Hay River Track open in 2021?
Submitted: Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 15:13
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Member - Warren H
Currently planning a possible
Hay River Track trip for July-August 2021. It appears to be open/opening as Outback Spirit are taking bookings for their
Simpson Desert Tour that incorporates the
Hay river Track and
Batton Hill Camp. I wonder if the company has a dispensation or special arrangement with the CLC? It could easily be argued that a commercial operator has sufficient control to mitigate the Covid 19 risk to locals. Anyone heard anything about permit availability?
Just a little premptive plea for the discussion to confine itself to relevant information and not degenerate into a slanging match about the politics of access etc etc.
Reply By: Gramps - Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 15:43
Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 15:43
Why don't you ask CLC ? Far more credible than anyone on here.
Regards
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Follow Up By: Member - Warren H - Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 16:22
Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 16:22
Their website hasn't been updated from 2020, just citing further consultations in early 2021. Either the tour operators are speculating or they have more information. I will try an email but it's probably unreasonable to expect a speedy reply. I guess any planning in the interim can be carried forward.
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Follow Up By: Gramps - Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 16:32
Saturday, Jan 23, 2021 at 16:32
You could try ringing their office. Surely someone there could confirm the current situation.
Regards
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Reply By: Steve in Kakadu - Monday, Jan 25, 2021 at 16:18
Monday, Jan 25, 2021 at 16:18
This might go a little way to answering your question.
The NT Gov have put in place a Covid safe policy for Tour operators/ public transport. All operators have to have a Covid safe plan in place as part of there Tour operator licence from MVR, most National Parks have a policy in place on their Tour Operator permit that states all operators follow the NT Motor Vehicle act and abide by those rules and policies put in place.
I can only imagine that organizations such as NLC and CLC follow the same approach.
As others have said, a phone call could save a lot of time and effort.
Regards
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Follow Up By: Member - Warren H - Monday, Jan 25, 2021 at 19:33
Monday, Jan 25, 2021 at 19:33
Jol Fleming from direct4wd provided the name of a person in the CLC to contact. I have made a query. A permit is only the first step, then there's how much rain falls in the Gulf country in the next couple of months.
I did suspect that the tour company might have protocols in place that would allow them access before the general public.
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Reply By: CKG - Tuesday, Feb 09, 2021 at 17:09
Tuesday, Feb 09, 2021 at 17:09
Warren H - did you speak with CLC? I'm considering heading up the
Hay River Track too. I'll call them but thought I'd
check what you've found out first.
Chris
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Follow Up By: Member - Warren H - Tuesday, Feb 09, 2021 at 22:20
Tuesday, Feb 09, 2021 at 22:20
I contacted Jol Fleming at Direct 4WD in
Alice Springs as he is the contact for permits. He passed the query on and gave me a CLC contact to email. Nothing back yet, but the CLC website has been recently updated to say that consultation with the traditional owners will take place in March 2021. Previously the website just said early 2021. This was for entry permits, presumably the consultation will also cover transit permits.
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Reply By: jsttry - Tuesday, Apr 06, 2021 at 10:22
Reply By: Member - Warren H - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2021 at 17:15
Reply By: Member - Warren H - Thursday, Apr 22, 2021 at 16:00
Thursday, Apr 22, 2021 at 16:00
We have our permits, four vehicles, travelling the third week in July, north to south. The procedure has changed. It's now done via the CLC website and emailing Batton
Hill. Costs are the same as last year. It took about a one and a half weeks so pretty good for a new process.
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