Well as the name states I did both of these tracks last week. Trip is as follows:
Day 1 - Perth to Kalgoorlie, we drove 80kms out of town down the trans line and camped in the bush. Pretty easy drive for the first day.
Day 2 - From our bush camp we made it to Rawlinna by lunchtime, track was well maintained and we could easily sit on 80 - 100km/h. After trying to repair the water pump on the W2A without much luck we continued up the Connie Sue highway and did another 160 odd kilometres before calling it a day and camping in the bush. The first section through the cattle station paddocks was very rough and slow with lots of rocks.
Day 3 - Bush camp to Tjukayirla Roadhouse. After leaving our bush camp we made good time until getting to Neale Junction, after that it was slower as the track conditions got progressively worse. We reached our turn off point at 2pm the Parallel Access road. This road was not well travelled and took us 4 hrs to travel 110kms. There were some amazing rutted hill climbs but you could still do them in 2wd. We then travelled 80kms to the road house and stayed there the night. 12hrs driving for the day.
Day 4 - Tjukayirla Roadhouse to bush camp. We left the roadhouse after fuelling up and travelled west and turned onto the David Carnegie track. It was an easy first 75km to Empress springs but after that it was a lot slower as it is not maintained. We came out on the Gunbarrell Highway at 3:30pm and drove a little way west towards Wiluna before setting up camp in the bush.
Day 5 - Bush camp to Sandstone. We left the bush camp at about 630am and drove straight through to Wiluna arriving at lunchtime. We then took the dirt road to the small town of Sandstone and stayed the night in the pub.
Day 6 - Sandstone to Southern Cross. Again leaving early in the morning we drove south towards Coolgardie, stopping at Rowles Lagoon for lunch. We then did 200 odd kms back towards Perth before hunkering down at a Hotel for the night.
Day 7 - Southern Cross to Perth. Got up early and drove home to Perth by 11am.
All up we did 3700kms, the track could all be done in 2wd but a well prepared 4wd with 2 spares and provisions to carry enough fuel for 1100kms is needed. I took 4 x 20L jerry cans. There are some good rutted out sections that I had a go in that required some rear locker action and a bit of thought to where the wheels are going. These sections all had chicken tracks
Damage: 1 blown tire (I hit a large rock doing 80km/h), one slow leaking tire (should be able to be repaired), W2A pump broke the bracket off and pulled the wiring out, there is a lot of loose bolts due to the corrugation's and rough nature of the track.
For next time: I would do it again but a long range tank is essential, tipping jerry cans in the tank every night is a hassle and they take up too much space. A rear bar with a tire carrier would also be nice to get the 2nd spare out of the tray.
Day 1 - Perth to Kalgoorlie, we drove 80kms out of town down the trans line and camped in the bush. Pretty easy drive for the first day.
Day 2 - From our bush camp we made it to Rawlinna by lunchtime, track was well maintained and we could easily sit on 80 - 100km/h. After trying to repair the water pump on the W2A without much luck we continued up the Connie Sue highway and did another 160 odd kilometres before calling it a day and camping in the bush. The first section through the cattle station paddocks was very rough and slow with lots of rocks.
Day 3 - Bush camp to Tjukayirla Roadhouse. After leaving our bush camp we made good time until getting to Neale Junction, after that it was slower as the track conditions got progressively worse. We reached our turn off point at 2pm the Parallel Access road. This road was not well travelled and took us 4 hrs to travel 110kms. There were some amazing rutted hill climbs but you could still do them in 2wd. We then travelled 80kms to the road house and stayed there the night. 12hrs driving for the day.
Day 4 - Tjukayirla Roadhouse to bush camp. We left the roadhouse after fuelling up and travelled west and turned onto the David Carnegie track. It was an easy first 75km to Empress springs but after that it was a lot slower as it is not maintained. We came out on the Gunbarrell Highway at 3:30pm and drove a little way west towards Wiluna before setting up camp in the bush.
Day 5 - Bush camp to Sandstone. We left the bush camp at about 630am and drove straight through to Wiluna arriving at lunchtime. We then took the dirt road to the small town of Sandstone and stayed the night in the pub.
Day 6 - Sandstone to Southern Cross. Again leaving early in the morning we drove south towards Coolgardie, stopping at Rowles Lagoon for lunch. We then did 200 odd kms back towards Perth before hunkering down at a Hotel for the night.
Day 7 - Southern Cross to Perth. Got up early and drove home to Perth by 11am.
All up we did 3700kms, the track could all be done in 2wd but a well prepared 4wd with 2 spares and provisions to carry enough fuel for 1100kms is needed. I took 4 x 20L jerry cans. There are some good rutted out sections that I had a go in that required some rear locker action and a bit of thought to where the wheels are going. These sections all had chicken tracks
Damage: 1 blown tire (I hit a large rock doing 80km/h), one slow leaking tire (should be able to be repaired), W2A pump broke the bracket off and pulled the wiring out, there is a lot of loose bolts due to the corrugation's and rough nature of the track.
For next time: I would do it again but a long range tank is essential, tipping jerry cans in the tank every night is a hassle and they take up too much space. A rear bar with a tire carrier would also be nice to get the 2nd spare out of the tray.
