Madigan Line and Colson Tracks
Submitted: Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 10:03
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Member- Tony C
I am just back from my travels which included the
Madigan Line from Mac Clarke Cons Res to
Hay River up to the Plenty Hwy.
We had a fantastic trip and will post a blog in the next week.
When In Alice I thought of returning down the Colson Track to the French Line. This Is listed as a track on the Hema Maps stating a permit is required. The Track is also listed in the Outback travellers North
Simpson Desert Book.
I visited the CLC office to obtain a permit and was issued a permit to enter the
Madigan Line and Colson Tracks through what I believed to be the relevant Aboriginal Land. Once out at Numery Station I was told the I couldn't access the track, that it was closed and they were letting it grow over.
Only a week prior to this we had been on a section of the Colson south of the aboriginal land and it was in good condition. At
camp 6 the
Madigan line track was more clearly defined with fresh tracks coming from the west or presumably
camp 5. I wondered how these vehicles gained access other than via the Colson.If anyone knows of another way of accessing the northern part of this track or has more information it would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Tony
Reply By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 10:39
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 10:39
Hi Tony
We did Madigan a couple of weeks ago.
I am not quite sure of your question, which section of the track were you told was closed. South of
Camp 5/6 general area or north ?
I believe its only north of camp5/6 area that is closed
AnswerID:
464419
Follow Up By: Member- Tony C - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 10:59
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 10:59
Hi Robin,
The Colson track through the northern section between camps 5 and Numery Station.
We went across the Madigan just over two weeks ago. So just missed you.
How did you find the section from The Crossing to the Colson Track and were you able to find
camp 1? We had trouble navigating to
camp 1 instead went from east
bore to 1a.
Cheers'
Tony
FollowupID:
738363
Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 11:22
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 11:22
No problems Tony until we hit camp20 which was under water (thread 88482).
We went thru Aug 1-7
We found
camp 1 ok . The turn off is hard to find as its on the other side of a fence on which a new north/south road has been graded.
(About 100 meter of fence is down right at turn off).
It is correctly shown on the north simpson booket.
Haven't done the north section - but friends did a few years ago . from the south, seemed fairly straightforward.
FollowupID:
738364
Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 20:56
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 20:56
Hi Tony
I have tried at least 3 times over the years to obtain a permit, with always the same answer.......NO! I even went as far as offering to pay for someone to accompany me through the closed section, but the answers was still no.I do know the reason why they did this a number of years ago, having been told by a very reliable person from
Alice Springs, and it was simply a tit for tat situation with the promise by the CLC that as long as they had control over the land, no permits would ever be issued, regardless of who you are.
I even went as far one time of speaking to one of their legal team and had a quite long conversation with the man. They are aware that people still do use this out of bounds section, but I was warned that if I ignored their advise and travelled and were caught, there were very big fines and was even told they would go as far as impounding vehicles caught out there.
I asked how would they ever do this and he told me that they do send teams out there every now and then and will
camp by the track for a few weeks or more at a time. Any vehicle that they do stop is immediately impounded and you are taken back to
Alice Springs by the
Police and charged.
At the time that I spoke last with them, they said that there was a couple of vehicles still impounded and had been that way for over 12 months, waiting for it to go through the Court system in
Alice Springs.
I could have been told a very big pork pie by their legal team, but they did make it very clear they there was a zero tolerance for anyone or group that are caught.
As much as I wanted to travel this track, the risks fare outlay the rewards of doing it.
I hope this clears the matter for you and if you are like me, it is just not worth it, as there are still many great
places that are still legal to travel in the Simpson.
Cheers
Stephen
AnswerID:
464463
Follow Up By: Member- Tony C - Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 09:01
Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 09:01
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your reply. It sounds like the maps need to be altered when next revised to list this section as closed. The manager at Numery advised he had turned another party back a week prior to my arrival and that they are leasing it from the Pmere Nyente. I assumed they have control over it also now as it becomes a private station track.
Anyway I agree there are still plenty of great
places to see.
Cheers
Tony
FollowupID:
738444
Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 09:09
Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 09:09
Hi Tony
It sounds like Numery must have a new manager. I know of one group from
Melbourne about 6 years agao that wanted to go through, but again it was no from the CLC. They contacted Numery and were given the green light, as they also knew if anyone from the CLC was coming.
Like I said, I could have been given a big speel by their legal team to put the fear in me,
well if it was the case it worked.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
738445
Follow Up By: Member - mick C (NSW) - Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 21:37
Thursday, Sep 08, 2011 at 21:37
Hello all
Numery was bought in 2007 by a fellow from
Melbourne and he leased the adjoining aborignal country in last two years , there has been several managers since 2007 and access policies have obvously changed
Mick
FollowupID:
738500
Reply By: Echucan Bob - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 23:32
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 at 23:32
Tony
I've done the Colson twice. The first time after months of liaising with a CLC anthropologist.
The second time I didn't bother.
The TOs don't go there. There are no possies waiting to impound your car. Its just magnificent desert.
Yes its overgrown, and its easy to miss the panel in the fence as you drive along a station track thinking you are lost.
How do you keep ratbags out? Ban everyone? Or open it up to supervised transits.
AnswerID:
464470