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Coast to Coast: May-June 2025
  • Helen and Charlie Leahy
  • Helen and Charlie Leahy

Coast to Coast: May-June 2025

Uma 37aventura de um dia na Helen and Charlie Leia mais
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  • Inicio da viagem
    14 de maio de 2025
    Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Unscheduled stop at Bob Jane's

    And we’re off!

    14 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Who knows where we will spend tonight …
    After driving on the motorway we discovered that the “wheel balancing” done for the 2 new tyres last week was dodge! So we detoured to Campbelltown to get the wheels balanced.
    Next stop Camden airport to pick up a new VHF/UHF antenna.
    Steering wobbling on the freeway so decided to try and get it fixed in Bathurst. This delay had an upside as we were able to meet up with Rose for lunch at Porters Cafe!    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Ute-Zilla
    Golden ValleyCircle workCamels: first outback utesClancy Stops the OverflowDame Edna's LoouteUte-opiaClean Running Backed by NedUte of Arms

    Condoblin

    15–16 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After getting yet another wheel balance in Parkes, we drove onto Condobolin for the night. Just up the road from the park at the information centre is Utes in the Paddock. This is a unique display of art on the iconic "Holden Ute". There are currently 20 Utes on display painted by some of the best outback artists.

    In 2020, Condobolin’s popular Utes in the Paddock were named "Best Sculpture Park or Trail" at the Australian Street Art Awards.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Ivanhoe-Menindee

    16–17 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Leaving Condo on the Lachlan Valley Way which is bitumen with long gravel sections towards Lake Cargelligo and Hillston for a picnic lunch at the dried up man-made Lake Woorabinda.

    About 110kms south of Menindee we drove off the road to find a camp spot for the night. Lots a firewood around for a warming campfire with spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. A quick outdoor shower and then to bed.Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Last time we were here there was no water

    Menindee Lakes

    17 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Breakfast around the campfire before heading back on the claytop track to Menindee. The township doesn’t look much improved from our last visit over 15 years ago except Menindee Lake is almost full. We had our lunch at Copi Hollow recreation area on Pamamaroo Lake which is also home to the Broken Hill Speedboat Club. Further up the road towards Broken Hill is a lookout where a weir feeds water into Menindee Lake.
    Another 110kms on and we arrived in Broken Hill where we topped up our fuel, gas and water. Once over the border into South Australia we headed for Bimbowrie Conservation Park where we set up our bush camp for the night. Again plenty of wood for a campfire and when the wind dropped off we had the perfect campsite.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Bimbowrie Conservation Park

    18–19 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Bimbowrie was a former sheep station situated in the Olary Ranges, South Australia, and was purchased by the South Australian Government as a conservation park in 2004. The area comprises some 72,216 hectares.

    As it got later the wind picked up and I don’t think I slept much worrying whether we were going to get blown away. Woke up to clear skies, a little less wind and a warm fire.

    Continued on the Barrier Highway to Peterborough where we stopped for lunch and a small shop. Up to Orroroo and then Hawker for the night.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Aroona Dam

    19 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Built by the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) between 1952 and 1955, Aroona Dam was established to supply the nearby mining town of Leigh Creek and its coalfield.

    Coal mining operations ceased in 2015, and the following year, the town started to source its water from a bore field a few kilometres to the south. The population decreased from 2,500 to 91.

    Now, Aroona Dam’s pristine waters and surrounding bush are a sanctuary for birdlife and introduced wallabies.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Ochre Cliffs

    19 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Stopped here for lunch. It is believed that ochre quarried here was judged to be such high quality that it was traded with other groups of Aborigines who lived hundreds and even thousands of kilometres away.

    These quarries were of great importance to the aborigines as they provided a rich source of multi– coloured ochre used for ceremonial, ornamental, medicinal and artistic purposes.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Rocket Tracking Emplacement

    20 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Across the track from Beresford is this ruin of the rocket tracking emplacement. This location was used as part of the global space race to track rockets launched from Woomera in the 1960s and 1970s.
    The site represents a piece of Australia's space history, being a crucial location during the intense global competition to explore space.     Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    The BubblerBlanche Cup

    The Bubbler and Blanche Cup

    20 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park, on the Oodnadatta Track.
    The entrance to the park is about six kilometres south east of Coward Springs to these natural artesian springs. Mound springs are places where the underground water of the Great Artesian Basin (the world's largest aquifer) reaches the earth's surface. The mound is formed by the dissolved salts left by the evaporated water. It is quite an odd thing to realise that you are in the driest part of the driest state of the driest continent in the world, and yet you are walking on an enormous "underground sea!"
    Hamilton Hill, an otherwise flat landscape, is a large extinct mound spring that indicates much higher flows from mound springs in the geological past.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Water tower and de-mineralisation treatment tower

    Beresford siding and bore

    20 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    The Beresford Siding on the Old Ghan railway track. The building was accommodation for the fettler's, men who maintained the rail line.
    The square tank contained water for the steam engines. The circular tower alongside the tank was a de-mineralisation tower (water softener). During WWII the rail line was pressed to its limits and freshwater was limited. The de-mineralisation towers were built to remove salt from bore water so that it could be used by the trains.Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Erldunda

