Melbourne to the Kimberley's and the West Coast.
5 1/2 weeks duration.
Distance traveled: 15,500 kms ( 9,700 miles ).
Left home at the end of November and headed across into South Australia via the Finders Rangers and up into Alice Springs in the Northern Territory where we stocked up on all fuel and water to the max before crossing the Tanami Desert to Hall Creek. On the Tanami track we came across the worse corrugations that I have ever seen on the Northern Territory end due to the heavy Road train traffic running supplies to the Gold mine before the wet set in. Once into Western Australia the track improved and came across a burnt out bus from the Aboriginal Community which was due to them driving with no tyres on the right rear and the resultant sparks igniting the oil covered engine in the back.
Just about to leave home and a burnt out bus on the Tanami track.
Further up the track, where Road train's were banned at the time due to the resent rains, we found a trailer that had flipped over sending the tanks plowing into the ground and spilling the Sulpha Nitrate from memory everywhere and taking another 100 meters to stop with the up-turned trailer ( arrowed ) dragging along behind. we also visited the Wolfe Creek Crater which is one of the largest meteorite impacts sites in the world. It is hard to put a scale to the picture but the arrow points to the track that we drove on and the car park at the end of it.
Flipped Road train trailer and Wolfe Creek meteorite crater.
After fueling up at Halls Creek it was off to the Bungle Bungle NP. to visit the massive sandstone beehive rocks it's famous for. The track in was pretty rough and is why most tour operators fly people in by helicopter before transferring to 4wd trucks. It was even more challenging for us with a trailer and had to do the last few river crossings in the dark which meant a lot of guessing when the headlights went under water. Hiking around there was fantastic for the scenery but was damn hot at 45 degree in the shade in you could find any.
Cathedral Gorge in the Bungle Bungle.