Mount Augustus Resort - WA

Motherhen

this is some great info - many thanks.

Murchinson is part of the plan and as you advise we look forward to a number pleasant nights along this section .

there is a track south of Murchison which is around ballinyoo bridges and allows you to cut back to the coast.
just looking to see if there are someone who has travelled that route ??

Mark

Hi Mark

The road services stations, so should be passable, however as much of it is close to the river, there may be damage. If you can find out how to contact Coolcalalaya or Yandi Stations, they would have on the spot knowledge; they were flooded out in March. I have not been through that way.

Mh

Hi Dunc - Has the roadhouse closed, or was it just a supply situation after road damage?

Murchison is known as the only Shire in Australia without a town at all.The settlement (never a town) consisted of the Shire Office, a tiny museum, the roadhouse with caravan park and basic accommodation, and a few staff houses.

Extract from Council website: "The Murchison Council serves 29 stations and a population up to 160, the Shire is approximately 50,000 square kilometres in size. Most properties are managed by family units and the main income is from cattle, meat sheep and some fine wool. The Murchison Shire is often referred to as the "Shire with no Town" this is because no gazetted townsite exists within the Shire and it is believed to be the only Shire in Australia where this exists."

Motherhen

Hi MH, according to the guy I spoke to he said the servo/roadhouse was gone. Basically all/most of the buildings have been flattened and are being burnt. He had hoped to get fuel there as he didn't at Cobra or Mt A.

That is a long way from anywhere else if you were counting on it for fuel. When we were there (2003) there was a queue for fuel - they were very busy.

Mh

Hi PJ Dunc Motherhen
I was at the Murchison Settlement road house
on New years eve 2010/2011.The young lady who was running the
road house was in the proses of moving out.The roadhouse it's self
would have been under 12 months old then,Big new limestone building
with separate limestone ablution block.
If it is in ruins it would be a great shame, may have to do a quick run
to have a look as soon as I get a moment
Norm

Can't say Norm, I presumed from the way he was talking that the building was gone as well, he may just of meant that fuel was not available. I know they got a hell of a lot of water and a number of the buildings were rendered unsafe. I suppose a phone call to the Shire will get the correct answer on that one.

I have made email enquiries to both the Shire and Roadhouse, so will post here if someone else doesn't get the news up first.

Mh

Off the Mullewa Carnarvon Road at t he crossing of the Murchison River on the Eastern side of the road there is a mass of room. Pick the right spot and it is very picturesque.

Bilung Pool is another decent spot on the same road. Rocky Pool on the Carnarvon Mullewa Rd which is a lot closer to Carnarvon when we went there it was very rocky close to the water so if tenting might need to camp well clear.

Along the Cobra Dairy Creek there are a number of spots along this road that would provide opportunities to pull off and spend a night.

Also down the Wanna Rd just north of Cobra there is a waterhole just off th eroad that looked like a good spot when we passed 2 years ago.

Good new for the poster Aimee. Not too much flood damage on the road along the Murchison?

Mh

Here is some direct feedback from the Murchinson R/house.

Fuel (Diesel & Unleaded) is available from here. There is currently no fuel available from Gascoyne Junction, this may be where messages got mixed. They had severe damage from the Feb floods and unfortunately now there won't be any accommodation or fuel supplies until further notice.

Plus some of their thoughts on local camping

There are unlimited camping spots along your route and at the moment the river is being very generous with some very pretty spots to pull up. One of the most popular is Bilung Pool - approx. 150km north of the Murchison settlement

PJ ( Mark)

What a good and reassuring reply Mark.Well done.

Mh

Aimee you are quite correct I was referring to the one in Gascoyne Junction & not the Murchison RH. BTW Murchison RH is a good clean establishment.

Well now that the mystery has been unravelled, it seems that a number of us have communicated with the new people running the new Murchison Roadhouse and camping area. The Shire seems happy for people to bush camp and as mentioned, Biliung Pool andBallinyoo Bridge are favoured places. A good place to visit and support.Tourism Shire of Murchison

Mh

I was at Murchison Settlement a few weeks ago.

Great place with a nice new rammed earth roadhouse and ablutions. Smart Polo fields, caravan park and green lawn all around the club house and shire office. Certainly an oasis with calm and friendly people.

Wooleen station nearby to Murchison is a great station stay with excellent newish rammed earth units and a well organised station stay. The three hour station tour was well worth it.

We came from Kalbarri and headed north along the NW Coastal Highway, turning right not far after Billabong Roadhouse. We used Butchers Track to get across to Murchison. It's poorly named and is not anything like a track. It is a well formed road and well repaired after the substantial rains.

The country is green in places, plenty of wildlife - locusts, frogs etc etc from the rains and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Maybe partly because it was our first without the kids....

The Murchison was still flowing where it crossed the roads, though well below flooding over onto the road. I have some recollection that the road to the coast south of Murchison was closed, but Butchers Track was certainly comfortable travelling.

Tim

sounds like theve improved it

was there in 09 not that long before it closed from memory there was a fair bit of grass , dunnys were genuinly decrepid with no hot water (weather was fairly warm though as it was september)

fuel was a reasnable $1.80 something

at $10 pn it seemed good enough in the absence of bush camping oportunities

It must have improved a lot if people want to return there. When the Cook and I were there 2 years ago it was disgraceful, toilets were filthy and moved from side to side, showers had no hot water and were filthy, likewise the basins were filthy.
The cleaner seemed to spend her time wandering around with a fag hanging out of her mouth. Yuk.
Some oldies arrived in a small bus to stay overnight and complained there were insects running riot in their donga type rooms and the so called manager gave them half a can of aeroguard to kill them with!
There were just 3 power points people were struggling to get onto and parking very close to each other.
The Cook and I moved out after 1 night as others were too close for comfort and we wouldn't pay any more for such disgusting conditions.
We'll go again though to see what we missed last time if it really has improved.
AlanH.