Way into the WA wilderness

[JohnM]

And on cue in today's papers-
Missing man Anthony Collis found dehydrated but alive after days lost in remote WA

Travelling the CSR.

Not correct. They were travelling on a road that crosses the CSR and the mess happened just near that point. It seems the couple may have had a blue and one has possibly stormed off, maybe the other following. Leaving the vehicle is a definite no-no in the bush as anyone should know. It doesn't take much to get lost out there. Today's 'West' newspaper report, for what that is worth, says they had 'some supplies' in the vehicle but apparently no EPIRB or satphone. So much for a '4WD enthusiast'. (I had an EPIRB and the leader - and some other folks in our group - had both). At no time did I have less than 50 litres of water and plenty of food.

 

[JohnM]

And on cue in today's papers-
Missing man Anthony Collis found dehydrated but alive after days lost in remote WA

Travelling the CSR.

I rather liked this comment from a reader of the online story in The Australian:

This will be an amusing story if we discover the argument was over the poor guy refusing to stop and ask directions, or the woman being unable to read the maps.....

Georgia Bore, where she was found is on the CSR but is not a CSR well. We camped at Georgia Bore on day 10. It was put in by mining explorers in relatively recent times. It is just N of Well 22, where he was found, and is where the Talawana Track, a (sort of) graded road crosses the CSR and which can be used an emergency exit to Newman.

The Talawana Track is the access road used by the traditional fuel dump suppliers from Capricorn Roadhouse near Newman. There are, as we discovered, still some people that have fuel left at the dump site but we used the bowser supply now available at Kunawarritji, an aboriginal community settlement near Well 33 another three days further N. $3.40/litre BTW :shock: - but as one of our group said "I certainly wouldn't sell it for less out here."

 

[JohnM]

Day 1, Monday 3 July

Perth-Rowles Lagoon (c. 700km). Nothing to report; the standard drive out along Great Eastern Highway that I’ve done many times before, although lamenting the terribly dry winter that’s cruelling the graingrowers in that part of the WA wheatbelt, refuel at Coolgardie and head N about 70 clicks.

Quiet camp area with only one other vehicle. Freezing night.

Day 2, Tuesday 4 July

Dawn over the typical WA Goldfields Western Eucalypt Woodland vegetation. Rowles Lagoon is quite a large body of water but is very short on birdlife, at least that morning.



On to Lake Ballard. I was looking forward to the sculptures and I was not disappointed. It’s quite exceptional IMO, even if the muddy lake surface at that time, following rain, did not allow me to readily do the circuit of the 50-odd sculptures spread over quite a large area.

 

[JohnM]

Day 3, Wednesday 5 July.

After Lake Ballard, it was northward to overnight at Leinster (essentially a BHP Billiton town), before the leisurely final couple of hundred clicks to Wiluna, the start point for the CSR expedition. The plan was to muster by 1300h and have a few hours in the afternoon to meet fellow travellers and take a leisurely drive to Well 1, just N of Wiluna and not strictly on the CSR as it is now known, and North Pool. A bit of a shakedown before we got serious, so to speak.



What it would look like completing the CSR and coming towards Wiluna. Wiluna plays well to its role as a gateway to the CSR (and the Gunbarrel Highway to the E of town).

It is said that going N to S is the better way to do the CSR, but I have not seen reasons specified. It is said that the sandhills (a mere 950 or more) are steeper on the N side and more sloping on the S, making it a better way to attack them. Maybe. The biggest advantage that I could see – after getting well into the CSR and taking photos through the windscreen – is facing away from the sun. Our tag-along leader did say that he has much more trouble getting clientele if he does N to S.

Turning off to Well 1.



Well 1 (not restored) and North Pool. Then it was back to Wiluna and getting ready for the big first CSR day tomorrow.

 

[JohnM]

Day 4, Thursday 6 July.

First day on the CSR proper.

Wiluna to Well 3 (120 km). (The best place to stay at Wiluna is Gunbarrel Laager, E of town towards the start of the Gunbarrel Highway, so that adds distance to the notional Wiluna-Well 3 route as shown on the map. Also, if the notes on the map can be read, there are some changes and alternate old/new sections on the route so there can be mismatches of distances on signs and maps).



First order of business – top up with fuel. We have 1040 km ahead of us until the next fuel availability at Kunnawarritji. My fuel consumption was about 15L/100 km at mostly highway speed to Wiluna but I was unsure how that might change in 4WD on rough terrain, yet at lower speed (as it turned out, it was remarkably similar). Two 90L tanks onboard filled to the brim, so a bit more than 180L, plus 60L in jerrycans on the roof.

