Yulara to Kalgoorlie overland

Now steady up a bit - it's not that bad in summer. Make sure you have plenty of water and some shade in case anything goes wrong.

I used to work in Aboriginal affairs so was out there from Kalgoorlie all the time. With a reasonable vehicle it should not present great dramas, but remember January is when there is likely to be a post-cyclonic weather system dump a heap of rain out there which may close the roads for a few days, but most of the journey is well maintained "all-weather" dirt road these days. I've certainly been on the road a few days after rain when the road was just re-opened and apart from getting your car a bit dirty it's ok.

There's no need to rush the trip - there are a few things to see along the trip so take it easy and enjoy it. 90kph is generally a good speed, but there will be areas, particularly approaching the communities when the road is very corrugated and you may have to slow down a bit.

I regularly did Kalgoorlie to Warburton (930 km-odd in 10 hrs) & another 2 1/2 - 3 to Warakurna (Giles).

Good accommodation at Warakurna, Warburton, Tjukayirla (pron Chookie urla), Laverton, Leonora & Kal.

Worth the 60-odd km side trip to Empress Springs. Turn off not far from Tjukayirla. Road actually follows the native rockholes and some of these are quite pretty. Hema Desert Tracks maps show them all, but you have to search for them a bit, but that adds to the adventure.

Cheers Paul

Meant to mention; you'll need permits on each side of the border to travel thru Aboriginal lands, and theoretically, you're only allowed to camp at the aforesaid communities, not off the side of the road.

Gday Russ,
The Mrs. and I were just talking about doing the same trip this morning.
What a realistic time to go from Alice to Geralton?
We were thinking about a one night stop over somewhere, but really havent thought much about it yet.

Cheers

G'day Hairy,

Realistically you are looking at 27 hours of driving. How often you take breaks, and for how long, is up to you. From Alice I got to a point about 100Km the west side of Warburton on the first day. I left at 7:00 AM and stopped at sundown. I camped in a lay-by on the side of the road. Four cars went past, none stopped.

The following day I put in a real big one and ended up arriving Geraldton at 8:00 PM at night after setting off at 5:30 AM that morning. That said, I did stop to assist a motorist that was in trouble and that took a while.

Just a tip. Get the fuel you need from where you need to but get as much as you can from Leonora. I filled at Alice and got to Laverton, but didn't have enough to get to Leonora, so I took on $100.00 worth at Laverton at $1.47 per litre. I figured that this would get me to Mount Magnet, where it would be cheaper.

I should have got just enough to get me to Leonora ($1.30 / Litre) and that would have got me to Geraldton. As it was it was dearer at Mount Magnet ($1.41 / L).

My estimate of 27 hours is based on doing 130KPH from Alice to the Lasseter Hwy, 110 KPH to the Rock, 100 KPH to the Olgas, average 70 KPH on the gravel on the NT side of the border, average 90KPH on the WA side of the border and 110 KPH for the remainder of the bitumen on the WA side. The computer in my car said that I averaged 88.8 KPH for the entire trip (including suburban roads in Gero and Alice.)

I could have gone faster on the gravel on the WA side, it is excellent condition, but I'm always wary of tyre failures so I "softened and slowed".

Hope this helps

Russ

Thanks Russ......

Tjukayirla has dongas