current road conditions for Diamantina development road

Submitted: Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 12:16
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from Bedourie to Windorah please, also from Noccundra through to Tiboorburra

Hi to anyone who has travelled these roads, preferably within the last couple of days.

We are driving a Navara dual cab and towing a Sterling Outback caravan and have recently travelled the Oodnadatta track and Mereenie loops so are familiar with dirt roads.

Will be leaving Mt Isa tomorrow hopefully, after the Navara is serviced today.
Yes, I know the camel races are on in Boulia..and hoping I can talk the other half into being there for some of the weekend if there are vacancies.

I have checked the current road conditions online and also at the visitor centre in Mt Isa but am hoping for more relevant information than whether the road is 'open to all vehicles'.

Regards,

Heather MG
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

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Reply By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 12:19

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 12:19
sorry about the thread repetition...I kept getting an error message when trying to post this so thought it hadnt worked.

My Apologies

regards,

Heather
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Reply By: Isuzumu - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 12:45

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 12:45
Just keep an eye on rain coming in, Windorah 70% 5-10 Thursday, and Friday a chance of a shower.
Not sure of road conditions as we went north from Windorah and then east.
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:49

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:49
Yes, thanks Bruce I saw that
... we will take it day by day and see what eventuates. Sometimes, just occassionally the weather people don't get it right, and.... If we get held up we will have plenty of food, water etc.
It happened to us once before on the road between Boulia and Winton so we have first hand knowledge of what a small amount of rain does to the soil and the roads.

Regards,

Heather
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Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:03

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:03
Hi Heather & John....bloody bad case of the stutters you got there..:)))).
Hope your trip is going well. Absolutely freezing down here..been like it for weeks.
Cant help much with roads, but they were very good this time last year..ha..ha.
We found a great waterside camp between Noccundra & Warrie Gate..was right next to road..then.cheers......oldbaz.
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:59

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:59
Hahaha very funny oldbaz!

I kept getting an error message when I tried to put the thread up so thought it must not have worked..just kept trying and look what happened. Hopefully someone who has more power than me on EO can delete the other threads for me.
Yes the trip is going well, although our plans to barra fish near Normanton for a week were dashed when we arrived at the campground gates to find a 'sorry campground full' sign up and were told by phone that it was booked out for the next couple of days! I didn't bother phoning ahead as we were told last time I tried to book that there was no need, and there was plenty of room. How things have changed in only three years!
John, being the (im)patient man he is decided he wasnt going to wait around, so we backtracked and only went an extra 1000 kms in the two days. Found a great little bush camp overnight though which almost made up for it..
Having the Navara serviced today and its warm and sunny in Mt Isa, shorts and T shirt weather (sorry!).

Thanks for the information on the campsite, if we manage to get through on that road we will keep it in mind.

Regards,

Heather
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

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Reply By: Sawtybt - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:23

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:23
Heather,
Friends have been advised that the road from Noccundra to Tibooburra is badly corrugated and in a shocking condition. They were also told about the possibility of rain.
AnswerID: 459824

Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:52

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 13:52
Thanks for that.

I guess we can always ask when we get to Quilpie and / or Thargomindah and see what we are told.
Do you know who advised your friends as to this?

Regards,

Heather
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Follow Up By: SIF4X4 - Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 19:43

Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011 at 19:43
Heather
Drove Tibooburra-Noccundra middle May. Corrugations weren't that bad then but there was at least 100km of bulldust along that route with quite a few DEEP bull dust holes. Towed a van along the route. The oilfields are trucking Bore Pipes 24/7 with B doubles

Cheers

Spero
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 06:05

Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 06:05
Thanks Spero,

will check that part of the road out when we get closer and make a decision as to which way we go into NSW..may have to detour quite a distance to get to Tibooburra instead.

Regards,

Heather
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Follow Up By: Great Divide Tours - Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 10:28

Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 10:28
Rain is falling in Windorah at present (thursday morning) and I'm told by my gides up there that all unselaed roads south of there are closed, be careful of the Bedourie to Windorah road too, if it has rained overnight it will most likely be closed, I suggest you call Bedourie hotel or the Diamantina shire office in Bedourie to get the latest info. The current rain band should clear in a day or two, so I expect the roads that are closed will remain that way for a couple of days. The nice lake side camp o the Noccundra road now has road gang camped in it, bugger!
Vic Widman
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:31

Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:31
Hi Vic,

thank you for the info. We are delayed in leaving Mt Isa until at least next Wed now...car needs parts and we are booked into have the work done on Tuesday so have to wait around.

Sounds like that is good if the rain has arrived there...all may be good again by then. Meanwhile we have come back to Cloncurry for the stockman's challenge...not to participate, to have a look.

Will check again before we leave as to weather and roads etc.

