Mount Augustus

We were now heading towards Mount Augustus National Park, which was a further 269 km away. After leaving the Kennedy Range National Park access road, we continued north. 

 

The Ullawarra Road would lead us past Mount Sandiman towards Mangaroon Station, then turn east past Gifford Creek and Cobra Stations before entering the national park.

The drive took five and a half hours to complete and was very rough, with many sections of quite severe corrugations and numerous floodways. All the floodways had a mixture of heavy corrugations before and after, with rough and rocky bases. We caught our first glimpses of Mount Augustus from 45 km away. It's twice the size of Uluru but is covered in greenery, unlike Uluru, which is completely bare. 

During our stay at Mount Augustus, we encountered strong, gusty winds, so we decided against attempting the summit climb. However, we did the 46 km loop road around its base to visit the smaller tracks and sites.
 
The campground is privately owned and located just outside the national park. It is part of Mount Augustus Station, which spans over 1.25 million acres and was established in 1887.
 
We opted to camp in the non-powered section for $22 per night. There is also a lovely grassy area where you can camp with power, but the only restriction is that no wheels are allowed on the grass.
 
Wiki Camps lists the following services here, including a dump point, drinking water, mobile phone coverage, and internet access. This information is incorrect, as none of these facilities are available. Diesel fuel was available at $1.75 CPL, which was reasonable.

Cattle Pool is a permanent waterhole on the Lyons River and is a surprising feature in this very dry and harsh country. It attracts corellas and many water birds, and both sides are lined with huge river red gums.

We left Mount Augustus heading south through the Aboriginal community of Burringarrah, then drove past Landor Station, which was hosting its annual picnic races. From there, we turned west past Dalgety Downs before joining the Carnarvon Mullewa Road as we continued further south. 

This road remained quite good, with only minor corrugations and the occasional bull dust hole. It was certainly nothing like the poor conditions we had experienced from Kennedy Range. 

We stopped for lunch at Bilung Pool, another surprise in this dry landscape. Drovers spent months bringing cattle and sheep down from the De Grey and Ashburton areas to markets in the south, and this spot was a true oasis along the way. Apart from providing water for the stock, this spot would have been a pleasant place to spend a few days.

Well 19 was part of a series of wells dug along the stock route to supply water every 12 to 20 kilometres. A total of 52 were excavated, each capable of watering 3000 sheep or 300 cattle. This particular well was drilled to a depth of 33 feet.

By the time we reached the Murchison Roadhouse, I was ready to call it a day. $15 for a non-powered site and camping on lovely green grass was a very welcome change.