As mentioned, Wiluna makes a lot of being the junction for the CSR and the Gunbarrel Highway. Fuelling up. Ready to roll.



The point at which you turn off the made road just N of Wiluna. That track beyond the sign is the CSR. Sign close-up; maybe it should also advise, given recent events, that if there are any incipient or repressed relationship tensions turn back NOW (or ditch the pax NOW…). After a pause to reduce tyre pressures, the lead vehicle turns onto the CSR – let the adventure begin!

The system for position in the convoy behind the leader was a random allocation on day 1, followed each day by a drop back one position while the previous day’s tail-end Charlie moved to position two, cycling that way until the end.



Well 2 (not restored) and moving on to Well 2A (The Granites). There are several ‘A’-designated wells that were added after the original Canning wells.

 

[JohnM]

Day 4, Thursday 6 July cont.

First day on the CSR proper.

Well 2A (not restored – obviously!). The thicker green tree on the left that the guy is leaning on is sandalwood, if anyone is interested. Early sign of floral riches to come further N where the residual influence of tropical rain systems was particularly good in 2017 (and 2016).



First of daily afternoon firewood-gathering stops. Gibber plains.



Well 3 (restored). The wells are no longer used to water stock. Restored wells are to provide water for travellers.





Camp area with toilet and metal fire pits installed by Trackcare.

 

[JohnM]

Day 5, Friday 7 July.

Day 2 on the CSR.

Well 3 to Windich Springs (80 km) via Well 3A (ruins), Lake Nabberu, Well 4A (ruins).



A little bit of bumpy stuff on the way. Local station owner seems to be a practical joker – approaching one of the station tracks. Well 3A.



Lake Nabberu. Some clot (none of us) driving on the lake went very close to getting bogged.



Well 4A (ruins). A fairly gnarly section.



Windich Springs – very pretty.

 

[JohnM]

Day 5, Friday 7 July cont.

Turtle remains. Being watched.



Windich Springs has a toilet and some other basic facilities (It was the only site, IIRC, that had the luxury of a picnic table). It was close to full moon.

 

[love_the_life]

It's a great read so far JM. I remember that I was asked a question in an interview about the things to consider if the agency was delivering training to people on the CSR. Think I bumbled through it enough as I got the job.

 

[JohnM]

Day 6, Saturday 8 July.

Day 3 on the CSR.

Windich Springs to Well 6 (Pierre Spring) (60 km) via Well 4B (ruins), Well 5, walk to Mt Ingebong near Well 6/Pierre Spring campsite.



Well 4B with Jeremy giving a ‘reading’ from The Canning Stock Route: A Traveller’s Guide by Ronelle & Eric Gard (out of print), which happened at each well visited to give some historical and well characteristics (eg. depth, flow rate, water quality) information.

Well 5, beautifully restored by the Chamberlain 9G Tractor Club of WA in May 2004 (and painted in the orange of Chamberlain tractors).





Approaching the most northerly stand of Xanthorrhoea (‘blackboys’) in WA (maybe Australia?). They showed interesting multiple suckering – reminiscent of the Mallee growth habit of some Eucalypts subjected to repeated burning.



Pretty Grevillea in the same area.

 

[JohnM]

Day 6, Saturday 8 July (cont.).

Day 3 on the CSR.

Well 6 (Pierre Springs), another nicely restored well.



Well and campground in very shady surroundings with a toilet and metal firepits.

Afternoon walk at Mt Ingebong, a few km further along the CSR, but back to camp at Well 6 for the night.

 

[love_the_life]

Spectacular country out that way.

 

[Major]

As a matter of interest what is the quality of the water ? Is it warm like the water from the Great Artesian Basin ?

 

[JohnM]

As a matter of interest what is the quality of the water ? Is it warm like the water from the Great Artesian Basin ?

Some was only very slightly warm (more like not cold, if you get the drift). It's all from shallow aquifers (deepest well (No. 5) is 32m), unlike the very deep artesian aquifer.

As for quality, it varied but at most restored wells its quite good (certainly OK for washing). Boiling is probably prudent for drinking.

 

[JohnM]

Day 7, Sunday 9 July.

Day 4 on the CSR.

Well 6 to Well 12 via Wells 7 & 8 (ruins). Well 9(ruins)/Weld Springs (also entry/exit to Glenayle Station (eastwards loop to Wiluna for people towing trailers N-S). Well 10 (Lucky Well). First corrugations and sand dunes (of the almost 1000 on the CSR – not a misprint, BTW), Well 11 (ruins), Lake Aerodrome. Overnight Well 12 (restored, toilet). Long drive: 130km.



