Next Big Project

For some time I have been considering what might be undertaken as the next big project.  Eventually I decided on a trip across Australia.  OK, we’ve done that before west to east and south to north by both land and air.  However what I’d like to do is travel overland west to east through the middle.  This has a number of challenges.  There are a few tracks, but no roads.  Definitely no service stations, supermarkets or water points.  The distances are vast and some people who have attempted this with insufficient preparation have died.

It will require good planning, excellent navigation and a suitable vehicle. 

There are tracks which can be used during suitable weather conditions.  The journey shouldn’t be attempted during summer as the high temperatures can kill both humans or their vehicle.  Winter can result in localized flooding entrapping the vehicle. 

The Stuart Highway is a sealed road running north to south through the middle of Australia.  To the west of the highway the tracks were mostly constructed in the 50’s and 60’s as part of the UK missile testing program conducted at the Woomera Rocket Range.  Over in the west the Canning Stock Route runs north-south.  It was built in the 1920’s to enable the big cattle stations in the NW of Western Australia to move their cattle to the markets in the south of the State.  The Tanami Track runs from Alice Springs in the centre of Australia to the NW coast.

To the east of the Stuart Highway is the Simpson Desert.  Most of the tracks in this area were constructed by mining exploration companies in the 60’s.  Not much maintenance is done on these tracks. The following map shows the ghosted outline of Australia on Europe.  I’ve then superimposed the rough location of the tracks.  The roads in the east and along the southern coast will be on bitumen.

My water and fuel calculations indicate the vehicle will not have the necessary carrying capacity.  I’ll therefore need to tow a suitable trailer.  After looking at the distances to be covered I think the adventure will need to be divided into two projects.  A circuit in the west across the Great Victorian Desert to Alice Springs.  Then NW across the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts before heading south through the Little Sandy Desert. The eastern circuit will taken me through the Simpson and Strzelecki Deserts to Birdsville and then north to Mount Isa before heading east to Townsville where I will turn south down the Princess Highway to Sydney. Then I’ll turn west and cross the Blue Mountains to had back to Perth via Adelaide.  From Townsville the journey will be on bitumen.