Tag-along tours - Canning Stock Route

I would recommend one that doesn't have more than 7-8 vehicles at the most. I have done the CSR twice and after seeing a few of the tour groups, it can get a little crazy at the camp sites with big groups as well as other travellers. More people = less CSR experience in my opinion.

I hope you enjoy your trip!!

Dave

Hi Russler,

I've not actually had any experience of tagalongs.

Mainly because of the price. I just can't see the value for money. $2-3 big ones for just a portable toilet ea. night and you do all the 'self catering'!!? I mean, is this rip-off country or just the wide brown land re-invented?

I organised my own CSR tour using the EO Gatherings page (many thanks for this feature EO!) by suggesting some 'guidelines' to prospective sign-ups and went out 5 weeks ago to experience the lower CSR from well 23 south via the Gunbarrel, Eagle, Talawana, and then out from well 5 west thru the Carnarvon Ranges to the Grt Northern Hwy. This was my first remote deserts trip.

Did all the research myself, learnt heaps about the explorers (David Carnegie's 'Spinifex and Sand' is an absolute Must Read), made great new friends, learnt stacks from each other, and am now $2 kays to the good. As are my friends,... each. And the trip was sensational - just loved the desert after those Feb rains.

I concede, we are well set up with the right comms gear etc, as were our companions. But that's the advantage... Go out with 2-4 companion vehicles and it's amazing the collective expertise and gear you finish up with. I'm not kidding. One of our new friends completely dismantled, re-assembled and fixed my broken chainsaw. Another turned out to be a tyres repairer, etc.

The people that will respond to your invitation to join may well be exactly the sort of people to answer your remote area requirements.

Cheers and good luck.

Russler

Have a re-think, but if you have no time to wait and plan, then that is your only option.


Pity you can't get 3 or 4.. 4X4 people to do the trip.
People you know and trust, , as it is much more fun that way.
That is the ideal nunber in any one group, as we foound out.

When I initially planned the trip, and I sent out invitations to all my mates, I got 11 definates.
Wow I am a legend, I thought...
Then they dropped out one by one, over the next 2 1/2 years till finally we were 3 vehicles, and we had a ball.
Had no real itinery, just to look and experience the best trek we have ever been on.

The money for a tag along tour will more than pay for your fuel, so why pay for it twice.
Camp sites are easy to set up.
Logistics are easy.
No bickering, and we all backed each other up.

Anyway good luck with your decision.
Cheers
Bucky

Russler,

I have been up the Stock Route twice - both times as a tagalong with a guy called Edwards who runs tagalongs for only one month of the year - that's what he did for his annual leave because he enjoyed doing it. I took a tagalong out there because I am a mechanical clutz and did not want to worry about what might go wrong.

He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the country and knows nearly all the station owners on the edge of the Victoria, Gibson, and the Great and Little Sandy Deserts, because he used to repair windmills on their bores. We had an entree to all the little known scenic spots on private stations in the Pilbara. He was interested in and knowledgeable on, native vegetation and wildlife and on the aboriginal rock engravings and paintings we searched for along the way.

He is also a top bush mechanic and tyre "fixer".

We found that with his tagalongs, we were constantly passed by other tagalongs "in a hurry". They did not stop at the interesting spots we did, arrived late at camp and left at sparrow fart the next morning. What a horror story. Avoid the tagalongs who "do it"in the shortest times.

When you are looking for a tagalong trip, pick one that takes the longest time, not the shortest. Pick one that hopefully , can take you into the Calvert Ranges (ours actually went as far down as the Munkulu Ranges). Pick one who pushes the fact that they give you heaps of info on the tour, who don't just hire a guide / mechanic to drive you up the stock route.

Alick's Company was called Murchison Safaris, but I just Googled it and his website no longer exists. However, I know he still does the odd tagalong as he took a group of people into the Pilbara two years ago. H e lives in Geraldton WA. If you are interested, PM me and I will give you his surname.

There are a couple of companies that have been recommended to me, but I am not sure if they are doing the Stock Route -

http://www.beadelltours.com.au./
http://www.diamantina-tour.com.au/index.asp

Have a great time,

Willie.

hi russler
i have been on 3 separate tagalong -tours in years gone by when they didnt charge much on a per vehicle rate with out number restrictions yes the good old days

but thats all changed and you can just about buy a good s/hand 4x4 for what they charge these days to tag along
and then there are extra charges for x
persons 1or 2 or 3 passenger per vehicle they've lost the plot

and most tours are like a disentry tour of bali they stop just long enough to scratch your bum if your lucky i have spoken to quiet a few as they rip past to the next so called points of "interest"

2 were very enjoyable but the the 3rd one was a joke as im sure the leader was trying to break the record for the most vehicles in a convoy there was 41 yep not kidding !
every night was a disaster and travelling was a joke by the time the leader stopped for morning tea the tail enders had basicly just left the overnight camp and that was repeated for lunch and each evening the ones up front would have the tents up and dinner on cooking and enjoying a beer/wine the tail enders would be pulling in upto an hour later depending on problems encountered
i do hear that some do have a reasonable itinary and would certainly suit people without the confidence and or bush skills and sense of directions but still at an extravagant prices only the very wealthy could aford there charges
i think it's time they faced reallity
each time i go to 4x4 or caravan /camping shows i delve into whats availuble re -tag/alongs and the charges would frighten a brown dog
like the good avice from the others get a small group together and do your own thing at a leisurely enjoyable pace
cheers

Thankyou all for your replies to date. We too have witnessed several tag-along tours in the past, go flying by at a pretty rapid rate of knots. And the convoys were pretty long too. We are also investigating options to DIY with a few people we know, the only problem there is that the CSR isn't for everyone, or if it is then not in the next year or two. In the past we have tended to keep our tour groups small (3 - 4 vehicles), and based on what little I know of the CSR, and some of your feedback, sounds ideal for some of the campsites long the way. We're going to see what happens in our recruiting efforts, before committing to a tag-along.
Cheers.

It looks loke Jol Fleming has a CSR trip slated for (May) 2012..

see here

SWMBO & I don't usually do tag-alongs, preferring to travel alone or in small (family) groups...

However, in 2008 we joined Jol on a trip through the Lower Plenty Lakes, via the northern end of the Colson Track, this being the only way we were going to legally see that end of said Colson Track...

That was the first (and so far only) tag-along trip we have done, so cannot offer any comparative comments re one operator vs another, however based on that experience, we would not hesitate to travel again with Jol, any place, any time..

IMHO, the man is an inspiration, and those who have met & travelled with him will understand why I say that..

Regards, Ed C

:)