Cook SA

Hi,
Firstly, enjoy your trip.
We have just travelled the rail way line service road from Zenith to Glendambo so of course we went thru Cook.
There is no fuel at Cook for the general public, only for the trains.
There were 8 people living at Cook, doing shift work to fuel trains as it is a 24hr job.
The couple we met there at Easter time were lovely.
Ther are no shops there (apart from the shop that is open for the Indian Pacific at certain times when it comes thru) or anything else for that matter.
It really is just a stop off for the trains to refuel.
The Watto's.

Hi Richard

Did you also go to Cook with your camper trailer.

I'll be in a Toyota Prado towing a Kanga Marloo Camper.
Plenty of clearance on both (have just had Old Man Emu shocks/springs fitted to the Prado and the Kanga has ample clearance - also did the Cape via Telegraph Track last year.
Will have a total of 185 litres of diesel on board so fuel will not be an issue for the 500 km return trip into Cook.
Are you aware if the railway service road is now open?

Cheers

Ken Cook

I haven't done the Koonalda caves road, but have done Cook to Nullabor many times, and will be coming back down that road in a couple of weeks (we're off into the GVD tomorrow).

Cook is where the railways crews change over. No facilities, except you can use the toilets. And I doubt that anyone would bother to camp there. Jan and her husband are the caretakers of the town, and I assume are employed by the railways. Since Cook was closed as a town in 1997, Jan has been trying to preserve some of the heritage, and had been fighting a losing battle with souvener collectors. She has set up a bit of a museum there. It used to be in with the old school, but I think its now been moved next to the railway. She also runs a small shop. Its all for the passing trains, but on a couple of occasions, she has opened up the shop for us.

The hospital at Cook was pulled down in 2005. The history of the hospital is on a sign at the site at the west end of town. In the 1990's they were struggling to keep the hospital open - they even started a campaign to attract sick people "If you're crook, come to Cook"

There a couple of old jail cells (historical!) by the side of the railway. The old school, "golf course", swimming pool etc etc all make an interesting sight. Theres some nice murals in the school.

The road direct from Cook to the Eyre highway (46k W of Nullabor) is a well graded 80kph gravel road. A more interesting route is to travel via Knowles Cave and Kudna Rockhole, and you can also call in at Murrawijinie Cave, which is a bit bigger. The roads out tehre are marked on teh Auslig maps - they are a bit of a maze, and there are no signposts, so Oziexplorer is your friend.

The road north from Cook was built by Len Beadell in 1961 - it was a difficult track to build, because it went across dunes, but you don't find dunes, until you reach the "ancient shoreline" which is the western end of the Ooldea Range, probably 80k north of Cook.

Camping out there is......well, if you can imagine what pitching a tent on the Nullabor would be like. I've done it once - windy as, no firewood, but you can burn a bit of saltbush to stay warm for about 30seconds :-))

I'll get packing. Member message me on about the 22nd of May, and I can update you with Cook info.

Cheers
Phil

Thanks Phi

Will write at the end of the month for an update.

Cheers

Ken

Thanks Phil

Will check with DEH in Ceduna before leaving

Personally If i was gonna detour that far. I would keep heading south from Norseman and check out Esperance then follow the coast, Cape Le grande, Dunns rocks, Duke of Orleans Thomas river, Poison creek Befor taking the Balladonia track Nth Via Mt ragged, Pine Hill, Juranda Rockhole , and Balbunya Homestead