Can anyone give advice on this route?

Thanks Jason, I appreciate the info.....

And on that part of the road, you will likely come across a lot of road trains that won't slow down. We did about 20,000 KM on a trip in 2006, almost half on dirt. The road out of Lawn Hill towards Gregory Downs was the last dirt road we touched in the trip (returning to Gold Coast). We fully stopped for a road train (about the 1,000th for the trip) but still got a busted windscreen. Can't help bad luck I suppose.

Norm C

Hi Cruiser,

Thanks for the info, any tips on keeping dust out of my 16ft jayco pop top?

Andrea

Not really as I don't own a pop top, but the precautions I took was to seal up the vent at the bottom of the side door and a sliding window that I have near that door.

I still got dust in the van but mostly through the wheel arches. When I got to Normanton, we pulled EVERYTHING out of the van at floor level plus the next shelf level up and cleaned it all out. Took about 4 hours to do and another 2 hours to hand wash the van on the outside.

Don't know what you could do about sealing the pop top section of your van.

Despite the dust problem, it was all worth the effort. Lawn Hill is a magical place.

Cheers

Cruiser

The only way to avoid dust is to stay on the black stuff.

The vans have that man vents and holes you could never cover them all up. Just look at the one behnd your microwave or the gapping holes under our aircon (if you have Heron 2.2) not to mention the fridge vents (which you can't cover up)

The Poptop has a vent on the roof that is supposed to help keep the dust out using some sort of vacuum effect. Not sure if it has ever made a difference being open.

Trust me, I've travelled the Oodnadatta Track and Savannah Way through Roper Bar with a Jayco Poptop and you will never completely stop dust egress, no matter how many vents, etc you try ad cover up. We tried covering the door vents, etc and I do believe it made it worse as there was no airflow to force dust out if it did get in.

Just be prepared to clean all your internal surfaces, cupboards and crevices at the end of the trip.

Hi John and Val
Is the gorge suitable for an inflatible zodiac or are there too many rocky outcrops - I know you cant use a motor but can paddle the zodiac fairly easily.
Cheers

Andrea - The National Parks people are pretty strong on regulation. I know the conoe hire people (Adel Grove management) had a major argument because they were said to have one more canoe than previously authorised. So far as I know there would be no problem from that quarter with using your own boat (strictly not motorised. as you are already aware). Snags damaging the inlatable should not be an issue.

BUT - there are in fact 2 gorges, with a short portage stretch between. Not too difficult with a conoe, impossible with an inflatable. To some extent the second gorge is just more of the same, but you are travelling a long way to get there and it wiuld be a shame not to view both from the water. We have an inflatable ourselves, but if visiting Lawn Hill again, I would hire a canoe that's already there rather than take a bulky lump of plastic the few thousand km. From imperfect memory the canoe cost only $20 or 30 for enough time to do the trip comfortably and take hundreds of photos. Good investment in my opinion, and a negligible expense in the trip total.

Enjoy - it's a great place.

John

I agree with John on just hireing a canoe. Another tip is to get to the hire place at least 20 mins before they open. I don't remember what time that is, but easy to find out locally. If you stay at Adel's Grove, the office (or other campers) will know. That way you have a good chance of being the first canoe out.

If you are into photography, the water will be smooth as it has not been upset by the passage of canoes, and you can photograph up the gorge without other canoes in the picture.

My wife is the photographer and sat in front. She didn't do much paddling, but took about 300 photos. She got some fabulous pics. It really is a beautiful place. Some of the walks are well worth the effort too.

!MPG:28!!MPG:29!

Thanks John and Norm
Your advice is great and the photos are spectacular.
Cheers

Hi

I camped at Adel's Grove last year-I must say I think it's a far better spot than the National Park camp site. We travelled north up to Adel's Grove from Camooweal and then out from Adel's Grovel to Burketown - all the roads were very good we thought although we weren't towing.
I took my Sevylor inflatable to Lawn Hil NP and pumped it up there. We were on our way up the gorge by 7-45am and had it to ourselves-nobody in front to spoil the pics.

We found it easy negotiating the portage around the waterfall from the first area to second-just picked up the Sevylor and carried it around. No particular problems with stakes or sharp rocks but take care of course.

We tethered to a rocky outcrop in the second gorge and had a swim.......something to be remembered forever-on our own in the middle of nowhere swimming in a magnificant natural pool.......unbelievable

Happy days
George

Hi George
thanks for the tips
Cheers