Canning Stock Route trip just completed

Submitted: Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 15:52

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Mark T6

Great trip, 18 nights of some of the most beautiful scenary and fantastic history BUT not for everyone as it's tough going.

A BLOODY long way from Brisbane just to get to the start (almost 5000Kms) and all together we travelled 10300Kms from home to home.

Rather than boring you with a blow by blow description happy to answer any questions anyone might have about what we did /lans / track conditions.

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Reply By: Mazdave - Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 16:50

Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 16:50

Happy to be bored with a blow by blow description

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Follow Up By: Member - johnat - Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 17:14

Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 17:14

^^ This ^^

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Reply By: Member - Warrie (NSW) - Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 21:59

Monday, Aug 19, 2013 at 21:59

Hi Mark, here's some questions in no order at all.
1. Did you go North to South?
2. Is the bucket back on the cable at Well 6?
3. Since the last rains were in early June were any of the claypans muddy or could you just drive across easily?
4. What sort of rig did you take?
5. Did you go to every well?
6. Was there water at the Savory Ck crossing?
7. How is the Reward Minerals road going as far as capping it with clay etc?
8. How were the wildflowers?
9. Any damage or flat tyres?
10. How warm are the days in August?
Cheers.... W

Warrie

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Follow Up By: Mark T6 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 16:57

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 16:57

Hi Warrie and very happy to answer all of those.

We chose to go south to north, many go the other way but to be honest we liked the idea of starting in the cold and getting warmer as we went north......so say the dunes are easier the other way....being Simpson Desert "crossers"...we actually found the dunes a cinch!!......so go which ever way suits your personal needs.

Bucket at 6......yes....BUT there was one further north (thinking it was after 41) where the bucket was off (sitting at the side).....we used our own bucket

We entered the track on 13th July, so about 2 1/2 weeks after those rains...there were some muddy sections in the south but nothing that caused a great concern, the claypans were fine but you could see where people had def had some issues.

I took a Prado 150, there were four of us....a well set up 100 Series Cruiser, a stock standard (apart from tyres) 200 series cruiser and a current troopy set up with everything you could possibly think of. Not one of us got bogged, got hooked up nor did any recovery gear get used (apart from the high lift jack on the 100 series for a flat tyre on the Plenty Highway).

We went to EVERY well bar 4B (could not find it anywhere)....we are are a bunch of "old farts" and for us it was about smelling the roses AND the history....we all had the Gard book and we had a "reading" at every well.....so for us not all about the track!!

Yes water at Savory Creek, check out my photo's on the link above....very shallow where we went across BUT lots and lots of water coming through.

Sorry can't specifically remember the Reward Minerals road, but we had no great issues in any part of the trip other than some final comments below

Wildflowers.......AMAZING......and getting even better as we went along, another month and boy oh boy it would be spectacular

Zero damage, zero flat tyres on the CSR (see below for more on that)

As I said above it got warmer, and warmer and warmer as we went north...the days in the south we about 18-23.......in the north 25-34

BUT still pretty cold at night (north and south)......we only went below zero once!!

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Follow Up By: Gaynor - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:20

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:20

Rewards Mineral road - cross CSR 1km on northern side of Well 21, a new road cut from Talawana Track to Lake Disappointment - had a lot of white stuff laid on top of it when I walked by a few weeks back. Closed to traffic though as it is for a potash mine on Disappointment.

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Reply By: Mark T6 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 16:44

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 16:44

I'll answer those questions shortly......but rather than do a blow by blow account I am doing an extensive one on www.pradopoint.com

The link to that (inlcudes many photo's) is

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?29071-Canning-Stock-Route-July-2013

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Reply By: Mark T6 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:14

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:14

Some general stuff

We took second spares but never used them.....HOWEVER we were constantly changing our tyres pressures to suit......26-28 on tougher sections....22-24 if it really got tough and 20-22 on the sand......we never needed to go lower.

Never had an issue, it was only on the Plenty (in fact the O'Donahue from Tobermorey to Boulia) that we had TWO Coopers go (and one later that we reckon was damaged on this same road).

My BFG's and the 200 series Micky Thompson's had no drama's, only the Coopers!!

The track was "littered" (not really but a lot) with people who had shockie issues......we found the follwoimg worked for us on what are the most horrendous corrugations I have seen on any track I have ever been on (and that is a fair few).

**** Keep a good eye on the temperatures of them (especially the back ones) and stop if needed.

**** We stopped often for morning tea / lunch / afternoon tea and photo stops BUT we also stopped extra times just for the shockies

**** Don't go too slow....at 20KPH your vehicle and shockies will shake to pieces....at 50KPH (and you really can't go much faster as the track does not allow for this) they tend to skip over.

I used Bilsteins, another guy had Koni, another just had standard Toyota (the 200)...and still made it through.

We had spare shockies just in case BUT thankfully never needed them.

Fuel wise

Wiluna was $1.75 a litre
Kunawarratji $3.40 a litre
Bililuna $2.60 a litre

Personally I used 155 litres from Wiluna to Kunawarratji (cost to fill $525.00) and this was 14.5 litres per 100Km's...and then 122 Litres from K to Bililuna at a rate of 17 litres per 100Kms

But remember that is a 4 cylinder diesel Prado

Some other general comments,

DEF have 2 nights at Durba Springs...great spot

The Donga's (new building and not Dongas at all) at Kunawarratji at $100 for the night (and use of showers and washing machines) was well worthwhile

If you have the time do some two night stays....Well 6 / Windich Springs / Durba Springs / Georgia Bore are all good spots for this.

We took 18 nights, and despite having to drive almost 5000 Kms to the start point LOVED EVERY MINUTE I was doing it!!

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Reply By: Mark T6 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:22

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 17:22

One more thing, the shop at Kunawarratji has most things (food wise) you need...expensive BUT considering where you are!!!

Some of the stuff they sell is out of date, but really the cheese slices I bought that were a week out of date were fine.

And really nice to have bread again (even if frozen and about $7 for a loaf)

Lovely people as well, the happy Bill and the lovely Raelene

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Follow Up By: Member - Warrie (NSW) - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 19:01

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 19:01

Hi Mark, just read your Prado Point report. A good read. Interesting that you point out that the reason trailers are banned on the Well 1 to 5 section is due to steep creek crossings. But difficulty is often in the eye of the beholder or maybe the property owner/lessee got tired of rescuing rigs. There's a washout to cross a few km south of Georgia Bore - I wonder how it would compare.
And so many have come to grief with busted shocks. Food for thought. Sounds like Leetes Mechanical repairs in Newman is doing a roaring trade. LOL
Give yourself a few years and plan a route so you can take 2 or 3 weeks to get to the start of the Canning...... W

Warrie

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Reply By: Mark T6 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 19:30

Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 at 19:30

Warrie, we didn't have trailers, we did the lot!!

So pleased we did as the first section was great fun......I think it's the station owners that have brought this in...to be honest I reckon most trailers would get through it, there was one really bad one and several pretty bad ones.......only the really deep one would have caused any issues for a trailer.

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