Picking our way. Vegetation closes in in many places right along the CSR. Some minor corrugations.



Easy dunes and sand.






Well 7 is in a low-lying pan amongst shady vegetation.

 

[JohnM]

Day 7, Sunday 9 July (cont.).

Day 4 on the CSR.

Moving out and on to Well 8.



Without a copy of Gard's book, I can’t recall from when the timber dates. I suspect it’s not original Canning. It may have been a restoration by Snell in 1929.



Then to Well 9. Glenayle windmill, yards and cattle nearby. Further N, the pastoral stations give way to unallocated crown land and reserves.





Well 9 is quite historic. Forrest ran into some problems with hostile Aboriginals in 1874 and built a stone ‘fort’ as it can be called, but it proved unnecessary as no further conflict occurred. Acacias in full bloom.

 

[JohnM]

Day 7, Sunday 9 July (cont.).

Day 4 on the CSR.

It may be possible to read this by zooming in. It describes the way the wells were operated. A hand windlass for smaller quantities and the large bucket on the ‘whip pole’ pulley.



And on to Well 10. Don’t take a wrong turn. Nobody moved past a fork in the road without having the following vehicle radio visual.





Well 10 and our ‘reading’ (very fitting, as it was Sunday…). Lake Aerodrome - a flat salt lake proposed for an airstrip at some point in the past.



Camp among some Casuarinas (desert oaks) and full moon a-rising.

 

[RooFlyer]

I guess in convoy, the average pace was maybe 20-40km/hr? How did you handle corrugated, open sections - collectively fast(er), or just suffer them?

 

[JohnM]

I guess in convoy, the average pace was maybe 20-40km/hr? How did you handle corrugated, open sections - collectively fast(er), or just suffer them?

About that speed. The speed to handle corrugations was something I wondered about. Obviously, our highly experienced leader set the pace but some people in the convoy may have been more cautious, which sometimes stretched the convoy out. In may have been better to go a little faster to get across the corrugations, but I guess that was a bit vehicle-dependent.

I was travelling relatively light compared with those with campers on the back and maybe the narrow tyres made the Troopy even a bit more rugged, plus I had the suspension seat. The corrugations tended not to worry me, even if I felt that a slightly faster speed may have been optimal for comfort (but maybe not for the shockies).

It seemed as though the passenger of a couple (usually when it was a SWMBO) commented more about the corrugations than the driver. There's some auto-correlation there; draw your own conclusions.

Further N when we got into long stretches of very bad corrugations and started measuring shocky temperatures, one couple in particular who got some high readings (120 deg C - like I did on my front shocks), played it more cautiously and dropped back a couple of times.

I don't know why it is that I could have both front shocks reading 120 deg. and both back ones reading 55 deg. Did it suggest the front ones were failing (but simultaneously?), or were they just like that? That was a repeated pattern. Jeremy said he didn't want to see any near 130 deg.

When we got to Well 51 (the final well) on the second-last day on the CSR and stopped for lunch, some S-bound travellers stopped to look at the well. A couple of the SWMBOS in that group were saying they couldn't stand the corrugations. Already! - bwahahahahaha! - they were yet to see the real thing for long distances either side of Well 33 (the Kunnawarritji settlement). They were also towing trailers that didn't look all that well suited to the route. We did not have a good feeling about that group making it unscathed.

When one made the comment that they had travelled the Gibb River Road, implying that they were experienced outback travellers, we all silently sniggered but didn't have the heart to say that the Gibb, which is a made road, is a freeway compared with the CSR...

 

[JohnM]

Day 8, Monday 10 July.

Day 5 on the CSR.

Well 12 to Well 15 (70 km) via Well 13 (ruins), burned-out Landrover, Well 14. Well 15 is restored and the campground there has recently (May 2017) had a toilet installed. Very good water, so a good time to refill all water containers as no potable water is available for the next three days.



Sand getting soft in places as dunes get bigger. We’re in the Little Sandy Desert. The trick is to read the dune and get momentum right to just carry the vehicle over. The fatter-tyred vehicles could crawl better than the narrow-wheeled Troopys which needed more speed (which made a bit more fun for me!). There’s plenty of chances to learn, given the number of dunes.

This day, I was number 2. I kept up with the leader…

Unfortunately, I had to put my camera aside for some of the more fun dunes as I really did need both hands on the wheel/ready on the gear stick.







Quick photo stop for red mulga with its very interesting bark, then a sprint to c-c-c-c-catch up to the leader.