Rudall River National Park (Karlamilyi NP) and Desert Queen Baths, 16 & 17 June

After two nights at Jupiter Well we continued along the road almost on our own, until we reached the Gary Junction with Gary Junction Highway running south. Now on the Jenkins Rd and across the Canning Stock Route, that corrugated nightmare (Helen says gorgeous and varied despite the corrugations) which we travelled in swags in 2012. Just across the route is Kunawarritji, an aboriginal outstation run by the usual handful of white folks behind the pump and the till. We topped up the tank at $3.40 / L to be on the safe side and continued west on the less well maintained Wapet road aka Kidson track, with devilish hard corrugations on and off for about 150kms. The wind was getting up and the landscape no longer set between sand ridges with their wonderful range of plants, but open plains and burnt, desolate if the sun isn’t shining. The only wildlife spotted were birds - several groups of Australian bustards, commonly known as bush turkey, swift birds of prey, wagtails, budgerigars, finches and others to fast to identify. We found a claypan with a broken windmill off the road and made camp.

For the past week the moon has been up during the day so star gazing has been good. I am aware how our eyes have deteriorated at our now somewhat advanced years, the milky way not as bright as memory would have it. It is different because you see the whole arc of the galactic spiral from horizon to horizon and can see where the galaxy centre roughly is, and our position relative to the whole big deal. Thank you Brian Cox for reawakening our interest in the night sky.

With the Rudall River National Park (or now more correctly known as Karlamilyi NP) in our sights we made an early start. Punmu is another settlement of c200 with a school P-12 perched on the edge of dry Lake Dora, pictured here,

and the last chance for fuel or an icy treat before the road becomes the Telfer Mine Road. With the GPS giving up the ghost temporarily with a flat battery, we turned left towards RRNP driving past the road sign that informs everyone they are going to be banged up without a permit. This is one of those occasions that goes to the middle of personality and how people tick, particularly as a couple. Helen’s viewpoint is “of course we can go down there because everyone else does; ignore the mine road trains (that are meant to lumber unimpeded along their privately paid for road)”. My reaction is to balk at that sign and say “bugger, we’ll have to find another way”. She (who must be obeyed) is usually right and I continue on feeling deeply conflicted and drawing on all the lessons I can remember from our years of analysis. Sure enough, after 20kms of mine road up comes the road block and more signs saying “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”. She sashays up to the very large young man, brilliant in his iridescent green vest, shorts and wrap around sunnies who is manning the boomgate, and pleads the case. “Of course you can drive through the mine, you’re the first today, in fact I’ll escort you through”. We have a personalised escort off the good roads for 10 kms and onto the start of a very tough 90km section of heavy corrugation, deep sand, long gravelly river beds,

followed by the final 18kms of rough rocky country in to the Desert Queen Baths at the north centre of the park.

Beautiful views of the red East Pilbara everywhere.

Arriving early afternoon we found a group already there who are from Melbourne and Toronto. They tick tack between the two continents trying to outdo each other with extraordinary feats like canoeing 400kms down an arctic river counting grizzly bears as you go. In Australia they explore the deserts on quad bikes (very special ones) and follow the courses of the early explorers, occasionally finding artefacts at campsites long deserted. Their command of the latest navigation technology is complete as you would expect, and they are the true adventurers, venturing up to 200kms from base camp. We enjoyed an hour telling tales at their campfire last night, marvelling at how imaginative some people can be, squeezing every bit of juice out of life on the way.

The Desert Queen Baths are a string of water holes running up a sunny gorge that is totally tumbled with rocks, but well worth the effort if a bit testing on ankle and balance. We made it to 4, with 2 apparently still to go. The path is gated regularly by large sheets of cobweb, each owner leaping into action as you stumble headlong into it, hopefully mouth closed. After the spiders there are the bees. Two great fans of beehive constructed one above a cave mouth, the other just in the small branches of a shrub, not enclosed but open presumably for the cooling breezes. The cave contains some rock art, with the rock roof blackened by millennia of Martu people living there.

Cold water but not as cold as Cave Creek at Currango

There have been heavy rains recently, the rain that caught us out when we left Arkaroola and headed up the Oodnadatta Track. The rains have washed out a 250km long stretch of the Canning Stock Route. Consequently those travellers have been diverted north through the RRNP and along the road we have entered on, a 620km detour for them altogether. Most of them have decided to stay here overnight. This was marketed as the loneliest spot in Australia!

Discussion with our desert explorer folk (he is CID Melbourne so investigation comes easily to him) has lead us to change the plan, and to leave by heading south through the park and on to the Talawana Track (recently graded), thence west to Newman where we can more quickly replace gas burners that have blocked with dirty gas picked up in Alice. And of course find rock art that Helen has heard about. That leads to a zig zag return route to Marble Bar through Nullagine, east again on the Skull Springs Rd that returns us to our previous plan to see Eel Pool and Carawine Gorge, then west again to Marble Bar. Crazy really but that is part of the joy of making it up as you go along. So, maybe we will post this in Newman, day after tomorrow?