Canunda NP - Australia Day weekend 2012

[Les PK Ranger]

Whoa, great trip !
Just 2 vehicles, my Ranger and a Sanng Yong Rexton (6cyl 3.2lt petrol) softroader.
Myself and BIL in Ranger, and bushwalking mate and his brother in the Rex (both off road newbies, first trip !).

Must admit, I was concerned about the Rexton, especially if recovery by snatching needed.
Figured if desperate, a light pull while the towed vehicle motored well SHOULD have been ok if it was really needed.
They have light tie downs only, so was pretty determined to just Maxtrax out of any bogged situ if needed.

Turned out not to be a worry, the Rex just needed higher revs and a bit more momentum and it got through everything the Ranger did just fine.
The Mercedes donk did chew fuel though, filled at Kingston and only 1/8 left at Carp Rocks.

Anyway . . .

Left Adelaide 0700 Thurs 26th got into Southend for lunch, checked out some of the coastal tracks south from Cape Buffon, The Twins, Stanway Point, middens, Boozy Gully day area, before setting up camp at Kotgee campsite.
We had Vienna sausage hot dogs for tea, washed down with several icey beers, and were pretty well stuffed and ready for bed just after 9 !

Setting off at 0900 on Friday, we aired down to high teens and took the access road off to McIntyre Beach.
On the way we checked out Sweep Rock (around 2km return from the main track) plus a whole lot of other rocks and reefs along the way to Geltwood Beach access.

Geltwood Beach was superb driving, nothing like the description of EXTREMELY SOFT SAND MOST OF YEAR on the map (well, not THIS time at least).

Came into Geltwood Campground to set up camp and have some lunch.
We then took off for Coola Outstation about 8ks away.
Did the walk in to the lookout then on to the old ruins by the walking track . . . very interesting info there, and both chimneys having a very healthy population of European bees and large honeycombs.

Back to the vehicles via the 4wd track to the north west, then we drove the southern track into Sandy Bar on Lake Bonney, before retracing our steps and driving to a similar location on Lake Bonney via Coola Outstation track.
These two tracks almost link up, missing out around 1km of walking track linking the 2 ends.
At the more northern track end there is a very interesting read on a lake boat called the Eire resting nearby inland a little. See the pic for a read.

We returned to camp via the beach dune track circuit, the track we would travel the other way next morning.
This was the first fun section really, much twisting and turning through dunes, some soft stuff, and some decent hills : )

Spag bog for dinner with huge jar of sauce, 300gm premium mince, onion, and a big helping of my home grown cherry tomatoes thrown in.

Next morn (Sat) we were up with early light and off around 9.
A quick look at Little Rock, somehow missed Whale Rock, then came to the Lake Bonney / Wind turbine viewing area turn off.
Woo hoo ! Great up there, but didn't veer to far from the posted track as signed.

Went straight on to Number Two Rocks, and had lunch under the canopy on the beach there (just north of #2).

A fair way then to the southern boundary of the Nat Park, then the very southern part of Lake Bonney, where we stopped to check where the lake possibly flows underground to the sea (and maybe vice versa).

To the end : ( at Cape Banks Lighthouse, read up on the Admella shipwreck (1859), then checked out the campground where we had planned to stay that night.
It was pretty packed and only a couple of small sites left, so we decided to move on to Millicent and see if we could get a cabin (and hot shower !).

Before that though, we ducked down onto the northern beach access, around the point to the south beach, and checked out the small metal hulled wreck in the shallows, may have been a fishing vessel or perhaps a recreational yacht.
Got some nice pics there.

Aired up at Carpenter Rocks foreshore, then off to Millicent.
Pulled into the first Cara Park (Hillview) and no cabins, but she let us have a beaut caravan site, soft green grass and huge site. Spoiled : )

Showered, beered, walked to pub, got real sweaty and hot (d@mn it) would have been at least a few km, but great meal at the Grand, and more beer.

Walked back to the cara park too, but this time I lead the fellas down to the rail line and that took us right back to the rear boundary fence of the Hillview.
Was an interesting walk where we passed a local lady, also on the pi$$, walking the other way to town. Pi$$heads shortcut lol.

A few more beers, then sleep.
Was another still and very warm night and, like the other 2 nights, I was on top of my sleeping bag until a couple of hours before dawn.

Sunday . . . we headed home, via Woakwine Cutting, Robe, Long Beach, Kingston foreshore, The Granites and a bit of a beach drive, Old Coorong Road, Seven Mile Road, Coorong frontage, Narrung Ferry (lunch spot), then back via Princes Hwy and M1.

Overall a brilliant 4 days, every piece of coastline a classic view . . . want to do that again and also check out further down that way sometime.

Cheers,
Les

 

[millsy]

Looks like a great initiation to 4x4 offroad driving. Action packed 4 days. I have not been down there yet, but having looked through those great pics it goes on to my 'to do' list. Looks like you had fun. Well done. Don't forget to wash the sand/salt off the chassis to help stop the rust setting in.

