We have now changed all our permits and will once again take the Great Central Road from Yulara to Laverton in Western Australia. We last crossed this road in September 2013. This time however we will be joining fellow Bushtracker owners Narelle and Gordon.
It was a rather late start as we were both having problems with our satellite dishes. I tried unsuccessfully to contact the VAST people so decided to check in again when we would next have coverage at Erldunda.
Our morning tea stop was at the Desert Oaks rest area just over 44 km north of the Erldunda Roadhouse. Quite a nice stop with an echo toilet and there were already four vans set up for the evening.
After contacting the VAST people they provided me with the number for the SatKing people who tweaked our satellite and now all is as it should be.
We turned west onto the Lasseter Highway heading towards Yulara. Our camp tonight is another very pleasant rest area with no facilities. Kernot Range rest area is quite a large area with lovely desert oaks spread throughout the site. I took some drone photos just before sunset.
We left just after 9am for the 144 km trip into Yulara but first stopped at the Mount Connor lookout for a coffee and some photos. I also climbed a dune on the opposite side of the road and was surprised to find a large salt pan off in the distance.
We stopped for fuel and purchased some sandwiches at Yulara before showing our entry permits to travel across the GCR. We stopped and took photos from the sunset viewing area at Uluru, before driving past Kata Tjuta and stopping at the start of the dirt section of 1050 km that would take us across to Laverton in Western Australia.
After reducing our tyre pressures we found a site 40 km away that was listed on Wiki Camps as The Oaks. It was a very large site and well away from the road and out of sight. We could still hear the 4wd's and trucks thundering past on the corrugations.
The sunset tonight was amazing as we sat beside the fire. Narelle and Gordon cooked a camp oven meal while Ros and I enjoyed steak and vegetables cooked over the fire.
Generally, the NT side of the GCR is normally very corrugated and rough but I believe it was not as bad as our last crossing in 2013. Mind you it was still quite ordinary and rough in places.
We stopped for lunch at Lasseters Cave and took photos of the cave and the dry Hull River bed where he holed up for twenty-five days during January 1931 after his camels bolted. His 55 km walk from there to freedom ended towards the end of January.
The number of people travelling has really surprised us this year and when we arrived at the Docker River campground there were already four groups set up and another five individual groups arrived after us.
There is a large red dune behind the camp area with a viewing platform that gives commanding views down the valley that are bordered by the Bloods Range on the right and the Petermann Range on the left. I launched the drone from the top of the dune and from a height of 58 metres and a flight time of nineteen minutes I was able to capture some quite amazing photos and videos.
The WA side of the GCR is normally in a better condition than the NT side but we were surprised that the conditions we experienced yesterday were still with us after 80 km on the west side.
We called into the Giles Meteorological Station and this time we were able to view the artefacts and murals painted by Len Beadell. On our last visit the centre was closed.
Tonight's camp is one of the designated campsites on the GCR. Yara Katajara has an information bay and a drop toilet and some large caves in a breakaway. Another meal cooked over the coals consisted of lamb cutlets, potatoes in foil and peas, corn and carrots.
We refuelled the next day at Warburton before stopping to spend the evening at a Wiki Camps site known as Desert Surf Central because the breakaway resembles waves. We again all cooked our meals over the fire but by 7:30 the rain arrived and it became quite cold so we retreated to the warmth of the vans. It was still raining when we went off to bed and then on and off for the remainder of the evening.
This morning we have a mixture of patchy cloud and areas of blue sky with all the plants and trees around where we are camped looking very refreshed after last nights rain.
The rain had settled the dust as we headed 120 km towards the Tjukayirla Roadhouse where we both refuelled and for an extra $10 each we were able to fill our tanks with filtered water.
The road through to Laverton had only just reopened after last nights rain, with the roadhouse only receiving 13 mm. So it does not take much before these outback roads are closed. For the next 30 km the road surface was still very wet and mushy in places so we were continually changing from side to side to try and escape the mud.
Our camp this evening is another listed in Wiki Camps and know as the Pines. Our total distance today was 308 km. Its a very large area with tracks radiating off in all directions. We put in a large day today so that we only have a short distance to what I consider to be the best campsite on the GCR.
The Giles Jindalee Breakaway commands magnificent views down into a valley and the setting sun shining on the breakaway make for the most amazing photos.
Unfortunately the rain that we have been experiencing looked like it would appear again tonight. When the cloud started to come in from the west we lost any colour that would light up the breakaway below.
We again cooked over the fire while Narelle and Gordon chose another camp oven meal and by 8:30 we had retired yet again to the warmth of our vans and just before the rain arrived.
From here we travelled into Laverton, filling up with diesel and saying our final farewells.
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