    21–22 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Steady day of driving on the Oodnadatta Track, through Oodnadatta where we didn’t bother to stop as it was looking more unsavoury from our visit last year. More hilly terrain at this end of the track with more vegetation.
    Turning north on to the Stuart Highway and stopped at Erldunda Roadhouse on the corner of the Lasseter Highway.
    Up early heading west towards Yulara, thought we’d see if we could get closer to Mt Conner, you can’t but we managed to see a herd of camels instead.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    5.30pm
    4.30pm5.00pm5.45pm6.05pm6.20pm6.30pm

    Uluru

    22–24 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Arrived Yulara in time for lunch at Sails in the Desert. Walked around “town” and did a small shop. Drove into the park and set ourselves up for a couple of hours of sunset viewing with a bottle of champers!Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Kata Tjuṯa (The Olgas)
    Turnoff to TjukurlaSign to Kintore which is our destination for tomorrowPitch black here except for the fire!1SunsetSandy Blight Junction Rd

    Sandy Blight Junction Road

    24 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Left Yulara this morning heading west on the Kata Tjuṯa Road towards the WA border. A quick stop at the lookout then continued west until we reached the Sandy Blight Junction Road. Once over the border we gained 1 1/2 hours which was a bonus.
    It was built under the direction of legendary surveyor Len Beadell as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera, South Australia. The start of the track is in good condition and wide, once we passed the turnoff to the Tjukurla community the track immediately reduces to a single lane narrow track. Slow going with an average speed of around 30kph. Spinifex and desert oaks line the track and we found a great clearing about 800m off the track and behind some sand dunes to camp the night. Enough wood for a campfire, and fortunately not too cold.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Len Beadell’s blaze tree

    25 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Len Beadell placed many signposts at significant points along the road. Many of the original plaques were stolen and so all have been replaced by replicas. There are about four of these blaze trees along the track including a WA/NT border marker and Tropic of Capricorn marker.Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Mt Leisler
    Petrol bowserFilling up in Kintore

    SBJ Rd to Kintore

    25 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Woke early due to our body clock on NT time - the track continued to be corrugated and in parts very rocky with many washed out sections with bypasses. The track is very windy to avoid sand dunes and crosses back into NT. 331 kms later we reach Kintore, a small aboriginal community where we were able to top up fuel from a self serve pump which is supposed to operate 24/7.
    Heading west, crossing into WA again on the Gary Junction Rd, and regaining the hour and a half lost when we were back in NT, we started scouting for a campsite off the road. Not many places due to the spinifex grass. We finally found an abandoned and sheltered gravel pit about 150kms west of Kintore. Once the flies disappeared we were happy with our site. Well that was until it started to rain! We had had dinner, had our bush shower and were in bed when we decided it was safer to move on than risk a night of constant rain and wake up to a muddy quagmire. So after a quick pack up we were back on the track and within about 15 minutes we found a gravel side road to pop the rooftop tent up again. An array of insects, especially moths, had replaced the flies so it was lights out early.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Waterhole just off the track
    Trying to avoid the corrugations

    Kiwirrkurra Rd

    26 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Up very early this morning as we were keen to get away from the rain. A lot of rain is forecast which could mean roads becoming impassable and closed and us being stranded somewhere for days. We decided to stick to our plan of heading west and basically suck it and see. There is very little accurate forecasting in these remote areas.
    The Kiwirrkurra Road is very corrugated and we came upon two graders early on but they have a long way to go to making this a decent gravel road.    Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante
    Zebra Finches

    Jupiter Well

    26 de maio de 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Jupiter Well is located on the Gary Junction road 146 km west of Kiwirrkurra and 210 km east of the Canning Stock Route. The well has excellent water available from a hand pump from which we were able to fill our tanks. After we finished pumping the water a huge flock of zebra finches flew in and out around us several times. Would be a great campsite except it’s only 11am. There is even a pit toilet here but do not recommend using!Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Kunawarritji

    26–27 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Arrived at Kunawarritji just in time before the general store closed.
    Kunawarritji is an Aboriginal community in the Pilbara region and located on the Canning Stock Route at Well 33.
    Filled up with fuel and decided to stay here for the night as it was getting too late to set off again and try to find a campsite. We appear to be the only ones here tonight so we have made ourselves at home setting up our kitchen on the balcony … with the constant companionship of the local cat.Leia mais

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  • Helen and Charlie LeahyCoast to Coast: May-June 2025Viajante

    Kidson Track

    27–28 de mai. 2025, Austrália ⋅ 🌫 19 °C

    Very overcast this morning and it rained overnight - quickly packed up before the rain returned.
    The Kidson Track is approximately 606kms and runs from Well 33 (on the Canning Stock Route, and 7kms from Kunawarritji) to Eighty Mile Beach. We were on the road by 8.15am and the first 107kms is maintained and by 11.15am were at the Telfer turnoff where the road turns into an abandoned 2 wheel track.
    The Kidson Track/Nyangumarta Highway is one of the longest private roads in the world. It was created in the late 1960s by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET) for exploration purposes on unallocated crown land.
    We were expecting it to be overgrown in parts but that turned out to be an understatement! The Spinifex was a metre and a half tall and growing down the middle of the track in many sections creating a potential fire hazard. The road surface itself wasn’t too bad except for the occasional bad washouts and rocky corrugated sections.
    A $55 permit is required to drive on this track and there are 2 designated camping sites but we were about 100kms from the nearest one so managed to find a relatively clear spot as the sun was setting. A fog was moving in so after bacon and eggs for dinner and a bush shower we climbed up to bed.    Leia mais

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