Kulgera to Perth Day 27 - Terhan Rockhole to Goongarrie Station NP

Day 27 - Saturday 29/6/02
Start - Terhan Rockhole
Stop - Goongarrie Station NP
Trip Odometer - 616.2 km
Stopped time - 1:36 hr
Moving average - 85.9 km/hr
Moving time - 7:10 hr
Max speed - 107.0 km/hr

Today would be our last day on the Great Central Road and we know that tar and the real world is not far away. A bit depressing really...

Between Terhan Rockhole and Tjukaryrila is a tarred section of road built as an emergency runway for the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) ... a little reminder that although comfortable and secure in your 4WD vehicle, this is a remote area.

Tjukaryrila is the last fuel service for the next 310km to Laverton, pronounced Lay-ver-ton, but the main road bypasses the township.

The David Carnegie Road is still well signposted on the RHS, rating it as a 4WD only track. 60km along this track is the Express Spring, but unfortunately we didn't plan to make all the possible diversions from the route to Laverton (otherwise we'd never get home) so we didn't head up to the spring.... next time!!!

The Beegull Waterholes and Caves on the left hand side of the track can be clearly seen by a white Christian cross on the top of a hill. This cross is just a symbol of peace that has been placed there in recent times but the site contains traditional aboriginal rock paintings in the cave. It has had some vandalism, but you can still make out some good art.

The highlight of the day however, would have to be our excursion south along the Pt Sunday track on the left hand side. We had passed the southern end of the Pt Sunday track a few weeks earlier on the Anne Beadell so this was the northern end of it. The sign marking the turnoff has been vandalised and moved so the track we followed was overgrown but it eventually joined up to the correct path. We continued south along the track for about 5km and found a well marked intersection with distances to Laverton and Yemarna (on the Anne Beadell). We considered continuing on but since we have never completed the full length of the Great Central Road we really need to stick to our plan for the purposes of work. Rather than back-track however, we plotted a triangular route back up to the Great Central Road. The route was almost impassable and we found ourselves coming to the back of a sign (facing the other way) "Road Closed". It had been purposely cut up by road digging machinery and left to become overgrown. We were able to pick up another track and make our way out to the main road so it was a bit of fun and now we know what's there.

There are various P-bays (roadside parking bays) along the Great Central Road but we certainly would not choose any of them for a camping spot. They are very close to the road and provide no protection. OK if you're in a caravan I suppose, but not the choice for tent campers.

Not far out of Laverton we passed the quarantine bin. It is an unmanned location so its an honesty system with clear instructions. We also picked up mobile phone coverage again marking the start of the real world again. The last few days of a great remote trip are always a bit depressing. We are tempted to turn back around...

Laverton was buzzing today with markets and people everywhere so we stopped and had lunch in the sun at the park. Rather than drive through Leonora we picked up a bypass route along the "Old Laverton Road that heads south through Kookyine before meeting the Goldfields Highway 198km north of Kalgoorlie.

We picked camp at Goongarrie Station National Park (off the Goldfields Highway) that has ruins, rubble and graves and is well marked. We made it a fantastic last night camp for the trip.