Regards,

Heather
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Reply By: David & Kerry W - Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 07:59

Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 07:59
G'day Heather.

We pulled the van from Bedourie to Windorah five weeks ago. Not much traffic and the road was good, some road works. We camped along the way. Provided there has been little rain it should be a good run.

Say hello to the camels for us! Safe travels..... David and Kerry

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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:33

Thursday, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:33
Thank you David and Kerry,

We are delayed until next week now...Wednesday at the earliest. Looking forward to having a look down that way as we drove from Boulia to Winton last time we were there.
I love that country and the camping along the way...so much better than being in towns and parks I think.

Regards,

Heather
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Reply By: crd patrol - Friday, Jul 15, 2011 at 22:35

Friday, Jul 15, 2011 at 22:35
Hi Heather MG,

We just got back from our trip and we travelled the Tibooburra to Noccundra road and yes it was badly corrugated in places, plenty of bulldust patches, and also plenty of rocky sections that tested the nuts and bolts on the patrol. I am really glad I had the 10ply LT tyres on as the amount of sharp stones that were around was incredible. Also south of Tibooburra was pretty awful in places as well for rocks.
Just take your time and keep your speed down and all should be ok, and I would let your tyres down a bit as well.

If there is rain out there it will turn it into soup and it won't be any fun at all and they might just shut the road. Might be a good idea to check with the pub at Noccundra first.

Just a note that when we were at Tibooburra there were signs at the servo's saying no diesel at Cameron Corner so it might just pay to fill up at Tibooburra.

Cheers Crd
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Saturday, Jul 16, 2011 at 07:08

Saturday, Jul 16, 2011 at 07:08
Thanks crd,

When I read your reply to my husband I am sure he will decide NOT to go to Tibooburra via Noccundra... words like 'badly corrugated', 'bulldust' and 'sharp stones' will be a real turn off! No point in wrecking our van to get there!Sounds as though its much worse than the oodnadatta track was when we travelled it a few weeks ago.

We will look at driving up from the south maybe as we want to stay in Mutawingi N Pk and White Cliffs, maybe Currawinya N pk too so can look at other routes as we get closer.

Still in Cloncurry and not leaving Mt Isa until Wed now so I will check current road and weather before we leave. There has been rain in Boulia and Windorah but hopefully in a few days it won't be too much of a worry for us.

Also thanks for the info re no diesel at the Corner..will carry extra with us to see there.
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Saturday, Jul 16, 2011 at 07:08

Saturday, Jul 16, 2011 at 07:08
Thanks crd,

When I read your reply to my husband I am sure he will decide NOT to go to Tibooburra via Noccundra... words like 'badly corrugated', 'bulldust' and 'sharp stones' will be a real turn off! No point in wrecking our van to get there!Sounds as though its much worse than the oodnadatta track was when we travelled it a few weeks ago.

We will look at driving up from the south maybe as we want to stay in Mutawingi N Pk and White Cliffs, maybe Currawinya N pk too so can look at other routes as we get closer.

Still in Cloncurry and not leaving Mt Isa until Wed now so I will check current road and weather before we leave. There has been rain in Boulia and Windorah but hopefully in a few days it won't be too much of a worry for us.

Also thanks for the info re no diesel at the Corner..will carry extra with us to see there.
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Follow Up By: crd patrol - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 23:09

Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 23:09
Heather,

I would call the Cameron Corner store to make sure of the "no diesel" info, as they may have it now or should have by the time you guys get there. It would have certainly been a trap if coming from Broken hill and turning off to the "corner" (as the turn off is before Tibooburra) as it would have meant a back track to Tibooburra of approx 140km's.

With regards to Mutawintji Nat Park, I would give the rangers a call (maybe NSW Nat Parks?) and find out what roads are open there, as a couple told us that they were going to go through to White Cliffs via the park but the roads were closed. This was over a week and a half ago now so the road crews may have been out there.

There are also road crews working on the Noccundra to Tibooburra road but I think it will take them a bit to do the whole road. I would ask again on this site in a week or two to see if anyone has been through. Surely by then a few more have been along that stretch of road and you can get the latest update.

Anyway whichever way you guys go I hope you have a good one and a safe one.

Cheers Crd
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Follow Up By: Member - Heather MG NSW - Monday, Jul 18, 2011 at 07:23

Monday, Jul 18, 2011 at 07:23
Again, many thanks for taking the time to reply Crd.

With the rain last Friday many of the roads we are to travel on are currently closed (or were yesterday when I checked) but will just keep looking online and phoning (as far as there is 3G signal) and asking questions further on as we travel.

Sometimes the places we didn't intend travelling through turn out to be some of the most memorable.
I am getting very sick of van parks and looking forward to getting out there now....only a couple of more days now hopefully.

Regards,

Heather
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