 

[BEK]

Love the report and pics what a beautiful place. Another bucket list item added. At this rate I'll have to live to 123 oh well only the good die young

 

[Les PK Ranger]

Yeah Millsy, the new fellas might be hooked now : )
Gave the truck a good vac and wash down, amazing how much sand appears on the ground under the vehicle.
If you plan to do this, I'd be in for another run if I can get away.

Bek, live to 123 ?
Good plan, go for it.

Look forward to catching up with you both in March.

Cheers,
Les

 

[billolga]

GREAT photo's Les - Added to my Bucket list as well.

 

[80lover96gxl]

Looks like you had a great time down there Les,some great pics there.
That whole coastline has some beautiful scenery.
We did that section about 2yrs ago and enjoyed every minute of it.
Great report,thanks for sharing.
cheers,

Brian.

 

[millsy]

I'll certainly get down there some time. Not sure when. Itching to 'go north' again ASAP. Birdsville via Birdsville Track and then home via Cordillo Downs I think. And then another trip down from Innaminka and across to Cameron Corner, Tibooburra. Lovely country up there in winter. Summer would be something else!! Either next hols, or mid year.

Had a chat with one of the members at the swimming club tonight. He and his mate, another member of the swim club, are members of a 4x4 club who did that same trip, and also the Beachport to Robe run, on that same weekend. He told me there were 14 cars in their convoy. You might have seen that group on your travels. They were asking me to come along with them a few weeks ago, but I had other plans.

 

[Les PK Ranger]

Cheers all, thanks for the comments.

Yeah Millsy, I look forward to getting up north in the 4wd myself.

Have been upo there plenty, but walking !
Like to the Strz Track, up through the gammons, etc.

Last trip we did was Moolawatana to Cameron Corner, in the dead winter about 4 or 5 years ago, followed the dune corridors up a little so we didn't have to cross them all the time.

Crossed Lake Callabonna, took a bearing, and used a couple of tracks / water troughs to aim for, with the dog fence and road west as catching features if we were out at all.

Thats the Strz Desert of course, beautiful place.

Had 4bs passing us closer to Cam Cnr, giving us strange looks : )
Got some really strange looks for all the crowd at Cam Cnr when we walked in too, 4bs, coaches, loads of people at the cnr.

That was WAY before I'd ever been IN a 4wd (my own just last year), so we used to look at 4wdrs in the Vic highlands etc and give them funny looks, saying who'd want to do that ???

Funny how things work out.

 

[Les PK Ranger]

Oh yeah, I did see one huge 4b group, coming into Number 2 Rocks on Saturday.
Was it MB 4wd club by chance ?
There were a few other groups about, but that was the biggy.

They were driving the beach mostly by the looks, and sort of looked like they had a plan . . . drive as fast as possible by the quickest route, looked like following the beaches mostly.
Maybe they did the whole thing in a day, certainly possible if no other time allowed.

That's ok, each to their own, but me, I think the inland route was much more interesting driving, and stopping often checking out points along the way makes for a great trip.

Cheers,
Les

 

[millsy]

Cheers all, thanks for the comments.

Yeah Millsy, I look forward to getting up north in the 4wd myself.

Have been upo there plenty, but walking !
Like to the Strz Track, up through the gammons, etc.

Last trip we did was Moolawatana to Cameron Corner, in the dead winter about 4 or 5 years ago, followed the dune corridors up a little so we didn't have to cross them all the time.

Crossed Lake Callabonna, took a bearing, and used a couple of tracks / water troughs to aim for, with the dog fence and road west as catching features if we were out at all.

Thats the Strz Desert of course, beautiful place.

Had 4bs passing us closer to Cam Cnr, giving us strange looks : )
Got some really strange looks for all the crowd at Cam Cnr when we walked in too, 4bs, coaches, loads of people at the cnr.

That was WAY before I'd ever been IN a 4wd (my own just last year), so we used to look at 4wdrs in the Vic highlands etc and give them funny looks, saying who'd want to do that ???

Funny how things work out.

That's an intersting way to do it. Straight from walking to 4x4. Most people first walk, then bike around the bush, then use a town car, and finally progress to 4x4! You skipped the in-between steps

Seriously though, amazing effort to walk all that way out in the 'middle of no-where'. Well done. Plenty of skill there. Not to mention a bit of fitness and toughness!

I bet you felt like Burke and Wills up there!

I was wondering how you went for energy? A car has a pretty big petrol tank. How did you go for food energy? Were you able to carry enough on your back? Did you hunt down roos or rabbits? Or push/pull a cart with stores? Maybe drop a few provisions off along the way, hidden from the road, before you started?

And was it a big group? How long did it take?

Sorry about all these questions. Look forward to hearing a few stories about that walk 'around the campfire'.

 

[millsy]

I saw a couple of strange travellers myself at Cameron corner. Firstly some guy had flown his little home made plane all the way from Canberra to Cameron Corner. He was probably going further. But when he landed on the dirt runway the little nose wheel found a rock and collapsed. The prop got damaged as it fell to the ground. So he couldn't take off again.

