nuggetstuff

Member
The 4th leg of my second trip last year took in the Gary H/way and a section of the old Gunbarrel H/way, both Len Beadell gems which have not seen a grader blade since they were cut in the 60’s.

The Gary H/way starts at Gary Junction. Just off well 33 of the Canning Stock Route, intersects with the Talawana Track at Windy Junction and the Gunbarrel at Everard Junction. I then took the Gunbarrel and Heather H/ways to Warburton…all “H/Ways” being very rough, unmaintained tracks. The yellow line is this section.

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Gary Junction is in the Gibson Desert marking the intersection of the Gary Junction Rd and the Gary H/Way and is marked with a replica of the original sign made by Len Beadell. He punched the original on an aluminium plate bolted to a flap cut in the top of an old drum and folded up. The bolt holes were made using his service revolver!

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The Gary H/way is extremely remote and littered with white ant mounds which are hard as steel and just waiting to take a toll on the suspension, tyre or rim of the unwary traveller.

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Wormy Whau Whau Well was drilled by an exploration team in 1970. The bore casing and the poly cap are still intact.


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Veevers Meteorite Crater was discovered by a survey team in 1975. About the size of a iron field it has obviously filled a bit over the years but it was still pretty awesome to stand exactly where something from outer space has hit earth.

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The track in and out to the meteorite was more moon than earth like with the effect made worse by recent fires in the desert making it look a pimple riddled version of Gunners right bum cheek.

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They reckon there are a million feral camels in the centre of Australia and I reckon they are right..they are everywhere.

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There is a lot of scrub close to the edge of the track

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Eventually it took its toll on my UHF ariel but nothing a section of rubber fuel line and some gaffer tape couldn’t rectify.

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A bit of bush tucker..city style…

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Quick breakfast of champions

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Back on the road again and the track is littered with small trees that have been burnt and the base causing them to fall on the track. I went around quite a few before I decided to drive over one…maybe a bit bigger than it should have been and maybe a bit faster than I should have and the Defender engine died within 2-3 meters and I rolled to halt.

No problem, only 300kms from help in ANY direction and I am on my own! Tried to start which it did but as soon as I tried to accelerate it stopped….not good. Turns out a 1” branch speared up along the inside of the chassis rail and pinched the fuel line going to the fuel cooler. Luckily the line was not split and once I eventually managed to clear it, I was on my way again, travelling considerable slower and going around every twig on the track, with a heart rate higher than the tacho.

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Pretty experienced at remote travel and carry lots of safety gear plus spares, plus EPIRB plus Sat Phone, plus SPOT etc.

Was hot that trip. One day it was 47C under the canvas back by the Engel fridge. Nice dry heat so not too bad. Drink lots of water and save the cold beer for the end of the day :)

The truck has been heavily modified for remote work as well .
 
In places the country side was more open

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Windy Junction is the intersection of Gary H/Way and the Talawana Track. Love the “Visitor Jars”

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The desert never ceases to amaze and once again, in the middle of nowhere, Lake Cohen

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Quick detour to Mulgan Rock hole which was found by the explorer Carnegie in 1896. As I was at the tail end of the season, it was dry but would fill after a reasonable rain.

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Sections of the track were quite good along this section…by local standards!

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Everard Junction where Gary H/Way meets the Gunbarrel H/Way is a pretty desolate affair.

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Pretty tough on the local camels too it would appear….

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The Gunbarrel leading to Mt Beadell…

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Mt Beadell was obviously named after Len in recognition of the work he did opening up the region. A monument has been erected on top .

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You get a pretty good panoramic view of the country.

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The track gets a lot more interesting and the original track gets down right gnarly in parts with huge washouts. Sorry you can not see them in these pics.

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Pretty good illustration of why it was called the Gunbarrel…

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I carry the standard 75L in the main tank plus 100L in sill tanks plus on this trip an extra 60L in 3 jerry cans. Always hard to know exactly what consumption you might use as conditions vary, especially in the desert regions. On this trip I had about 1100 to 1200kms between drinks.
 

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