OFF-ROAD TOUR
Guided by Connie Sue Beadell, this experience takes you through both the Great Victoria and Gibson Deserts, 6.5% of Australia's land mass.
Travel the famous "Highways" made by Len Beadell and The Gunbarrel Road Construction Party in the 1950s and 1960s. From the Nullarbor Plain to the Marble Gum forests of the Connie Sue Highway, continuing north into the breakaway country on the southern fringe of the Gibson Desert. Turning west at Jackie Junction we take you over the rolling undulations and through the Mulga that make the Gunbarrel Highway famous. Len Beadell describes this area of desert as being made of "shotgun gravel" in his books. Finally reaching cattle country at Carnegie Station, here marked the then western end of the "Bomb road" network in November 1958. From there we move through station country and back to civilisation at Wiluna, the far northern reaches of the W.A. goldfields.
Apart from the history of the Len Beadell era, the deserts this tour covers were travelled by men and animals decades earlier than the G.R.C.P. It is our desire to also give you an insight into these explorers and the mark they left on a nation in its infancy.
This is hard country. They were hard men.
All our tours are for desert lovers; they are slower paced than a "normal" commercial tour so we have time to visit the features the desert has to offer. If you have a particular interest in birds, plants or landforms, this may be what you have been looking for.
Marble Gums & Mulga 2005 post-trip summary
OFF-ROAD TOUR
Guided by Connie Sue Beadell & Mick Hutton this Tour combines Beadell Tracks and the Hunt Oil Road. Contained within the Gibson, Great Sandy and Great Victoria Deserts, this Tour traverses every aspect of famous desert geography available. Explorers such as Giles, Tietkens, Carnegie, Forrest & Len Beadell feature prominently throughout the route. Visiting famous features and taking the time to enjoy the environment is our number one priority.
Departing Yulara, we head for the Rawlinson Ranges. Turning north we travel Len Beadell's Sandy Blight Junction Road, arguably the most dramatic of the Beadell Tracks, rocky ranges, red sandhills and majestic Desert Oaks abound. From Sandy Blight Junction we turn west and the area where in 1960 Len's Ration Truck burnt to the ground. Swinging northwest at Gary Junction we enter the Great Sandy Desert following the almost forgotten Callawa Track to "Minjoo" Well 35.
Kunawarritji Community near Well 33 is the next port of call.
Leaving Gary Junction we 4wd along the Gary Highway, the least travelled of the Beadell Tracks network. Passing Windy Corner we continue south over the vast undulations of the Gibson Desert. Arriving at Everard Junction on the Gunbarrel Highway, we turn west and make for Geraldton Bore.
Bearing south the little used Hunt Oil Road takes us through the oil exploration craze of the 1960s and 1980s. Fantastic scenery and quiet surrounds are the order of the day in this area. Rejoining the Great Central Road we then enjoy the hospitality of Tjukayirla Roadhouse (dook-a-yir-la).
Our adventure concludes at Laverton in Western Australia.
Beadell Tracks & Oil Roads 2005 post-trip summary
OFF-ROAD and OFF-TRACK Tour Combination
This expedition is exclusive to Beadell Tours.
Guided by Connie Sue Beadell, this gives travellers a unique experience by exploring the last two roads made by Len Beadell and The Gunbarrel Road Construction Party in 1963. The second last road has received little traffic for several decades, it has been described as "Len’s Lost Road", and we know it as the Callawa Track.
Departing from Newman we enter the desert from the west on the "Windy Corner Road", we pass through the last of the station country into the sandhills and Desert Oaks of the Little Sandy Desert, into the Ranges and across the famous Canning Stock Route. Continuing east we strike the spinifex plains and stone ridges of the Gibson Desert.
Our one brush with civilisation will be at Kunawarritji Community near Well #33 on the Canning Stock Route. Fuel and basic supplies are available.
The real adventure starts from Gary Junction; we travel to the northwest via Well 35 and the untouched sandhill valleys of The Great Sandy Desert. This is a real off-track experience, (there is no road).
The Callawa Track ends at the Broome Overland Telegraph Line – 1889, and our expedition finishes in Pt. Hedland.
The second half of the tour on the Callawa Track is a unique opportunity to experience The Great Sandy Desert in pristine condition.
End of an Era 2005 post-trip summary
OFF-ROAD and OFF-TRACK Tour Combination
Planned for August 2005, this adventure will include a 270km Off-Track expedition following Dr Peasley's search for the last two nomadic Aboriginals in 1977.
Beginning with the Kidson Track in the Great Sandy Desert, we refuel at Kunawarritji Community near Well 33 on the C.S.R. Using Len Beadell's Gary Highway we head south into the Gibson Desert, at Windy Corner swing west. The 1963 road brings us to Well 24, topping up our fuel at Well 23 we follow the Stock Route to "Durba Springs". South of the Durba Hills, we strike to the east and the fantastically decorated Calvert Range.
Further east our conditions deteriorate and our Off-Track experience begins. Following Dr Peasley's route we will travel to Ngarinarri Claypan where the last two nomads of the western deserts were found.
Making use of the "oil exploration" built Eagle Highway we travel south to the infamous Gunbarrel. Tracking south at Geraldton Bore we enjoy the quiet isolation that is the Hunt Oil Road. Refuelling in Warburton, it's a nice easy run to finish at Yulara, Ayers Rock Resort.
"TRACKS in TIME" traverses two major deserts with a variety of conditions and scenery second to none, history abounds, there is something for everyone.
Connie Sue Beadell & Mick Hutton look forward to seeing you in the desert.
Tracks in Time 2005 post-trip summary
BEADELL TOURS
Mobile : 0408 841 447
Email : Beadell Tours
ABN : 40 947 959 130