Anne Beadell Hwy

The Anne Beadell Highway has been described by many in varied terms but having just completed it here are a few observations from my trip:

Going solo was probably a high risk strategy but me and my 9 yo are definitely in tune now.....he has grown in confidence and resourcefullness and learnt to appreciate things from a different perspective! The VKS 737 network is a marvel and a very handy resource I would not be without. To listen to them in action assisting stranded members demonstrated to me just how professional and valuable they are. The sat phone was taken but hardly used. There are a few corrugations but hey...the bloody thing has not been graded for 5 decades. There are however some very very corrugated sections and these can be quite hard on the vehicle. Pressures at 22 rear and 20 fronts took some of the harshness out. The desert itself is probably without comparison to any others I have seen with lots of variety across the journey. Overall a terrific “Hwy” with few travellers and lots of solitude. No worries with wood either!! Notes on this site are a very good resource and Len’s books give good background.

Having previously travelled Neale Junction to Leonora we went down the Connie Sue and called into Neale's Breakaway which was just spectacular. A highly recommended detour whilst going down the CS. Then down to Rawlinna and onto Cocklebiddy via a couple of station tracks. ( I will log this part of the trek as a resource for others to use as it’s a hard route to follow with so many local station tracks to get confused.) The guys at Rawlinna had flown over the rail line from Kal the previous day and talked me out of going this way due to flooding….I took their advice reluctantly.

Having read Willem’s posts about Cape Arid and LeGrand National parks and a few others also recommending them we spent a few of days in that area. Needless to say things were a bit wet and the Merivale track into Cape Arid was severely flooded in parts. After a bit of diff lock here and there we turned back as things were too boggy to get too adventurous on our own. These nature parks must be part of Gods original creation and I’ll be back there again. Loved Lucky Bay and a good spot for fishing in my view. Short cut from Cape Arid to Balladonia was too wet to continue along so a long trip back via Esperance/Norseman to the Eyre Hwy. Went into Fowlers Bay on the way back home with a view to a feed of Salmon. Lost a real good one which I had nearly landed due to a poor knot to the triple hooks but the drive over the dunes to get to the beech was fantastic and more than made up for what could have been. Followed vehicle tracks onto the beach but due to the wind coming up they were gone when it came time to return…yeah more diff locks, 10psi and some low range 2nd churn to correct my mistake and find the right and only apparent way out. A valuable lesson for me about assuming a track would still be there for the drive out. A highly recommended place for fishing and some beech driving and this is also on the must do again list.

The amount of rain we experienced would suggest the drought had broken and whilst we got drenched a few times it did not matter. We met a number of good folk under these conditions and contacts have been established……now to planning how to get out there again. Now back to the old routine…