Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005 at 21:30
Hi Gossy,
I've done the exact trip you describe twice, and the
Cook road 4 times in 4 years. Its nice country and gets pretty interesting if you take the time to research it.
#1 Yes - nothing spectacular, but you'll see whales at the bight, nullabor caves,
Cook (almost abandoned town), Rockholes used by aboriginal people and
explorers, Len Beadell signs and history, Vokes
Hill, great tracks across the dunes, Lake Wyatt, Superb stands of Black Oaks, and the odd Marble Gums, Camels, Wombats, Echidnas, Survey markers, Trig Points, Aboriginal Dams, Shed rainwater tanks, remains of butt tanks, and on the Anne Beadell section you'll stand on the points where the Totem 1 and Totem 2 bombs were let off, witness the eerie landscape that surrounds, see what little remains of the township of Emu; Drive up Emu claypan
airstrip, See the Camera 1 site; Stand on the observation point; the witness some of the deepest corrugations you'll get anywhere; then tallaringa
well, past
Mabel Creek and onto
Coober Pedy. I'm sure theres heaps of other stuff which I've missed. Oh and you can
bush camp with some of the best mulga firewood you'll get anywhere (
camp oven every night). Its one of the best desert trips you can do, as long as you take your time, and read about Len Beadell, the atomic bombs and read Mark Shephards Book on teh
Great Victoria Desert. If you don't do the research, you may be bored. This desert has not be destroyed by white man or cattle - naturally you need to keep it like that.
#2 4wding is easy, but the track is hard on your vehicle (corrugations). You must be totally self sufficient - getting help out there is close on impossible.
#3 Yes, you need 4 permits. One from National Parks
Ceduna; One from
Maralinga Tjutaja Lands; One from Dept of Defence and one from National Parks
Port Augusta for Tallaginga. See the Anne Beadell trip notes on this site. Just phone them all up, they will fax you the forms - fill them in and fax them back, and the permits should come within the week (in my experience).
#4 Its a great 9 day trip from
Adelaide to
Adelaide, so I guess if you spend 6 days from Nullabor to
Coober Pedy, you'll have a good time.
#5 May is a great time, might still be a bit warmish, but shouldn't be hot. Won't be many people out tehre them (never is anyway).
Also you'll need some navigation skills with a GPS or Oziexplorer - theres no signposts out there (apart from Lens), and around
Cook, theres plenty of stray tracks.
I am currently writing up this trip for Andrew Hiscocks mag, 4wheelingSA, so hopefully I'll pull my finger out and get it done for the next edition.
Cheers
Phil
AnswerID:
143903
Follow Up By: equinox-Kings Canyon - Thursday, Dec 15, 2005 at 09:18
Thursday, Dec 15, 2005 at 09:18
"Also you'll need some navigation skills with a GPS or Oziexplorer - theres no signposts out there (apart from Lens), and around
Cook, theres plenty of stray tracks."
Come on Phil - Are you saying that a good map and compass and vehicle odometre and of course common sense doesn't cut it these days? I hope your GPS batteries never go flat.
IMHO!!
Cheers
Eq.
FollowupID:
397436
Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Dec 15, 2005 at 13:27
Thursday, Dec 15, 2005 at 13:27
Equinox,
I agree with you. But if you take the wrong track heading north west from
Cook rather than the one heading due north, you can be a long way off track without realising it.
When I reply to a post, I think I have the consider the skills and experience of the people who will read it and use the info. Australia is full of stories of people getting lost out in the desert and dying. I'm just conveying a warning, so people don't go to these
places underprepared.
Cheers
phil
FollowupID:
397479