Thursday, Sep 20, 2007 at 14:51
Hi Python
Travelled Mt Davies Road back in June this year, having departed
Coober Pedy out to
Anne's Corner, then up Mt Davies Road to Surveyor General's Corner. We were part of a Tag Along tour, the tour leaders had planned the trip for more than 12 months as it took many months to get permits etc.
The road out from
Coober Pedy to
Mabel Creek Station isn't too bad, rough and sandy but gradually becomes worse as you near
Anne's Corner. Many rough rocks, corrugations, mulga branches hidden in sand etc. By the time we got to Tallaringa
Well, many of the vehicles had early problems such as punctures, soft shocker rubbers, an engel fridge mount undid itself, an aluminium gas bottle mount snapped etc. It became rougher and more
suspension bleep tering corrugations as we approached Totem 1 and 2 Bomb sites - the sites of the British Atomic bomb tests in 1953.
The road continues to Emu
airstrip where the large British Freighter aircraft landed. The
airstrip is exactly as it was all those years ago. It is interesting at the bomb sites, where there are just two
grey concrete obelisk markers with the still-stunned vegetation surrounding them after more than 50 years. Very little building
debris remains and possibly some radiation affects if you stay in the area for too long.
About 50 kms further arrived at
Anne's Corner and then headed north west along the Mt Davies Road. As the road is rarely used, it had much overhanging vegetation and all vehicles soon carried many scratches, also many radio aerials were either broken or bent. We had Aboriginal trackers and they had trouble at times trying to find the track, saying it had disappeared etc.
Crossed many many red
sand dunes as it is a very dry area, the scrub is low except every now and then occasional stands of desert oaks. In some ways it was very pretty, saw plenty of camels and lots of birdlife out there too. Every few kms you pass empty 50 gallon fuel drums dropped by Len Beadell and his party when they constructed the road some 50 years ago. He describes the route in one of his books as "a corkscrew of sandhills" which is very apt.
We were rarely out of second gear. One day did 5 kms an hour and just 60km for that day! The convoy had to stop many times to allow vehicles to tackle the steeper dunes in low range, one at a time. As you progress the track, the dunes closed ranks and you seem to cross them only about 100 metres apart. We didn't like the regular noise of bushes scraping down the sides of the 4WD. All 4WD's were badly damaged, but has disappeared now after a good polish and buff out.
From Warturu, where it was arranged to purchase fuel, and to Surveryor General's Corner, the road improved slightly - it is a community road so
well maintained. After the Corner, we drove east back along the former
Gunbarrel Highway, now Giles-Mulga
Park H/way through many of the communities to Mt Woodroofe. From here we followed the Britten Jones
Creek to
Yulara where we bade farewell to the Aboriginal Trackers. From here we drove west to Docker River and then north along the Sandy Blight Road. The trip finished back in
Alice Springs.
Had a wonderful trip even if much scratch damage, however, feel privileged to have been allowed to experience such a remote area.
Good luck with your trip. Will be interested to hear of your experiences of the road and the area. Take care.
Good luck
Jinki
AnswerID:
263174