ayres Rock - finke

Laura,

Once you leave the bitumin you will not get fuel before Finke.

We left Erldunda in the morning, went up the highway to Rainbow Valley had a walk and would have had lunch but it was just plain HOT so we went back to Stuarts Well where we had lunch in a nicely cooled Roadhouse. We then went down the highway and east along Hugh River and camped that night at Chambers Pillar. We were later getting to Chambers than we would have liked but we did see the sunset which was spectacular.

There may be fuel at Maryvale, in fact my NT map says there is, we did not go in there so I can't confirm this. When we left Chambers we headed north to Alice so I can't comnment on the road down to Finke but it was Ok the rest of the route. The corrugations on the way in to Chambers were as bad as any I have driven on.

The stockroute itself was very pretty, particularly after you cross the rail line and travel virtually in the river bed for a while. There would be some nice campiing in that area if you were looking for an overnighter.

Happy travelling
Duncs.

Laura there is a shop at Maryvale stopped there last year sells ulp. and take away food etc.
appears to be a stop for the tour buses etc.

Laura B,

As per Duncs reply above, be careful on the road from Maryvale to Chambers Pillar. As well as the corrugations, there's a few rock ledges (up and down) as well as quite a few bulldust holes (or there were last year, anyway). Just take it easy and you should be OK.

If you're coming from Alice, maybe do the bitumen, fill up at Stuarts Well and then travel east along the HRSR as per Duncs suggestion. Maryvale was virtually deserted when we went though.

Dont get confused between Maryvale Station and Maryvale community (Titjakala)
Get your fuel at the station rather than the community.
Cheers