Travel directions - Perth to Mt Augusta

Submitted: Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 13:42
ThreadID: 99641 Views:5049 Replies:7 FollowUps:12
This Thread has been Archived
Merry xmas

Can anyone help me with travel and road conditions (Sealed, times etc) from Perth to Mt Augusta.

Seems to be two options.

1. Via Mullewa - Carnarvon Road
2x Via meekathara.

Any assistance much apreciated
Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 14:38

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 14:38
I take it you mean Mount Augustus 4 runner. There are variables within these options. Are you looking to maximise sealed roads or do you want to take the quickest route?

Motherhen
Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 501043

Follow Up By: 4 runner - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:09

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:09
Would be taking the old bus up, so would prefer more sealed roads, if the unsealed were good and could be driven at speed (Max 90 Thats as fast as the old girl goes when loaded) then i have no issues.

Was told it could be between 12-17 hours from Perth....
0
FollowupID: 777089

Follow Up By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:22

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:22
To give you an idea 4 runner, and this is not current but i doubt the roads will have changed much: We have been to and from Mount Augustus from different directions and most were typical station roads and OK for 2wd in fine weather. The road heading south to Landor and on to the Murchison turn-off (we have not been to Meekatharra from that road) was very stony and roadside was littered with dead tyres. We pulled of to camp and woke next morning to find a very flat tyre on the camper - the stones are sharp.

The dirt road south through Murchison was again a reasonable dirt road.

Mh
Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 777090

Reply By: Member - Rod N (QLD) - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:07

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:07
As a starter have a look at this Trek Note Pilbara/Paraburdoo_to_Murchison_via_Mt_Augustus
AnswerID: 501044

Follow Up By: Member - Rod N (QLD) - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:44

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:44
From the Shire of Upper Gascoyne web site.

"Mount Augustus may be reached from many directions – 450kms from Carnarvon, 350kms from Barradale, 350kms from Meekatharra via Landor, from Newman or Mullewa. The roads into Mount Augustus are well-maintained gravel and present no problems to most drivers. However if you wish to avoid a bit of dust the Mount Augustus Station airstrip is an all weather strip, capable of taking DC3 and only a few minutes walk from the accommodation facilities at Mt Augustus."

Google 'Mt Augustus road conditions' for a lot more sites.
0
FollowupID: 777086

Follow Up By: get outmore - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 20:58

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 20:58
DC3??


up to date information perhaps not? :)
0
FollowupID: 777091

Follow Up By: Member - Frank P (NSW) - Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 11:56

Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 11:56
For aviation people it's relevant. Those aircraft are still in use by some charter companies, particularly those who specialise in outback air safaris.

As well as being an indicator of runway length, it is an indicator of the load bearing capability of the runway, approach and departure gradients and the presence or absence of critical opstacles for aircraft of leisurely performance. This would include heavily loaded modern piston-prop types, also in common use by the charter industry.

Cheers
FrankP

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message
Moderator

0
FollowupID: 777108

Reply By: get outmore - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:38

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 15:38
taking the dirt could be a better option to get away from the heavy haulage on the bitumen.
the dirt roads are supurb and as good or better than bitumen anyway.
I just headed North from Yalgoo, dirt road all the way , very little traffick
AnswerID: 501046

Reply By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:33

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 17:33
I would suggest that the least dirt road route would be via Meekatharra. Others will be able to tell you what the road is like from Meekatharra to Landor Station, but i think it is reasonable. From Landor to Mount Augustus is the stony tyre littered stretch - or it was a few years ago.

Perth to Meekatharra via the Great Northern Highway is 760 kilometres with an estimated nine hours according to my trip planner, and you will encounter heavy haulage. 337 kilometres of dirt road to Landor should be OK at you dirt road speed. The 100 kilometres to Mount August from there would need to be taken slower if still as we found it.

I hope this, together with the other suggestions in the thread, assists you to work it all out.

