Info please ... (VIC) Rainbow-Nhill-Murrayville
Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 14:16
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Shaker
Does anybody have any recent knowledge of the track condition in this area?
Also the
Border Track Nth - Sth or the track from
Pinnaroo to Bordertown.
We will be towing a Track camper trailer & would appreciate any advice or recommendations for campsites.
Reply By: Willem - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 19:53
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 19:53
Normally the track to
Murrayville from NHill is a breeze and you can do it in a 2wd, unless it rains. If it rains it is very slippery. Dont have info from
Rainbow.
Border Track. There are two dunes which are quite steep with soft sand and you may have a problem getting over them. Drop you tyres pressures down to 14psi on the 4by and 10psi on the trailer.
There is a faint bypass track if the dunes give you grief.
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 20:06
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 20:06
Agreed. I've done the
Murrayville Track a number of times at various times of the year and never had any problems (no trailer - but I don't think that's an issue) and I've done the
Border Track a couple of times and don't think it would be a problem for a light trailer _providing_ it's not wet and you lower tyre pressures.
Then again... I've been wrong before.... :)
Mike Harding
FollowupID:
415284
Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 20:14
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 20:14
Agreed,
Murrayville track a breeze unless it rains then it's like an ice rink.
Murrayville Track
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Reply By: Shaker - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 21:59
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 21:59
Thanks for the input!
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Reply By: Ken - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:21
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:21
Shaker, best also to
check with the local park
ranger too. Depending on the time you plan to go he might have closed the
Border Track to 'protect'it because conditions are too dry. I kid you not ! He has some sort of hang up about loose sand when it is dry.
Ken
AnswerID:
160547
Follow Up By: Shaker - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:47
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:47
Thanks will do, I can do the track from Pinaroo to Bordertown if it is closed, do you know what it's like?
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 23:34
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 23:34
Yep.
Border track inside Ngarkat t'was closed - is closed - as far as I was aware until after the fire season.
I think this is the end of March.
I don't think the
ranger's concerns are about the dryness, but the fire - now he has concerns about wetness too! Somebody had to escape out of the fire hatch (some folks use it as a sunroof) when they drove their rig into a five or six foot deep puddle, and so the
ranger has concerns about folk's safety.
Needless to say Parks have filled the big puddle holes during the closed season.
Ciao for now
Andrew.
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 06:41
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 06:41
>the
ranger has concerns about folk's safety.
Perhaps he could nip round here and supervise me the next time I need to boil the kettle for a cup of coffee...?
Mike Harding
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415369
Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 07:45
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 07:45
Sure Mike.
With the amount of money I pay them, I'm sure he'd oblige.
Give him a call and let him know when you need a cuppa.
Ciao for now
Andrew.
PS - he'll probably want to see your public liability insurance first ;-)
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Follow Up By: Ken - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 08:10
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 08:10
He's worried about everything except maintaining access in my view ! Yes it is interesting in the wet and there were some deep holes which may have prevented the doors being opened if stuck in them but if yuo were silly enough not to
check you could always get out a window ! The holes have now been [or are being] filled by 4wd club members and organised by the SA Association.
After the dumb decision to make a large part of it a one way track his logic is now that "visitiors may have no option other than to drive into a fire" . Hello, are we that dumb tha we wouln't make the choice to head away from any fire ?
In an interesting bit od techno babble he has taken moisture samples and used them to justify closures on the basis of likely damage to the track.
Ken
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 08:55
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 08:55
Thanks for the update Ken and clarification on who was doing the filling.
The science is indeed intriguing ;-)
There's 100% moisture in that puddle on the track so I'll have to close it because of likely damage.
OMG
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 09:01
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 09:01
So we can't use it in the dry because of the danger of fire and we can't use it in the wet because of the danger of track damage... hang on... I'm beginning to see a pattern here....
Mike Harding
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Reply By: Shaker - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 09:56
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 09:56
Are the dunes big enough to require a "dune flag", as we used in the Simpson last year?
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Follow Up By: Ken - Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 12:21
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 12:21
Some dunes certainly are, and there is always the risk of oncoming vehicles on narrow steep tracks but no more here than say the Simpson. People seem to manage 2 way traffic over far greater distances in other deserts but the 'nanny' attitude here has made it one way. As a result one side is rutted and corrugated and will never get the benefit of smoothing from vehicles going in the opposite direction.
Ken
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Reply By: Crackles - Thursday, Mar 16, 2006 at 08:48
Thursday, Mar 16, 2006 at 08:48
Gaday Shaker. From
Rainbow the
Pella & Chinaman
Well tracks are loose sand with the occational soft boggy patch. Fairly straight forward even with the trailer taking around 1 ½ hours to the
Murrayville rd. Alternatively The
Milmed rock track takes around 3 hours, with softer sand & a few very boggy sections when wet. There are 2 challenging sand sections that would require your attention when towing.
The
Murrayville road is clay capped & after rain you should take an alternate route to avoid ending up jack knifed in the table drain;-)
From Big Billy
Bore the most interesting route is via Cactus
Bore,
Red Gum Swamp & the fire break track to the Border. Again plenty of short soft sand sections that can be done with a trailer.
If you like a challenge & have a powerful tow vehicle it is possible to get down the Border with a track camper. The bog holes have pretty much all been filled in but there are still 3 big dunes to cross. If it's soft even the easy bypass tracks become difficult when towing so suggest you travel with another vehicle in front on this section. Have never taken the bypass south from Scorpion Springs around the one way section but have been told it's fairly easy.
From
Red bluff you again would have no issues towing along the Southern firebreak track back to the
Murrayville rd.
Currently the best map I've seen is the "Victoria's Deserts 4WD touring map" which shows all the camps in the area. Best book is "Mallee Tracks" which covers all the history, flora, fauna & includes a heap of trip notes.
Cheers Craig............
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