Somehow he got back to Canberra, drove all the way back, and collected the damaged parts and took them away for repairs. So there was this little plane all wrapped up in plastic to protect it from the elements. I wonder how it all turned out in the end.

And then this little sports car parked nearby. Oh yeah, I thought, just came up from Broken Hill I suppose, and will turn around and head straight back south. Nope - revved the motor, did a little burn out and headed west!! Apparently that guy turns a few heads when he drives across the Simpson! He has done it all up to do that sort of a trek. Probably 4x4, and a few bash plates under there somewhere. It was very low to the ground. Maybe he just guns it at the sand hills and slides over them!

 

[Les PK Ranger]

We had Doug Sprigg from Arkaroola come and pick us from the corner on that strip.
Took 1/2 an hour or so to fly us back to Moolawatana, whereas it was an 8 day walk.

We did a quick food drop out to the west side of Callabona (Wollatchi Ck) then did a 2 day walk to there, dumped excess gear, stoves, anything non essential was left at the dump and picked up later.
Walked with dry food for the next 6 days, not too bad, the Parmesan cheese lasted well, mind you I think parm cheese would survive a nuclear blast it is so tough !
We carried 16 litres of water each (16kg) on top of the essential gear / food, maybe another 15kg each, so an aprrox 30kg load to start.

Lol, it was surprisingly scrubby in that creekline, and I recall we put the packs on (not an easy exercise with that weight), walked maybe 20 metres, and came to a barbed wire fence, so had to off load bags, pass over fence, then load up again : /

Ah well, every day got lighter and easier with depletion of water and food.

The Cam Cnr strip is usually pretty good as far as ready to use, bad luck for that fellow.
Now the old abandoned Mt Hopeless strip is another story.
We had Doug pick up up from there on the previous trip, and we had to walk it the day before and fill in cracks, kick off rocks, bits of shrub blowing about etc, so he could land ok.

He came with an icey cold 6 pack, bless him : )

One very interesting fellow we met an Cam Cnr was a German fellow named Klaus Menzel.
He was welding up the new accom block verandah frames (old oil field sleeping and ab blocks bought ex auction) and we had good chats with him for the next 36 hours of so while waiting for the flight.

He had arrived there on his 'boatcycle', his own contraption . . . he'd ride from one river system to another, do a quick adaption, and he could ride into the water and peddle off downstream until he left that system and headed to the next.
Amazing fellow, had a fortfolio of news articles etc of his adventures.

Just love how some people get out there and see this great land of ours.

Yeah, the campfire at Bushies will be great : )

Take a look at some of the pics from that trip, the fellas and I have done somewhere like several hundred walks together all over Aus and even o/seas, must have a million bloody photos, but it's always a joy to go through them again and relive a particular adventure.

Cheers,
Les

 

[junior613]

Great report Les, now my bucket list has become the wheelie bin list....

 

[millsy]

Those photos are fantastic. My mind boggles! Am trying to put myself in your shoes out there with the horizon 10km or so in the dstance and nothing but my two stubby pegs to get me there. And then another 10km to the next horizon . . . . . I think I would just cry! But I guess its all in your frame of mind. You wouldn't want to be in a hurry, and you would really need to enjoy the tranquility of it all.

It does bring back memories from when I used to outland gliders out in the wheat paddocks far from 'home'. Home being the gliding club. Somehow I really enjoyed the peace and quiet waiting for my mates to come and get me with the glider trailer. And the trek through the scrub to find a phone to first let them know where I was. It was always a hectic 10 minutes or more trying to keep the glider airborne, just before the outlanding. And although the outlanding meant a certain failure in the attempted flight back home, once on the ground I enjoyed the final peace and relaxation from battling with the atmosphere. I just soaked up the local surroundings and views from the ground. Sometimes having a nap under the wing or on the side of the road in a dust storm. Or hiking across sand hills past starving sheep, following a cow or a wombat for km along a farm track. Forty five outlandings over twenty years - forty five little adventures. I enjoyed not getting home!

I guess you had plenty of time to soak it all up on all those walks! It must seem a bit artificial, removed from the 'real thing', to be doing it in a 4x4 now! As you said, plenty of stops to 'smell the roses' helps.

 

[millsy]

Quote "Just love how some people get out there and see this great land of ours."

Here's another method of travel. Saw this old timer about 100km north of Broken Hill, heading south, on the same trip as the other two pics. One camel in harness, the other just walking along side until its his turn. I see he has shot a few foxes or rabbits. Maybe for tea that night. And the bike on the back, just in case the camels go on strike, or run off into the bush?

That guy with the bike/boat contraption sounded like a character! Would have been interesting to see it.

 

[Les PK Ranger]

Now THAT is just classic : )
Swag rolled up on the tow bar too.

Read about your past glider interests in your WA trip report Millsy, now that was a great read.

Looking forward to meeting up with you all at Bushies, should be great.

Going to have a quiet Feb, thought there was a 4b show on, but just googled it and its just the camping and caravan show.

Was hoping to get a deal on LR tank and suspension upgrade.
Ah well, will just start phoning around / dropping in on places for more pricing.

Cheers,
Les