Mh
Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 501047

Follow Up By: Member - Robert G (WA) - Wednesday, Jan 02, 2013 at 12:17

Wednesday, Jan 02, 2013 at 12:17
We went in through Meeka last year and it was pretty good till Landor where it got very stony. I towed a camper trailer and we were pretty loaded with 50% worn tyres but still had no issues. We dropped tyres to 25 front and 30 rear and 20 on camper and sat on 90kph to Landor then 80kph to Mt Augustus.Going by the amount of tyres all over the road and the fact we had no issues, I'd say speed would be the biggest killer.
0
FollowupID: 777579

Reply By: TrevorDavid - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 18:06

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 18:06
4 Runner

The road from Meeka through Landor was fine back in November although they have had some rain out that way a few weeks ago, If you want sealed roads as much as possible, you could come up via Carnarvon out to Gassy Junction which would leave only a couple of hundred k's on the dirt ,which is ok as well . Would be quite a bit further via Carnarvon. The road from Mullewa to Gassy Junction whilst unsealed is generally ok

Regards

TDB
dontyajustluvit

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 501048

Reply By: member - mazcan - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 20:19

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 20:19
hi 4 runner
last time i came home from mt augustus
i came down to landor 91 km's good stion rd then xed gascoyne rvr and onto public rd to glenburg 100k's
then onto murchison rd house 187k's where you can camp
out the back near an oval
from there to mullewa 201k's
sealed rd started just north of mullewa
all the gravel rd just north of mullewa was well maintained and i cant see for the life of me why it would be any problem to your bus its a wide rd and i counted less than ten vehicles on it for the entire trip daytime only that i did
but with new mining developements there could be a bit more traffic these days some one else may know
and from there you can choose to go 99k's to geraldton to the northwest coastal brand hwy
or 64 k's to mingenew and follow midlands inland rd -three springs -carnamah - moora to bindoon and muchea all sealed either way
you could also turn off brand hwy at freshwater pt south of dongara and follow the new section of coast rd down to the wanneroo rd and into perth if you choose a coastal drive
cheers
AnswerID: 501052

Follow Up By: member - mazcan - Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 21:01

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 at 21:01
hi
forgot to say i spent my first night at kennedy ranges just down the track from mt augustus after exploring kennedy rgs area and several water ways and climbing the encarpment
i continued on at a very casual laid back pace stopping and looking at many sites along the way stopping 2nd night at murchison rd hse
then same pace again next day finishing in dongara 3rd night looking around town before leaving continued on then even after helping a couple of tourists who had run their mitsubishi truckvan out of fuel and couldnt start with small amount of spare fuel so drove 30k's round trip to muchea and returned with fuel for them and bled the system and got it going
i still got to applecross in time for 6pm dinner on the 4th daythen drove home to bunbury that evening

so as they say choose your speed and rate of enjoyment what you want to look at and how fast
0
FollowupID: 777093

Follow Up By: Member - Kevin S (QLD) - Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 12:08

Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 12:08
Seems to me that mazcan has raised excellent points with his comments on "laid back speeds" and examples of how much territory you can cover at a leisurely pace and still have time to help other road users. Posters to this forum write at length about the best tyres and reduced tyre pressures, but slowing down of stony roads surely greatly reduces the likelihood of tyre damage. I am no engineer but slowing down to reduce tyre damage seems to me to be a no brainer.
And thanks for the good information on roads to Mt Augustus. It is on my bucket list and had moved up the list of places likely to be visited (as opposed to dreaming about) as a result of the information in this thread. Good question 4 runner.
Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin
It is important to always maintain a sense of proportion

2019 Mitsubishi Cross

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 777109

Reply By: get outmore - Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 13:19

Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 13:19
Heres a report of the trip I did from Yalgoo to Mt augustus a few years backyalgoo to mt augustus
AnswerID: 501068

Follow Up By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 19:51

Wednesday, Dec 26, 2012 at 19:51
Hi Get outmore

I note from your link that you commented the caravan park didn't have hot showers - was that in 2006? There were hot showers on our last visit prior to 2006.

Not long before the second visit, Mount Augustus had been the venue for a television mini-series starring Ernie Dingo. For this, transportable toilet and shower blocks had been added, although inadequate for the numbers with the expanded trade the place was getting after the publicity. The first time we went there was hardly anyone there and finding it through the unsigned station tracks not easy.

Motherhen
Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 777129

Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 04:32

Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 04:32
no that was in 2009

the place was one step off of being a total dump - not that i cared i had a spot to put the swag for ther night
0
FollowupID: 777134

Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 04:34

Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 04:34
pretty sure the health department closed it down not long after my visit although i gather it has since reopened
0
FollowupID: 777135

Follow Up By: Motherhen - Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 10:11

Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 at 10:11
It was closed down for a while - i didn't know why. It suited us to be on site than have to drive some distance each day, we had good company with the neighbouring campers, so it was OK for us too. We also purchased fuel there both times.

Mh
Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 777142

Sponsored Links

Popular Products (9)