Tanami

Hi Matt D

I live in Mulan, which is reasonably close to the Tanami, (and CSR for that matter), and I am friends with Bruce and Jacqui from Rabbit Flat. I know they are no longer retailing, I cannot say about camping though, never thought to ask, but I will find out.

You have not said what time of year you are travelling. At the moment there is a lot of inclement weather about. I will be contacting my nephew in Lajamanu very soon, so will find out how things are there and post accordingly.

Cheers

We came down from Top Springs through Kalkarindji and Lajemanu last winter (about the same time as you will be travelling this year).

Provided you have dry conditions the track from Tanami Gold Mine north to Top Springs is excellent. Very good campsite off to the left (heading north) about an hour or so north of the Tanami. It's near a billabong and appears well used.

Lajemanu was having a "sorry time" when we passed through and we only spoke to the nurse there. Kalkarindji was nice. Fuel and a good little shop.

Top Springs has a camp ground and a nice pub, and fuel.

It was a very scenic, pleasant drive.

The Tanami Track was the opposite of everything I've said. Harsh, vehicle breaking corrugations, interspersed with teasing stretches of bitumen. You'll wonder why people travel on it.

cheers

Hi matt

I’m assuming you’ll be heading east to west along the Tanami Rd.

You can fill up at Tilmouth Roadhouse which is about 160klms from Alice Springs.

The next possible stop is Yuendumu a bit further along and to the right.

From there the next noticeable feature is a bit of a run up to the Granites mine (I’m not sure what they’re calling themselves this week) on the left hand side. No fuel.

After another 50k’s or so you'lll see a track on the right hand side which leads to Rabbit Flat. Now that it’s closed I doubt if any signage would be noticeable.

Your next fuel stage after leaving Tilmouth is the Aboriginal community of Balgo, which is probably another 100ks from Rabbit Flat and to the left of the road further on.

However if you have enough fuel you might make it to Billiluna, at the start of the Canning Stock Route. After that there is nothing until you get to Halls Creek.

So in summary, it’s a 1,000ks through the bush and will take almost three days depending on conditions. When it’s easy, count on corrugations, but when it’s wet.......

From a personal view, I reckon the country is dead useless for anything until you get over the border. However the tourist think it’s great, so who am I to say anything. Go figure!

PS if you get the chance, camp at Sturt Creek not far from Billiluna. The local people will show you where to go.

Cheers

Matt, if you "fly" along the Tanami on Google Earth you will see plenty of roadside clearings suitable for camping.

Put your cursor on them and their lat & long will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Put them into your GPS and pick and choose as you drive along. Do the same with the Lajemanu turnoff. Someone has mis-labeled it and it is actually a few hundred metres further along.

Just a short distance along the road after you leave the Stuart Highway you'll see warning signs on the RHS prohibiting entry. That's the Jindalee Over the Horizon radar. An Aussie invention. Google it. Very interesting.

At Lajemanu there is a solar array that looks like a series of sat dishes. I'm assumimg that they follow the sun. Looks great.

By the way, I drove the Tanami from Halls Creek to Alice in 1994 in a 4.5 litre petrol Troopie and only had to refuel at Rabbit Flat. With a diesel you'll do much better.

cheers

Gents, unless im reading things incorrectly on other sites, (ie NT Tourist Sites), i get the impression that i wont be needing any permits to travel/camp in the directions that we have been chatting about.

Can any of you confirm this?

Cheers!