of the State or of the Commonwealth; or is a person lawfully exercising a function under the AAPA Act or otherwise acting in pursuance of a duty imposed by law.
The Great Central Road actually requires 2 sets of Transit
Permits because there are Aboriginal Communities on both sides of the border (NT/WA) and each state has its own Aboriginal Lands office and issues its own
permits.
Permit Application Process
Permits are free, however you must complete a written application form and wait for it to be stamped and returned to you with an approval stamp. It is a legal requirement that each vehicle carries the permit during travel on Aboriginal Land.
The application forms will require the names of all persons entering the land, with a nominated principal applicant who must also give their address and phone contact details. You will also be required to provide vehicle make, model, rego number and state. Note, one permit per vehicle. You will also need to describe the specific route to be taken whilst on Aboriginal land (ie. Great Central Road) and give an estimate of dates (maximum 21 days). Finally you must provide a reason for requesting access to Aboriginal Land, eg. "holiday transit en-route from
Alice Springs to Perth".
Generally, the ALT can process applications in 24 to 48 hrs and it is the experience of the ExplorOz Team that they can be processed on the same day if travel is on the Great Central Road with no deviations.
Things to See & Do
Tour of the
weather station at Giles,
Lasseters Cave and the numerous rockholes in the area (if you can find them!).
Preparation
Fuel
OPAL unleaded fuel is now available at Warburton,Warakurna (Giles), and Docker River. This replaces AvGas (which many travellers didn't like to use) as the only fuel available for petrol vehicles to combat petrol sniffing in Aboriginal communities. Opal ULP has similar properties to AvGas to discourage sniffing and is a new product from BP.
Best Time To Visit
Closest Climatic Station
Warburton Airfield
Distance from Trek Mid Point 97.99km N
| | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Mean Max. °C |
37.6 | 36.4 | 33.9 | 29.1 |
24.2 | 20.7 | 20.4 | 22.8 |
27.6 | 31.4 | 34.2 | 36.5 |
| Mean Min. °C |
22.6 | 22.0 | 19.9 | 15.0 |
10.3 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 7.1 |
11.2 | 15.2 | 18.5 | 21.2 |
| Mean Rain mm |
28.9 | 35.7 | 30.6 | 19.4 |
16.4 | 19.0 | 13.8 | 11.1 |
5.2 | 14.2 | 22.7 | 28.9 |
Best time to travel Ok time to travel Travel NOT recommended
Camp Sites & Accommodation
History
The Warburton Mission ran from 1933 to 1973, run by William Wade and his wife. In 1961 the Dormitories closed, but the school continued to run. In 1968, due to the large population from the clearing of the
Woomera rocket range, Docker River was opened. In 1975, 4 more homeland communities were developed. Tjirrkarli and Tjukurla, although smaller communities opened in the late 1980's.
Len Beadell
Len Beadell worked as a surveyor in the Australian Army (Army Survey Corps). In 1947, Len was asked by the government to build a road across the interior of
Australia as part of the
search for a suitable site for weapons testing. The main reason was to establish the weapons testing facility at
Woomera, and also the place where the British atomic bomb was tested - Maralinga, which is aboriginal for ‘thunder’. These sites were surveyed and selected by Len, and during the 1940s and 1950s, was responsible for opening up the last remaining isolated desert areas of some 2.5 million square kilometers of
central Australia. The Great Central Road is part of a network of desert highways built under the leadership of the famous surveyor, to service
Woomera and the Giles meteorological station. There are a number of waypoints dedicated to Len Beadell, who is often regarded as the last true Australian explorer. These include: Giles Meterological Station where Len’s original grader stands in a large cage, Len Beadell Plaques - which were setup by the Gunbarrel Crew, and
Mount Beadell where a
memorial has been raised on top of the hill. In recent times, the newer Great Central Road has superseded some of Len's original tracks, by taking a more direct route. However, all of Len's original roads still exist such as
Anne Beadell Highway,
Gunbarrel Highway,
Connie Sue Hwy and
Sandy Blight Junction Road. These roads are increasingly popular with 4WDrivers and adventurers alike. Many sections are difficult going and almost all of them lie in aboriginal lands and require travel
permits, as well as a great deal of preparation.
Distance is GPS recorded driving distance (not straight line), Direction is straight line from start to end, Time is calculated from actual GPS driving data.
