Ivanhoe to Menindee, Road conditions

G'day Matt, we travelled that road towing a C/t in early Oct & apart from being
dusty, it was quite good. I dont see any issues for an onroad van if speed is
kept down. You would need to find out current conditions as there may have
been rain there recently..cheers...oldbaz.

I was along that way earlier this month. It is not a bad road, 2wd with some corrugations and shallow bumpy washouts. 80Kph is a safe speed slowing down for the larger washouts, all of which are signposted. The worst of it is the last 10-15Klm or so at the Menindee end. That was slow going with heavy corrugations and bad washouts.

Look out for the shallow bulldust holes, sticking to the very edge of the road most of the way is the smoothest as it is sandier and smoother. You can see the local traffic paths that obviously know the road.

Menindee to Broken Hill is bitumen and quite a lovely scenic drive although quite twisty in areas. Take a good camera and you will get some fantastic shots of the mini twisters that seem to pop up everywhere.

Have fun.

Thanks for the replys Guys,

Thats good news. We will have plenty of time so can keep speed down. Will ask again closer to departure date.

Matt

At the first hint of any showers about be extremely cautious!!! The road surface turns into a skating rink and you will be slipping and sliding everywhere and possibly jacknife the rig. You'll hear this funny noise as the muddy goop is flicked up by the tyres and sticks to the mudguards and all over the front of the van. By then it's too late and the conditions are deadly. Slow carefully and pull over and set up camp for the night to let it dry out. All this happened to us just 12km east of Menindee last April. As it was we had a pleasant bush camp and by 10 a.m. it was dry enough to proceed.... Warrie.

Passed through there last spring, don't recall any major dramas on that bit of road.
I went Hillston / Mossgeil road, it gets closed if it rains.
Sealed road from Menindee to Broken Hill, I think some of the road is sealed south of Menindee too.
Check out the Big old Fowler ploughing engine at the woolshed,and imagine driving that up from Melbourne. You would need a team going ahead cutting fire wood and another team finding and carting water.

The road is O.K. except during rain periods, when the road will be closed by Central Darling Shire Council. It is graded quite often, and unless stock transports have been using the road in recent times, the surface is not bad for Western N.S.W.

Fill up before leaving Ivanhoe, as there is nothing between there and Menindee. We always stop at Darnick for a break, and you can cut across to Pooncarie from there.

Usually takes us about 2.5 to 3 hours.