I've been looking into the permits required for
places I hope to visit next year. The AB Highway and
Maralinga are some of those
places. And I was hoping I could reach
Maralinga from Emu, as Stephen L has written about. I located the
Maralinga Tjarutja permit application online, and that alone has sparked a lot of questions in my mind!
Click here for the online permit application
At the top of the permit application, is the statement, "access is not permitted from
Emu Junction to
Maralinga Village.
Maralinga Village is a closed site."
I know people have been using the track between Emu and
Maralinga, so why does the permit application state access is not permitted?
Also, until I read the permit application, I was not aware of the $25/vehicle entry fee. Or of the nightly camping fee for
Mamungari Conservation Park, which has to be paid in advance. Given the size of the CP, it seems at least one night of camping in it is inevitable.
When applying for the permit, travellers need to plan each night's stay in Mamungari at the time of applying for the permit, as
well as specifying the precise dates of entry and exit from the
Maralinga Tjarutja lands. In principle, that's not a problem. However, if I'm applying weeks ahead for this permit, and will be travelling continuously (and often in remote areas) for 4 weeks or so before starting out the AB, it seems difficult to set and maintain a precise itinerary? Track conditions, weather, or other factors could slow my progress along the way.
In reality, how much notice is required to obtain a permit? The information with the application states 4-6 weeks. Could anyone describe their recent experience with this process?
Also, I'd never before seen the National Parks "Trip Intentions" form that's included in the online permit application (last two pages of it). Is this required? Or simply a service offered by the Parks, to add an extra measure of safety for travellers?
I first started looking at the permits information on the EO Trek for the AB Highway. But after doing further research, it appears some of the information on that page is a bit out of date.