shakergt
Moderating Team
Has anyone done the Gun Barrel from Warburton to Wiluna? If so is there anything worth seeing along the way? Also I you did it recently how was the road?
Same/similar...Ded Driver said:you go there for the drive, nothing else really
I have driven sections of it about 25yrs ago, but not the full length. My view on 'anything worth seeing' is biased coz I just love the wide open spaces & driving for the hell of it. But there is no shortage of SFA to see
Its not an exciting drive or overly interesting. JMO
Nightjar said:After we had crawled out of the mud approaching Wiluna.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1414/1561622835_archivepotos821.jpg
on a trip to Newman my mate & I discovered red road trains (covered in red dirt) heading north .... we figured they were taking truck loads of red SFA to dress the countryside in :lol:shakergt said:Sounds good I love getting out there and seeing SFA. We have a great country with so much to see and explore
I think it is actually two permits for the Canning stock route, as it is with the Great Central Highway. There are also restrictions about going off the track (but as with most things, it is always a good idea to ask the local people if you have a specific reason, as once on side and they know you, they will sometimes be OK about things). There is some maintenance done (the indigenous people were putting in toilets at the northern end when I drove the track two years ago), and there have been a number of drivers who have done the wrong thing in the past - clowns who damage petroglyphs and rock paintings should be shot, and leaving your rubbish around is a sacrilege in such a remote and beautiful area. However the locals do want to encourage driving of the track and income through their town stores (e.g. Parrngur and Kunnawaritji). There are limited places that you can leave the track if your vehicle is in trouble (the southern stations, Parngurr to Hamersley, Kunnawaritji to Hamersley) - distances are great, it is impossible to tow on most of it, and it is a vehicle graveyard. You MUST have sand flags - dune after dune, day after day - much more than the Simpson. Carry ample water - many of Canning's wells have collapsed and there is almost no other potable surface water on the track outside the two communities (lakes are salt). It is 1,650 km of 4x4 driving from Wiluna to Billiluna, and takes weeks not days. You need about 1,100 km of petrol in one stretch if in a petrol vehicle (and consumptions can run at 28 l/100 km for petrol). No-one should drive it in a single vehicle - I would suggest 3 as the minimum - sometimes it will be fairly easy, other times really hard work, especially around the lakes except in the middle of the Dry. You need to be able to get yourself out of trouble and not depend on others. And keep clearing the spinifex daily that catches under your vehicle (there was a 4x4 still burning and gutted when I was last there, and it started a bushfire over hundreds of sq km). Watch how you drive the corrugations - your battery plates can collapse (both batteries collapsed on one of our vehicles). It is no longer necessary to get petrol drums dumped at the dump site - you can get it in Parrngur.shakergt said:Top info goldierocks as I was not aware that you need a permit for the canning stock route. The central highway and gun barrel I was aware of. When the central highway eventually gets tarmac all the way to the border I wonder if that will still be the case
I don't recall any such information being required - it was automatic, rapid (on-line) and inexpensive from memory.Nightjar said:If you are applying for a permit just say you are sight seeing, don't mention a camera.
roads pretty good at the moment out there shaker......shakergt said:Has anyone done the Gun Barrel from Warburton to Wiluna? If so is there anything worth seeing along the way? Also I you did it recently how was the road?
goldierocks said:don't recall any such information being required - it was automatic, rapid (on-line) and inexpensive from memory.
Enter your email address to join: