Country Retreat - 41. Big Detour

“Sure, we can accommodate you here tonight with no problems, but you won’t be able to go any further south on the Great Central Road. There was a mining truck explosion in the middle of the road, about 60 kilometres before Cosmo Newbury, and about 400 kilometres from here. You have two options, first is you can hang around here for up to a week until the police open the highway again, or you can go back for about 34 kilometres and turn left onto Patjarr Road, which takes you 36 kilometres to Jackie Junction, where it becomes the Gunbarrel Highway.

From there it is about 445 kilometres to the end of the highway at Carnegie Station, where they have accommodation and Fuel, but no supplies. From there it is a 340-kilometre drive to Wiluna and another 530 kilometres to Kalgoorlie,” the lady informed us, as I turned to see Giles concentrating on something.

“From what I saw earlier, it is 890 kilometres from here to Kalgoorlie and the diversion means an extra 495 kilometres of travelling, plus an extra two days,” Giles said to us, “Yes, that sounds about right. The Gunbarrel is open and is in good condition from my latest updated road report I received yesterday, and the weather is perfect at the moment, so it should be good to go,” the lady said to us. “Have you ever been on the Gunbarrel?” I asked.

“I have several times in fact, and at different road conditions too, so believe me that is your best option at the moment, and by the looks of the amount of fuel you just bought, you have additional fuel tanks,” she said to us, “Yes I do, plus four additional 25 litres drums as well, plus plenty of water too,” I replied.

“Good to hear that, we have some real idiots that come through and they have no idea how quickly it can get bad out here,” the lady said, “Understood, I also have a PLB - Personal Location Beacon with us too just in case, but I am sure we will be fine,” I replied, as I paid the enormous fuel bill, and Jessica found a cheap blow-up mattress in the store section of the roadhouse, which we purchased for Jamison.

We were soon settled into our campsite, and relaxed for the remainder of the day, with there not much to do here, so just reading a book was a nice change from the backbreaking travelling we have had since leaving Yulara. Jamison did a wonderful job of keeping us all well-fed during our stay at Warburton, and after an early hearty breakfast the next morning, we packed up and made the trip backwards to the turnoff we needed to take, and for the next 495 kilometres, we would be travelling on the extremely remote Gunbarrel Highway through the Gibson and Little Sandy Deserts.

We took it in turns to drive, in 45-minute stints each, so we didn’t get too tired, as it was quite a challenge driving on this bush track they call a highway. When it was my turn to drive again, as Jamison had declined to do any outback bush driving, and I started first this morning, we had been travelling for about 3 hours now, and the scenery had been constantly changing all the time. We should be coming up to the Len Beadell Monument shortly, keep an eye out for a hill with a big stick in the air,” Giles announced, as he had been keeping a close eye on the maps during our travels, and it wasn’t long before I spotted the hill and slowed down.

“How far have we travelled so far?” Jamison asked when we came to a stop at a clearing just off the road. “About 190 kilometres approximately, about 50 kilometres short of halfway to Carnegie,” Giles replied, “You know, this so-called highway, is much better to travel than that awful Great Central Road,” Jessica commented, and I had to chuckle at this comment, as she was correct with her observation.

We spent a good hour looking around and reading all the information on the signs that were around the area before we set off once more, stopping about an hour later, when we reached the Everard Junction, which was close to the halfway mark from Warburton to Carnegie Station.

“I thought this would make a good spot to camp tonight since we are halfway to Carnegie, and I think a good night’s rest is earned by everyone tonight,” I announced and everyone agreed to the idea, and we quickly set up our campsite, with the chairs out so we could relax, and the foldup table for Jamison to prepare and cook our dinner on, and as we have before, we cleaned up afterwards, so Jamison could relax, and while he wandered around he came across the visitors book, located in a box that sits on a raised log.

We decided to have a sleep-in the next morning, and after another hearty breakfast, we finally set off at about 9 am, with about 240 kilometres to get to Carnegie. The road or highway as it is called, was a lot more challenging the second day on the Gunbarrel Highway, and we had to slow down a little more than usual, it was near lunch by the time we arrived at the station homestead, that has accommodation available to visitors, and the station once was featured in the Australian Television Series of ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’, as one of the station hands had applied to be a programme, and reluctantly the station owner agreed to allow this to happen.

Once we had checked in, I refuelled the vehicle and paid for it, before we set up camp in the lawned camping area, before we had sandwiches for lunch and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, with Jamison cooking dinner on my BBQ this time since there were limited facilities for cooking available. We packed and left soon after dawn as we had a very long 4 ½ hour drive to Wiluna, it is gravel all the way, and we were not sure what the road conditions were going to be like.

I took care while doing the first shift in the morning, and after about two hours, we had covered about 140 kilometres, so we were a little over a third of the way, when we crossed over a large dry creek, with plenty of large shady trees, where I pulled off the road near a set of cattle yards so we could all have a break.

While Jamison prepared some drinks and sandwiches for us, I was looking at a road map of the region to see roughly where we were. “Looks like we are just about 6 kilometres north of the turnoff to Windidda Station, so I estimate that we still have a bit over two and a half hours of driving to go,” I informed my travelling companions.

Once back on the road again, with Rebecca driving, we continued for the next 2 ½ hours. “How much further do you think we have to go?” Jamison asked as we crossed over yet another creek, this one being quite wide. I knew exactly where we were now, as I had been keeping a close eye on the map, and I knew that we had about 8 kilometres to go before we finally reached the sealed road.

“How about we go about twenty more kilometres and stop for a rest, and by then we should know how far we have to go,” I answered, trying to hide my smile. Five minutes later we drove onto the sealed road, and it took just a few moments for Jamison and Giles seated in the back to notice, while Rebecca was smiling broadly as she drove on. “Bitumen, we are on a sealed road,” Giles said excitedly.

“Yep, it appears to be the case,” Rebecca replied, and I just laughed. “Just ten minutes to go and we will be in Wiluna,” I commented. “Yippee, no more gravel roads,” Giles shouted out a bit too loudly. After refuelling the vehicle and stocking up the fridge with more drinks, we headed over to the main pub for some lunch and a well-earned rest from all the travelling we had done. “So how much more travelling are we going to do today?” Jamison asked me. “I would say about 570 kilometres till we stop overnight, which will be at Coolgardie, and it will take us about six hours to get there,” I replied, and Giles groaned on hearing this.

“At least it will be all on sealed roads,” Rebecca said cheerfully, “Yes, that is great news, no more gravel roads ever,” Jamison said in response, which had me and Rebecca chuckling. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” she asked me quietly as she was seated closest to me. “Manakoora?” I replied also in a whisper as she nodded her head yes. “What are you two whispering about?” Giles said to us, “Manakoora,” Rebecca and I answered together, and Giles just smiled broadly, while Jamison looked totally confused.

“Sounds good to me boss, will you let your caretaker know?” Giles asked, and I nodded my head yes. “What the heck are you guys talking about and what’s this Mara something?” Jamison asked, “Oh you will find out in due time, just something we have decided just now to allow you to be a part of,” Rebecca answered.

When we arrived in the small mining town of Coolgardie in the late afternoon, having just driven through Kalgoorlie without stopping, we quickly checked in and set up camp, before Jamison and Rebecca went to have showers, meanwhile, Giles and I relaxed and discussed our plans for going to the property at Manakoora. “Hello, stranger. Are you back in WA?” Marcus asked when he answered my phone call.

“Yes, we are. Rebecca flew to Adelaide to join us and surprised me when I arrived to collect Giles. We came back via the Great Central Road for part of the way. Did you hear about the explosion on the road a few days ago?” I replied, “Yes, it is all over the news, the truck driver was lucky enough to be able to disconnect his truck from the trailers and drive away to safety before it exploded. Were you nearby when it happened?” Marcus responded.

“No, far from it, we were on route from Giles to Warburton when it happened, and after an overnight stop there, we had to divert north to the Gunbarrel Highway to Wiluna. We arrived in Coolgardie a short while ago” answered. “Wow, that is a huge diversion, how much further did you have to travel?” Marcus asked. “Just short of 500 kilometres extra of driving on a dirt track in the middle of the Gibson Desert, we camped one night there, and it was quite amazing being so far out from everything and everybody,” I replied.

“So, I am guessing you called to let me know you will be calling in here for a few days before heading home?” Marcus asked me and I just chuckled in response. “That is correct, and we will have a 6 ½ hour drive ahead of us to get there tomorrow afternoon,” I replied. “Very well, I will have everything ready for you and our two friends,” Marcus replied.