June 2018 If Gabbi Garmin acts up today we can tell her to get lost as it’s one long straight road, the Kennedy Developmental Road, from Winton to Hughenden. 214kms of yellow Mitchell grass plains, black soil, cattle and sheep. … Continue reading A homonym of a race meeting
The Royal Flying Doctor Service often uses roads as a landing strip in emergencies. Like so many outback roads the Diamantina Developmental Road in Western Queensland carries markings for this purpose. Continue reading Emergency Landing Strip
May 2015 The Cape Range rises steeply behind the Western Australian town of Exmouth and the Charles Knife Road is steep, windy and rough but what a ride, especially on the way back down. Wandering about we found a plugged … Continue reading Charles Knife Gorge
The countryside is superb, I take over the driving and within minutes the car is shuddering as though we’ve got a puncture. I slow to a crawl and pull into a rest area and we both recognise that “Hey, we’ve been to this rest area before…with the same problem”. It’s the bloody road. Will we ever get used to the concrete roads in NSW? I doubt it. Continue reading Surfaces
We’re camped at Healesville, Vic with friends. It is the middle of winter and freezing. After breakfast we pile into two cars and set out for Warburton following the instructions of the GPS. We soon find ourselves crossing the shoulder of Mt Donna Buang on a dirt road in thick fog. Obviously it is not a popular road as we see only one other car. But to our joy three lyrebirds scurry across our path and the last one stops and shows us his tail feathers. I cannot contain myself as I have never seen a lyrebird in the wild … Continue reading Not One but Three!
56kms Jamieson to Wood’s Point The Yea butcher had recommended that we see ‘the valley’, especially the Kevington Pub. We go in search of The Kevington Hotel and find that it is only 3kms from our camp ground. We drive on as far as Gaffney’s Creek following the Goulburn River all the way. The scenery is breathtaking on every bend. Each property is manicured and all have masses of rhododendron ‘trees’ in full bloom. To us it is reminiscent of New Zealand. Further on the road becomes unsealed but is very good and the farms have given way to virgin bushland … Continue reading Upper Goulburn Valley
We had hoped to get into El Questro and the staff had informed me that our van would have no trouble at all and that he road in was great. We take the iconic Gibb River Road which is sealed at this end and cruise on down to the turn off. It is a wide gravelled road but within minutes we realise that it is a no go for Priscilla. We shudder our way through five kilometres before we can find a spot wide enough to turn around then shudder back to the bitumen cursing bad roads for the second … Continue reading Oh dear, not again
We unhook Priscilla at the Bungle Bungles Caravan Park (Mabel Downs Station) and take off down the track to the Purnululu National Park. Fifty three kilometres of bone jarring corrugations, twists, turns and blind rises. Not to mention the five or six creek crossings although I do notice Woody grinning like a Cheshire Cat with those. When we finally get to the ranger station we learn that there is another 60km return journey just to reach Cathedral Gorge. Deciding to err in favour of caution we choose to visit the nearby lookout before skedaddling back to camp. The view is … Continue reading Boy did we bungle that
Tom Price is WA’s highest town and we decide to take the Jeep up the 4WD track to the top of WA’s highest peak, Mt Nameless. A Mitsubishi comes down the track and the driver declares it as not being too bad. So the challenge is on. I sit gritting my teeth in the back terrified while the boys discuss the use of low range, like there’s a choice! The road rears up in front of us at a frightening angle and it’s rutted from the rains. I’m just about looking for rosary beads and the boys are having a … Continue reading We bought a Jeep….what colour?
The Gillies Range Road in Queensland drops sharply from the Atherton Tableland to Gordonvale near Cairns down on the coast. We had travelled this road several times and had wondered why there was a sign announcing Top gate and another Bottom Gate. It is an extremely steep and winding road and when descending it has stunning views for the passenger but hopefully not the driver. The story goes that in the old days there were 612 hairpin bends. The road would be opened for one way traffic going up for 90 minutes, then traffic would be reversed for 90 minutes. If … Continue reading The Gillies Range Road
