A few kilometres out of Laverton and the Highway begins and the road turns to gravel with corrugations, and is about 5 car widths wide. We travelled the road in May, and although light rain fell from time to time the road was always firm and dusty. No matter what the price we always fill up with diesel at every opportunity. We have arrived in towns where there was no diesel available for two to three days, so full tanks and spare jerry cans is our way of travelling safely without delay. The day we travelled the dirt road out of Laverton it was what I call an 60-80 kilometre an hour road, that is it was dry and corrugated, some loose gravel and sand on the surface and the road surface was predictable. On dirt roads, especially with corrugations, I always travel with the differentials locked for better grip and safety and the fuel consumption is sometimes a little higher and on really slippery surfaces it is not effected. We were now heading out to desert country. There was plenty of scrub and bushes around and the country was a lot more interesting than the Nullabor. We passed numerous camels en route to our first stop at Tjukayirla Roadhouse where fuel was $1.35 a litre ( it was about $0.92 cents in Perth The roadhouse was pleasant and we had Microwave Chips and Microwave hamburger for lunch which tasted absolutely terrible.
Driving out of Tjukayirla you have the Great Victoria Desert to your right and the Gibson Desert somewhere on your left. The road is the same dry dust and corrugations and ok for speeds of 60 –80 kph. I understand that if it does rain heavily in this area the road becomes a quagmire very quickly and due to road closures motorists can be stranded for a number of days until it dries out and Police open the roads in and out of town.

At 4 pm after about 8 hours of corrugations we decided to bush camp for the night. We found a beautiful raised area close to a small breakaway and towed the van out of sight of the road. We need not have bothered as the only other vehicle we saw that day came in and camped well away from us on the other side of the cliffs. A bush camp for us means total peace and quiet with only nature providing the audio and visual effects. Even in the desert there were birds singing, add the sigh of the breeze as it approached from the horizon like an invisible mystic being, moving the bushes, the grasses and the sand as it passed by, and you have tranquility.
As dusk falls and the sky turns from red to purple to dark blue then black and millions of stars appear as pinpoints of light growing in intensity as the night falls until they appear so close you feel you could jump up and touch them.
A small shower of rain awoke us just as dawn was breaking which gave an early and fresh start to the day and a beautiful desert sunrise. It didn’t take long to get onto the corrugations and heading for Warburton. We arrived at Warburton at about 8 am on Saturday, which meant we would have to wait an hour for the roadhouse to open, after a quick discussion, we decided to push on to Warakurna (Giles).

Beware of camels they blend in with the countryside

Again the road was not too bad and we arrived at Warakurna (231 kms) about 4 hours later that gave us an average of 50 kph with a few stops to photograph camels and the desert. Noon WA time is 1.30 pm Central Standard time ie 11/2 hours to closing of the roadhouse for the day so we filled up the Discovery @ $1.35 a litre for an early start in the morning. The roadhouse was completely out of take-away food as the local football team had raided the place earlier and eaten the months supply!. We setup the caravan and went to visit the weather station where we were made to feel comfortable and welcome as we visited the inside of the station, looked at the exhibits and it’s surrounds. Having helped in a small way in England to make the Blue Streak rocket, the fenced exhibit of part of the rocket at the weather station was extremely interesting. The road from Giles to Docker River is only just over 100 kms but it really deteriorates as you get closer to the border and just over the border to the Lassetter’s cave turn off, is the worst part of the whole journey. The road was rock strewn and possibly had not been graded for a long time. At times we were down to 10 kph with a max of about 40 kph watch out for a couple of small washaways.
About 70 kms from Giles on the left hand side of the road is Beadell’s tree. This is a tree with a blaze and a tin plaque inside the blaze. Beadell, the road builder, used the tree to indicate that the Sandy Blight Junction was up a road to the left in 9 kms. Past the turning to the Junction we travel past Docker River, picking our way down the road.

We turn into the Lassetter's Cave car park just off the road and walked a hundred metres on a good path to Lasseters cave. We were the only people at the cave at the time and it was great to sense the isolation, the sense of being where a part of Australian history was made. We wandered down the nearby riverbed taking photos then we were back in the Discovery. This is well worth a visit.

Lassetter's cave

Back on the road and the scenery, and the road improve greatly. Mountains adorn the horizon, desert oaks line the road, the road grows wider and smoother. The road condition improvement is probably due to the number of tourist coaches, which travel this part of the road; it is probably graded more often for them. The road is well compacted and graded has the occasional bull dust hole with a sand covering which can be quite thick at times. Speeds of 60 to 100 kph were possible on the day. After about 140 kms we turned a corner and the most surreal view stood in front of us, like the humps of a purple monster appearing from nowhere the Olgas were magnificent. We had heard that the view from the Docker river road was the best and we would definitely support the theory. Maybe the fact that seeing the Olgas marked the end of 1100 kms of corrugations, deserts and isolation helped make the vista even more enjoyable, who knows. After videoing the Olgas, and taking a few pictures we headed into Uluru and civilization, that is diesel at $1.10 a litre.

Our general opinion was this part of the Outback highway was not as bad as our trip on the Gibb River Road but the Gibb is not as long as this road and has more distractions, that is, it has many gorges and rivers to stop and admire. Also on the Gibb no permits are required and some off road access is allowed. Until travel in Aboriginal lands is more relaxed and not so strict, this trip is always going to be relatively boring (1100kms of corrugations and you must pass through the Aboriginal lands within 3 days). The permits also restrict you to stay within 50 metres of the highway. No exploring, or visiting the many interesting physical features along the way is not allowed without special permission. As a rough short cut from Perth to Uluru or the Alice it is worthwhile but you take a few risks and breakdowns could be very expensive. Although a two-wheel drive car could easily make the trip in the dry, as with the Gibb River Road the pounding it would receive may not be worth the risk. The same goes for caravans, our off-road Jayco suffered no ill effects but a standard van built for sealed roads would get through but at what cost? Who could tell? Would we do it again? Yes ! What would make the trip better? Sealing the road to speed up the trip, Banning trucks from using the highway as a short cut i.e. getting rid of the corrugations. Allowing more freedom to explore especially over the NT border.

Copyright 2000. All rights reserved.

Reset Nov 2001