Australia - The Lonely Gunbarrel Highway

My trip from central to west Australia via the very remote Gunbarrel highway, loads of corrugation and in the end two yawning dingos...

From Wiki: The Gunbarrel Highway is an isolated desert track in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, and it consists of 1400km of washaways, heavy corrugations, stone, sand and flood plains. The Gunbarrel Highway connects Victory Downs, just north of the Northern Territory/South Australia border to Carnegie Station in Western Australia (this is the direction the road was constructed). Some sources also incorrectly show the highway extending west to Wiluna.

The route passes directly into Aboriginal Reserves and it is a legal requirement for travellers to hold a valid Transit Permit at the time of travel. Three permits are required and they are available from the Department of Indigenous Affairs. The permits are free. Some of the eastern section of the road is now named the Tjukaruru Road for the Aboriginal people that live in this area.

The Gunbarrel Highway was the first road built as part of Australia's role in the weapons research facility called Woomera; the atomic bomb testing site in this area later named Maralinga. Construction began in 1955 and was finally completed on 15 November 1958 when the construction crew reached Carnegie.

The highway was surveyed and constructed under the direction of legendary bushman Len Beadell, who was responsible for numerous other roads in Australia that opened up some of the most remote desert areas of the continent in the 1950s and 1960s. Its name comes from Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party so named because the roads they built through the relatively flat desert country included many long straight sections.

By any standard, this is a long and tough haul through very remote territory. The track varies from stony to sandy with corrugations, ruts, washaways and sometimes mud. Its isolation require its residents be totally self-sufficient with water, food and fuel (the longest distance between fuel outlets is 489 km, between Warburton and Carnegie Station.)

The part of the highway approximately between Warburton and Warakurna (near Giles) has now been abandoned because of the construction of a more direct route that now forms part of the Great Central Road.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Gunbarrel
• Highway
• Australia
• Remote
• 4WD
• Dingo
• Toyota
• Land
• Cruiser
• HJ60
• Corrugation
• 4x4
• Four-wheel Drive
• Mud
• Offroad
• Tourism
• Road
• Driving

[olbassy]

Worked for International Nickel at Wingellina 1966-1967.....(ute driver/radio operator).....used to know every bit of the road from Mulga Park to Blackstone and up to Giles....magic times back then!

[billandmaryc]

70kph is way too fast to drive on the Gunbarrel!!

[6awsomepeople]

Nice red road.

[jbpoole1]

Great to see some more of the Gunbarrel and shows it can get pretty rough. Hope you enjoyed it, it's a beautiful part of the world