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Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 13 at Well 15.
A day for domestic chores.
Empty the loo, do some laundry (with a good water supply) and bake bread in the bread maker.
We often bake while driving, but I reckon we would need to nail the bread maker to the floor on the Canning.
:lol:

P1040621ec.JPG

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 14. 72km.
Well 15 to Well 12.
24-08-05 Well 12.jpg

We top up with water after our showers and laundry. The water is good and between us we fill with about 500 litres. It makes no dent in the level in the well.
P1040623 Well 15 ec.JPG
A variety of terrain and vegetation. There are some wet spots from the rain.
There is a view point on the way.
P1040624e View.JPG
Well 14.
P1040630e well 14.JPG
Well 13.
P1040631e Well 13.JPG
Corrugations still abound.

The damp sand dunes are easy and provide some respite from the corrugations.

The vegetation can vary in a moment.
One minute it is dense bush on rocky ground.......
P1040635e.JPG
Then there is almost a line drawn,.......
P1040636e.JPG
And instantly there is a spinifex plain to the horizon.
P1040637e.JPG

We set up camp at Well 12 which is recently restored and walk to the top of the nearest dune for a look.
24-08-05 Well 12 satelite.jpg
The trucks are in the middle distance.
P1040640e.JPG

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 16 on the Canning Stock Route.
Well 12 to Well 8, 97km.

24-08-07 Well 12 to Well 08.jpeg

Things are changing. We see our last dune and the last Desert Oak.
Water on the track is a majour feature of the day and washouts from previous rain events too, although neither hinder our progress.

P1040662e.JPG
We thought the track around the edge of Lake Aerodrome would be problematic, but not so.
P1040644e.JPG
Corrugations were consistent in their appearances and there were often choices of track, but generally all the choices were poor.

There were patches of thick undergrowth.
P1040669e.JPG

And more water....

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 
Last edited:

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 17 on the Canning Stock Route (southern section)
Well 8 to Well 6. 37km.
24-08-08 Wel 8 to Well 6.jpg
Constantly changing country. Mostly either spinifex plains of dense, low, Mulga scrub.
And plenty more water.
P1040675e.JPG


Well 7.
P1040676e Well 7.JPG

And we call into the Inglebong Hills.
Mt Davis on the right and Inglebong Hills on the left.

From the car park.
P1040677e.JPG
A large rock art gallery.
P1040684e.JPG
J & M wave from the top.
P1040689e.JPG
The car park from part way down.
P1040686e.JPG
A panorama of the country.
P1040687e.JPG
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 18. At well 6.
After breakfast, we climb the hill that is 1km south of camp.
P1040692e.JPG
The main camp and the well are on the left, it was quite busy so we went further to the right.
P1040694e.JPG
P1040695e.JPG
The very attractive camp area amongst the Red River Gums and the recently restored Well 6. The water is reported to be very good.
P1040697e.JPG
So far (touch wood) we have had zero tyre issues. Both the OKA and the Canter have wheel tracks that are not a lot different from a Landcruiser. This tyre is from a Dodge Ram which has a considerably wider wheel track which puts it at risk of more tyre damage.
P1040698e.JPG
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 19, Well 6 to Windich Spring 50km.

A camp visitor.
P1040701e.JPGP1040702ce.JPGP1040704ce.JPG

We lost count, but there were about 25 vehicles in camp last night, so we decided to go for a 4km walk before lining up for water.
P1040707e.JPG
When we got to the well at 0930, we were the only ones left in camp.
P1040708e.JPG
The water, though good, had become somewhat stirred up, so we only took about half of what we wanted on board before we headed off.

Today was less sand, less water and more rock. Corrugations were same old, same old. :x

There was a patch of Xanthorrhoea Preissi on the way, the most northerly place that they appear.
P1040709ec.JPG
At Well 5, we topped up our water tanks.
Not as good as Well 6, but OK except the water level was about 25m down, requiring some extra effort to wind it up. The bucket holds 50L.
P1040710e.JPG
Then onwards towards our next stop.
P1040713e.JPG
Arriving at Windich Spring, we had lunch and then walked along the wetland. Not many birds and no turtles, but very pretty.
P1040718e.JPG

Camp is back away from the water so as not to disturb the wildlife.

P1040722e.JPG

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 
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86scotty

Cynic
That dude seems awful close to that monitor lizard. I guess they aren't aggressive? We have none of those in TN, just hillbillies......with less teeth.

Great pics Peter!
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Thanks Eric.
They are timid. There are a couple of varieties. That one is common to 1.5m, others can go to 2.5m and they deserve some respect.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 20. Canning Stock Route, Wildich Spring to Well 3, 79km.
Map for 2 days ago plus today.
The track has been realigned in some places over some kilometers, so the actual route deviates from the maps in places.
24-08-09&11 Well 6 - Windich Springs - Well 3.jpg
Impressions of the day?
Corrugations? Yes. But no worse than previously.
Flies. Back in cattle country.
Spinifex has largely given way to sparse grasses.
Stoney plains predominate with dense malley and other low trees and bushes in the dry creeks.
Little water on the road.
Salt lakes.
Several slow creek crossings.
Cruise speed? Much the same as previous days at 20-25kph.

We saw just one other vehicle. They thanked us for the videos I have been posting because it gave them up-to-date confidence that the water was not going to be too much for them.

Well 4a
P1040724e Well4a.JPG
?????
P1040725e.JPG
Mine activity?
P1040726e.JPG
Creeks
P1040727e.JPG
P1040728e.JPG
Well 3.
P1040729e Well 3.JPG
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Day 21 and it is (almost) the last day on the Canning Stock Route. 110km.
Well 3 to North Pool where the drovers sold the cattle that had come down the Stock Route.
24-08-12 Well 3 to North Pool.jpg

Impressions of the day included:
Spinifex is back, growing in red sand but no dunes.
Very little water on the track.
Lots of washed out track.
Lots of rocky ground and even some granite.
Corrugations, worse than average. Perhaps drivers each end are still sorting out their speed and tyre pressures?

Leaving Well 3.

Spinifex is back.
P1040738e spinifex.JPG
Some rocky ground.
P1040743e rock.JPG
The Granites.
P1040744e Granite.JPG
P1040746e Granite.JPG
Well 2A
P1040747e Well 2A.JPG
A "jump-up".

Wildflowers.
P1040752e Woild flowers.JPG
Well 2.
P1040754e Well 2.JPG
Posing at the main road intersection.
P1040756e Track end.JPG
You could get a nose bleed going this fast.
P1040760e main road.JPG

Camped at North Pool. No one else here.
(Too many pics to display - see next post.)
We will spend a couple of nights here and then part company with Ali and Julian. They will head NW and we will head SE slowly back towards Adelaide.

It has been a wonderful 3 weeks on the Canning. We have covered 1,050km since filling with fuel at Kunawarritji and consumed 240L of diesel at 22.8L/100km.
Of those 21 days, we drove 14 days at an average of 75km per day. I don't have a count of how many km we walked, but I bet Julian does. :)
The Canning Stock Route is touted as the toughest 4WD challenge in the country (or the world). I don't agree. It is very long and it is very remote and a serious breakdown could be very problematic (we saw 4 trailers and a couple of vehicles abandoned along the way). The challenge of this drive is that it is constantly tempting you to drive a bit faster and if you succumb to that temptation, that is when you break something or hit a tree or rock that could have been avoided and wreck an expensive tyre. We have had no mechanical damage and zero tyre issues.

Thanks to those who came along with us for the ride. We hope you enjoyed the journey.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

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