This section of our trip gives us lots of time on iconic, outback, unsealed roads. In fact more than we’d originally bargained for, as it turns out.
The map of this section crosses three states and a distance of 2745 kms. It took us 10 days; excluding the backtrack of 2 days and 314 kms for the tire issue and including our 2 days in Alice.We thought we’d said ‘goodbye’ to Laverton and Leonora (small towns in WA) when we headed up the Great Central Road (GCR) on a cloudy, windy day.
The GCR is part of the Outback Way, Australia’s longest shortcut. The Outback Way provides the third strategic road link across the continent, linking Laverton WA to Winton, Queensland. It is 2700 kms, 1300 kms of unsealed road and 1400 kms of sealed road. This project opens up new tourist routes, new transport routes (it reduces the east west connection by 1600kms), better access for mining and pastoral interests and improved access for remote indigenous communities. So its been on Dick’s wish list for a while.
After two hours we pulled over to air down (reduce the tire pressure to make it more comfortable and better for the tires on rough roads) and found a rear flat tire and it was sprinkling with rain. This was a bad hole and not repairable by Dick, so 2.5 hours after we stopped we turned around and headed back towards Leonora.We needed to stop at a free camp on the way back and then ended up back in the caravan park in Leonora for one night. This is what happens when you get the last spot in a caravan park – between two long term residents! Made me glad we don’t have to live in a caravan park in remote WA. That said we had no trouble there.
We got the tire repaired (it was a large hole) and we bought a second spare which now lives in the shower, so two days later we again started on the GCR. Sometimes things have a way of working out. As it turns out Helen and Anthony’s twins were born the day we first started the GCR, so the fact that we were back in town for two nights meant we could have more time speaking with Helen on the phone and seeing photos of the twins.
Different views along the GCR. In reality it was not a bad road, some variation in the landscape and just a lot of driving; 1126 kms (700 miles) to Uluru..Counting our first night going back to Leonora, we had four free camps along the GCR. We could have stayed at some roadhouse caravan parks, but preferred these locations instead – no barbed wire around security fences! The Warburton Roadhouse caravan park featured this sign: “For your peace of mind: We lock the front gate about 7pm thru to 7am. Warburton is no different to any other place on this planet. Sometimes bad things happen.”In the three days along the GCR, we saw way more wrecked cars than anything else.On the second day we saw 3 cars, 2 road graders and about 15 camels. This is a gif of camels running along the road. Apart from the camels on the GCR, we saw one dingo and one majestic black horse.
The one stop I wanted to do on the GCR was to visit the Tjulyuru Exhibition Space and Gallery at Warburton. It is an impressive building and showcases the most substantial collection of Aboriginal art in the country under the direct ownership and control of Aboriginal people. There were lots of huge, attractive paintings in the gallery as well as glass works and weavings. The shop also had a good array of paintings, glassworks and other items to purchase. AND – we were the only ones there. They opened the gallery for us. I suspect lack of promotion and signage contributes to the lack of interest from passers by. No photos to show as it was forbidden to take photos anywhere in Warburton. However in the shop they did let me facetime with Amy so I could show her some paintings I had thought she might like for her birthday. She picked one. Unusual but quite a good way to shop in a gallery.
The final stop we did on the GCR was to visit Lasseter’s Cave and learn the story of his search for gold and his demise, as outlined in this sign..Not a very big cave and not an auspiscious monument.The first sight we saw as we crossed into the Northern Territory (NT) was Kata Tjuta (formerly known as The Olgas). No one and no signs at the border, but we were ready with all our passes. Kata Tjuta is a group of 36 large domed rock formations spread over more than 20 kilometers. It remains deeply spiritual and sacred to the local Anangu people who have lived here for more than 22,000 years.The top rock is Uluru (16 kms driving around the base) and the bottom rock is Mt Augustus (49 kms driving around the base). Mt Augustus is twice the size of Uluru and advertised as the largest rock in the world. We visited it recently so I was keen to see how the two of them compared. After we passed Kata Tjuta we saw Uluru from the distance as we headed straight for the campground at Yulara (formerly known as Ayers Rock Resort), the only place we could camp in that area.The Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta was the one walk we had not done five years ago, so our plan was to do this walk. We were looking forward to doing it, and we were not disappointed.It was a warm/hot, beautiful sunny day for our walk. We did the full circuit and hoped we could manage the grade 4 walk.The rocks were stunning during the early afternoon light. Didn’t see them at sunset but they are supposed to be amazing then.It wasn’t an easy walk in the heat but certainly worth doing.Smiles as we were both pleased that we managed to do the walk without incident. We did 9kms in about 4 hours.To complete our brief Uluru experience, we drove out for the sunset viewing. Previously we had done the walk around Uluru. This time we firstly we drove around Uluru and then we drove to the classic sunset viewing spot.Just before sunset the colors are amazing. Lots of people out having a look, even though the village is much quieter and suffering from lack of overseas visitors
As per our plan Yulara was a good three day stop for supplies, laundry, a couple of meals out, a good walk and a sunset viewing of Uluru. All was going well, until just before we drove out of Yulara heading for South Australia, we heard that all of South Australia was in a 7 day lockdown. During the 246 km drive to the Sturt Highway, we debated our options – and decided in the end that we did not want to do a 7 day lockdown on the SA border. So we turned north at the Sturt Highway (instead of south) and headed for Alice Springs and a Queensland route home.
On the way to Alice Springs we camped at Rainbow Valley, an old favorite camp spot. Just arrived in time for me to get one sunset photo. The light in Central Australia really works magic on the rock formations. Such a difference in this place during the day and at sunset.Getting into Alice felt a bit like coming home – checked back into the Big 4 caravan park (where we spent many weeks in 2018), got to shop for groceries in my favorite supermarket (Woolworths), and got our second Covid shots, Dick got a blood test, and we went out for dinner with Geoff and Vicki, friends who had just arrived in Alice that day. We only had two nights there as we were on a mission to get closer to NSW. Not our most scenic camp spot but we did have our own toilet and shower!Dick has wanted to do The Plenty Highway for ages. So in spite of my misgivings about the road we decided to save 500 kms and give it a go. It was busier than the Great Central Highway and was a better road, with lots of sealed road along the 745 kms to Boulia, Queensland.After finishing all the jobs for travel, we left Alice before 10am and got to our stop at Jervois Station before 3pm. Had a nice camp near a dry riverbed and had time for a uke practice.VIEWS OF THE PLENTY HIGHWAY – notice any similarities?? Actually the road was not too bad.Most people talk about the perils of the bull dust (see above) on the Plenty Hwy, but Belle just ploughed on through it like it wasn’t there. We think the low tire pressure helped and also the hard work of the road crews. Throughout this trip we’ve seen a lot of roadwork being done on most of the unsealed roads.Again we did not see many animals on this road; some cattle and many eagles. The eagles were generally eating roadkill on the road. Interesting that through this whole trip we have not seen many dead animals by the side of the road. In the past we have seen lots of dead and alive kangaroos. Perhaps numbers are down because of the drought??Contemplating a long driving day, we got fuel and left camp just after 9am. Fortunately it was an uneventful day – road had some corrugations and bull dust but was not as bad as expected. As we passed the next regular camping spot, Tobermory Station at around 1pm, we decided to push on. Got into a caravan park in Boulia just before dark at 6pm, which finished our time on the Plenty Highway..
Given the uncertain Covid situation, we know we are travelling through Queensland to get home but the route is not yet decided and will probably change a few times as we work out our timing for a return to Sydney.
Wow – an epic leg Pat and Dick.
I remembered you spent all that time at the Big 4 in Alice Springs on a previous trip. I hope the managers treated you like long lost friends.
Good luck avoiding the lockdowns and border crossings back into NSW.
What a wonderful trip you’ve had – aren’t the colours beautiful. Have a safe trip back into NSW. Helen has been keeping me up to date with photos of her babies – they are getting closer to home now but I guess you will still have to wait a few weeks before you can actually hold them Pat – keep happy and safe. Love Jeanette xxx
You two really give us an idea of what the outback looks like. I bet you can’t wait to get back and hold those babies though.
Wow – an epic leg Pat and Dick.
I remembered you spent all that time at the Big 4 in Alice Springs on a previous trip. I hope the managers treated you like long lost friends.
Good luck avoiding the lockdowns and border crossings back into NSW.
What a wonderful trip you’ve had – aren’t the colours beautiful. Have a safe trip back into NSW. Helen has been keeping me up to date with photos of her babies – they are getting closer to home now but I guess you will still have to wait a few weeks before you can actually hold them Pat – keep happy and safe. Love Jeanette xxx