Gary Junction Road, 9-14 June

Alice did not want to let us go! We hadn’t gone 10 metres before we found the issues of last night’s unquenchable brake lights had not entirely freed us. We fixed that by disconnecting the battery which reset the computer (just in time for our last meal at Hanuman at the Hilton, excellent Indian and Thai and very reasonable). The electric windows were now inoperable so we had to visit Kittle’s Toyota where in best Punjabi English a lovely mechanic showed us how to reset the window winder computers to behave. So with adjusted tyre pressures to suit the extra weight of fuel and water we are carrying we crunched out on Larapinta Drive to run parallel with the zebra shadowed, blue, scalloped West MacDonnell ranges. We bypassed all the lovely sights seen in 2008, except for the ochre pits,

and a visit to the last gorge - Redbank, a walk insisted on by “Morton of the Gorges”. Then at last off Namatjira road onto the dirt to our first night’s camp on the Gary Junction Road below Haast’s Bluff. Was the camper trailer trying to tell us something about its age by dropping the floor with a thud: failure of the gas struts. However with Mr Intrepid’s new rope and pulley set-up, no problem shutting or opening any more.  

It feels good to be back in cooking mode again, while set up among ancient landscapes of mountains, plains or dunes, in beautiful sunsets. We do not stint on the menus – mushroom and pumpkin risotto, beef cheeks in the Dreampot (boil up a stew/corned beef/whatever in the morning, clamp the pot in its thermos-like container for a cooked meal that evening). There is a vegetable green curry on the go for tonight’s meal. Always accompanied by a decent bottle and often a wee dram before early bed. When on our own which is almost always, we can listen to music recorded on an old Ipod which plays at random – Gurrumul followed by Mozart’s Requiem in the dark seemed pretty appropriate under a Hakea  a couple of nights ago.

There is sometimes additional excitement to be had in the evening – a small yellow snake made himself at home under the warmth of the car at Haast’s Bluff, a camel bellowed nearby on night 2, and we are surrounded by scorpion holes under the Desert Oaks at Jupiter Well. Keeping the boots on.

Driving is a joy on the Gary Junction Road. Although it follows the line of Len Beadell's original track, the road has been re-graded into a wide relatively smooth gravel highway. It varies from smooth to corrugated gravel, stony patches and deepish red sand where dunes are crossed – we saw 2 low loaders bogged in it. We are very happy tooling along between 45-50-60, top gear 1200 revs, don’t want to be through too quickly!

The road’s built by Len Beadell and the Gunbarrel Road Construction Party in 1960 as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera, South Australia is an epic tale which can be read further eg http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/nt/gary-junction-rd.htm. His aluminium plaques, or replicas, mark various spots along the way, such as Sandy Blight Junction, or the NT/WA border (picture). His ration truck which caught fire and was destroyed in Nov 1960 has been moved to Kiwirrkurra.

Many think of deserts as featureless, dry and boring. Dry yes, but so far from featureless or boring. Range after range of ancient mountains like Mt Liebig (1500metres) pictured, the Amungurunga and Ehrenberg ranges, jump-ups, dunes and densely vegetated swales. If you are botanically minded like H, there is never a dull moment. The vegetation changes constantly, and there are frequent stops to identify or photograph anything flowering; we’re a bit early this year for the real show.  Wattles are tricky to ID, but this Acacia stipuligera I’ve not seen an any trips before. 

Handsome Desert Bloodwoods (Eucalyptus ocapa and other species) with their “bush coconut” galls (lerps exude sweet substance prized by Aboriginal people) are among other Euc. species like Coolibahs and Mallees, with Red Gums in dry river beds.  Sister Ann’s present of A guide to Plants of Inland Australia is a constant bible. Hakeas, Grevilleas, Daisies and so much more, with the ever-present Spinifex dominating the ground cover but lots of forbs and other ground cover still to be spotted.

Mind you, this is from the perspective of travelling in a comfortable vehicle, with GPS. Deserts of course are also dangerous - the Gibson was named by Ernest Giles after young stockman Alfred Gibson, who wandered off the track riding ahead for help on Giles’s expedition in 1874. His remains were never found.

We have not seen any kangaroos, but plenty of camels and one lovely pack of dingoes – 4 the classic cream colour with dark tips, one black and another a brindle.

Prints tell stories – too many cat tracks amongst the spinifex mixed with those of tiny marsupials, mice, reptiles…As Queen’s birthday weekend meant public holidays and we didn’t need fuel, we bypassed  the Aboriginal settlements of  Ilkuntji (Haasts Bluff) and Kintore near the WA border. We did go into Papunya, famous for being the start of the art movement, but the art centre was closed. Kiwirrkurra into WA seems a thriving settlement with various health and community services, where we added some diesel and replaced our mouldy bread with fresh from the store. 

Jupiter Well campsite where we spent 2 nights (12 and 13 June) is a wide camping area set under a large stand of swaying desert oaks (Alloasuarina decaisneana) with a soothing soughing breeze through their branches.

In the centre is a hand pump installed by a survey company in the 1960's which pumps good quality water – we filled our tanks and caught up on washing. A late breakfast before a lovely walk through the dunes, below, 

followed by photo sorting, reading, blog writing and cooking dinner makes for a perfect day apart, from the flies.