We awoke to the sound of cows outside the tent this morning, with an inquisitive herd having come over to have a look at the strange contraption that had appeared overnight. The glow of the sun peaking over the horizon spread through the tent and we eventually succumbed to the need to get up.
300km of driving later and we only saw one other car. We’re not exactly in the middle of nowhere as there are tracks off to cattle stations every half hour or so, but we aren’t taking the normal tourist route (not that many tourists actually make the trek out to Mt Augustus as it’s over a 1000km round trip from Carnarvon, the easiest point of access). We’re on gravel tracks but they’re all well graded, with just a soft section now and again to catch you out. The soggy sections are probably due to the heavy rain of a few days ago (we later found out that the Lyndon river flooded and cut off access from the south for a couple of days).
A quick stop at Cobra Station about 50km from Mt Augustus to enquire about fuel had us making our excuses, hoping for a better price at Mt Augustus Outback Tourist Resort. We thought Exmouth was expensive at AU$1.549/litre (Perth was $1.259/litre with a discount voucher), but the station wanted $2/litre. As we had enough fuel in reserve we carried on and had to settle for $1.929/litre (which is probably about the same price as in the UK). The moral of the story is to try to carry enough fuel to avoid having to resupply in the outback, although I’m sure this isn’t the most we’ll have to pay as we’ve heard that some places charge more than double normal prices, and that’s if they actually have supplies. Coming from the UK you forget that there isn’t a Shell, ESSO, BP or supermarket petrol station around every corner, and that the supply chain is somewhat longer and more costly over here.
We had lunch at Cattle Pool on the edge of Mt Augustus National Park, which was aptly named as we saw a dead cow floating in the waters. That and the green colour put us off from having a dip, despite being somewhat hot and sweaty due to the temperature having climbed into the low 30s.
The pool was actually so named by pioneer drover E.T.Hooley ion 1866, who “discovered” the pool whilst moving a flock of 1945 sheep through the largely uncharted territory (losing only eight during the three month drive). SPOT
After picking up a national park’s information leaflet and fuel at Mt Augustus Outback Tourist Resort, we took the loop road around the base of the monolith and started to fully appreciate its size as the loop is 49km in length. Along the way are signposted walks and some Aboriginal petroglyphs, although Anne thought they looked more like children’s doodles than actual art!
Burringurrah (the Wajarri tribal name for the mountain) rises 715 metres out of the surrounding stony red sand plain (1105 metres above sea level), and we spotted it some 30km away so it’s an impressive rock.
As we’re saving the six hour walk to the summit for tomorrow, we eventually headed off in search of a suitable camping spot outside the national park. SPOT
I think we have a plan for the next three months before we need to be in Brisbane, although delays in shipping and getting the Land Rover through all the bureaucracy means that time is against us. As we said on Friday’s blog entry, Karijini is next, then to Broome via Marble Bar and Eight Mile Beach, followed by the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley. We’ll then drop down to Halls Creek via the Bungle Bungles before taking the desert Tanami track down to Alice Springs. A loop via the Macdonnell Ranges and Kings Canyon will lead us to Uluru and the Olgas, with a long return up the Stuart Highway (past the Devil’s Marbles for Anne) all the way to Darwin. We’ll then visit Kakadu National Park before heading down to Katherine, then across the top end to Normanton where we can hopefully cut up to the Peninsula Development Road that leads north to Cape York, before returning and heading down the east coast from Caines to Fraser Island. This route takes in most of the places we were hoping to see, although some, such as Coober Pedy and the Birdsville Track, will have to wait for another adventure, as will a whole host of other places we’ve since been recommended to visit. Heini, our German friend, has been travelling on and off for over three years and he’s still got places to tick off his list. Australia is a big country, there are too many things to do and see (for this trip anyway)!
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