Outback 4WD trip 2006 - part 2, Gravity Lake to Durba Spring

[TIMMY 666]

G’day all,

I’ve finished typing up part 2 of the 4WD trip now. From Gravity lake, continuing along the Canning Stock Route to Durba Spring…
Enjoy!

BTW, if you didn’t see part 1, you can view it here:

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...d.php?t=107735

Day 12 – everyone left Gravity Lake at about 8am and met across the other side for some dune driving tips. Tony, using me as the demo driver, demonstrated the benefits of lower tyre pressures when driving on soft sand: nearly every dune on the CSR has large, consecutive divots on the track caused by excessive wheelspin from the useless tossers that refuse to lower their tyre pressures. Next stops: smoko, Well 44 for a break and photos, lunch, Well 43, Well 42, smoko and finally the beautiful Well 41 campsite.

Day 13 – left camp and continued driving the dunes of the CSR. First stop was Well 41 for a breather and some piccys. Next was Michael Tobin’s grave and nearby Well 40 (which was more like a small lake, see pic) for smoko. Next stops: a picturesque ridge for lunch, well 39, and lastly, a beautiful camp amongst the desert oaks, near well 37.

Day 14 – before we left, everyone walked to well 37 for a look at the graves, the well and for a stretch of the legs. Once we’d all finished poking around we strolled back to camp and continued south along the CSR. Next stops: well 37, 36, 35, 34 and finally camp for day 14, well 33. Well 33 is near the Aboriginal community Kunawarritji, everyone bought ice creams and also fuel for a cool $2.90 per litre, reduced from $3.10 per litre!

Day 15 – Everyone went out to Kunawarritji again to dispose of last night’s rubbish and also to buy a few things. Stops: smoko, well 32, well 31 for lunch, well 30, an ancient cave for arvo smoko and lastly, Thring Rock, our campsite for day 15. That afternoon I climbed to the top of Thring Rock to watch the sunset and was rewarded with fantastic views of the surrounding landscape.

Day 16 – Went for another climb up Thring rock before we left. Stops: well 29, an unfortunate stop; one of Tony’s leaf springs broke but was fixed with some improvising, well 28, a native well (lunch), well 27, well 26 for a refreshing shower and a water top-up, and finally, camp on a large claypan between two dunes.

Day 17 – Left the bloody windy camp and continued south. Stops: smoko, well 24, well 23, the well 23 fuel dump (pre-paid 200l drums of fuel are dropped off courtesy of the Capricorn roadhouse), Georgia bore for a top-up of everyone’s drinking water, well 22 and finally, day 17 camp next to a picturesque dune. The sunset was brilliant!

Day 18 – Left camp and continued south on the CSR. Stops: Well 21, Lake Disappointment (a vast salt lake which fills occasionally) for morning tea and a walk, Savoury Creek, a salty creek that flows into Lake Disappointment, which we crossed with ease, well 19 (we skipped well 20), the Tropic of Capricorn for some piccys, Onegunyah Rockhole, and finally camp: a nice claypan to wrap-up day 18.

Day 19 – Stops: well 18, smoko next to a rocky ridge not far from the Diebil Hills, Diebil Spring: a small spring that flows out the side of a rocky escarpment, the best water I’ve ever tasted, lunch next to the Diebil Hills, and finally, Durba Spring: a beautiful Oasis in the desert and also camp for the next 2 nights.

Day 20 – Day twenty was spent lazing around camp, cooking camp-oven bread and exploring the gorge. It’s without a doubt the best campsite along the entire CSR: palms, huge gum trees, parrots galore, a nice waterhole, soft grass, a toilet, plenty of area to camp, and it’s all situated in a gorge, perfect for exploring! You simply don’t want to leave!

I hope you enjoy the story and the pics

Cheers,

Tim.


Photos:

day 12 - camp near well 41

day 13 - a big dune
- one of the many flowering plants
- our first Thorny Devil of the trip
- well 40, flooded

day 14 - Duboisia Hopwoodii, used by aboriginals to make 'pituri', a narcotic containing nictotine
- zebra finches as well 36
- well 33, camp. The goldfish pond! WTF?

[TIMMY 666]

Day 14 - camp, well 33. The shower, the tank and the windmill

Day 15 - one of the hundreds of camels we saw throughout the trip. Australia has the most pure-bred camels in the world.
- a grevillea's flowers at well 30
- lizard @ well 32
- spinifex on Thring Rock
- sunset from Thring Rock
- Thring Rock, view from camp

Day 16 - Camp on a large claypan

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Day 16 - Tony & Brenda's Landcruiser

Day 17 - some poor bastard's burnt-out Prado, caused by a buildup of spinifex
- flower close-up
- fuel drums @ the well 23 fuel dump
- Georgis Bore, hand pump
- close-up of a plants resin, it's actually nice and sweet
- SMILE!
- sunset at camp

[TIMMY 666]

Day 17 - a typical CSR dune

Day 18 - 2 frogs and a lizard in their salty grave
- a small succulent plant's tiny flowers
- a small bay in Lake Disappointment
- Savoury Creek, one of the feeder creeks of Lake Disappointment
- The Tropic of Capricorn
- Aboriginal Art at Diebil Spring
- Diebil Spring

[TIMMY 666]

Day 19 - richard pippet's nest @ last night's camp
- the Diebil Hills
- more of the Diebil Hills
- a small part of the camping area at Durba Spring
- my walk up the gorge no.1
- my walk up the gorge no.2
- Palms at Durba Spring

Thats all for now...

Tim.