A very quick report on the track conditions. Travelled between 23/12/18 and 3/1/19. Two Mitsi Tritons, both towing camper trailers.
Esperance to
Israelite Bay, Fishermans Track - no real problem at all. Very dry. Took about 4 hours total from
Esperance.
Israelite Bay to
Point Malcolm and back - about 50 kms return. Brilliant track the whole way. You must go and see Point Malcom, it's brilliant. Followed some previously very brave soul's tracks across one of the lakes. Eerily smooth as the lake is the very definition of flat and level. Very strange sensation. Barely left an imprint. Was very hard. Your results may vary, don't blame me if they are...
Israelite Bay to Bilbunya - We ended up taking the inland track the whole way to the official Bilbunya
camp site on the escarpment. Poked our nose out on to the beach at several spots but far too much weed for my liking. First half of track to Wattle
Camp was pretty slow. Lots of
limestone stretches and even the lakes were badly potholed. But we had plenty of time and went slow and easy. No real problem at all. Second half of track was much smoother and in parts, spectacular scenery along the base of the Wylie Scarp. However the last 10 kms before the
camp site is a bit stressful. Very narrow, thick trees either side. Absolutely no hope of getting off the track if someone comes the other way. Luckily there was no one. My chain saw would have been the only option if someone came the other way also towing a trailer. Can't even get the mirrors out for reversing. Took around 5 1/2 hours from Israelite with a few stops and being in no hurry at all.
Bilbunya
camp site to the dunes proper - a few big washouts at the start but the (un-lifted) Tritons / trailers had no problem. We took the track behind the dunes to our
camp spot at the base of the northern most end of the large dunes. Rough and slow at the start but no real dramas. One soft
hill was a bit tricky on the way out. A bit of speed made the second attempt work fine. Considered going down the beach instead on the way out, but looked a bit soft for the trailers. Had no problem on the beach without trailers.
Bilbunya - Balladonia. We took the track that comes out about 60 ks east of the road house. First few ks from the official
camp site no problem. Bottom of belt way washed out badly but got on it after a low range second attempt. Beltway itself is in good nick. Some fairly gnarly rocks right at the top end of the belts but slow and steady 1st low did it fairly easy. The next 20 to 25 ks took us three hours. Nothing but mongrel
limestone. Crawled the whole way in first gear, barely over idle. Very glad to see the back of that stretch. Last 45 to 50 ks to the highway is much better and a lot quicker. From our
camp site near the dunes to Balladonia road house was approx 143 kms and took us a bit over 5 hours. We only had a couple of quick stops because it was 44 degrees outside once we got to the top of the Wylie Scarp.
Anyway, apart from a few thirsty bees at Israelite and the murderous millions of March flies at Bilbunya, it was a great trip. Highly recommend it.