Big Red Tour: The Great Central Road & The Gunbarrel Highway

B I G R E D T O U R

The Great Central Road & The Gunbarrel Highway

WHERE TO GO

CAUTION
The Gunbarrel Highway is one of the toughest and most demanding outback tracks in Australia. This is only for well prepared 4WD parties with enough water and food.

ROAD CONDITIONS
The Great Central Road is well maintained and can be negotiated with a conventional vehicle with care. There are some rough and some very sandy patches, so a 4WD is handy.
After Warburton and the turn off on the Heather Highway and then on the Gunbarrel itself, the road is in a very rough state. It has only been graded twice, once in 1958 when the road was built, and one time in the 70's. The corrugations are a real killer. :-)
As you get into Wiluna Shire towards Carnegie Cattle Station, the road gets considerably better.

MAPS
Westprint: The Gunbarrel Highway

PERMITS
Permits from the WA and NT aboriginal affairs authorities is required.

FUEL
Fuel can be obtained from the roadhouses at Warakurna and Warburton and at Carnegie Cattle Station (very friendly people by the way).

RECOMMENDED READING
Len Beadell: Too long in the Bush
W.J. Peasley: The Last of the Nomads
Robyn Davidson: Tracks

Desert Oak

Pete at Giles Weather Station
Cooking in the Bush

The Gunbarrel Highway stretches through some of the most remote and stunning desert landscapes in Australia. It was originally constructed by the last outback pioneer Len Beadell and his Gunbarrel crew in 1958. It is one hell of a bumpy ride, but it is also a most extra ordinary experience to drive 900 kilometers through the desert.

The original Gunbarrel Highway does not exist anymore. What's left is three parts, the Great Central Road, the so called Old Gunbarrel and the rest of the Gunbarrel. Confused? Well it is one of the more popular items in the bush to discuss what the Gunbarrel Highway really is. ;-)
   The first part of the road, which is now called the Great Central Road, runs from Yulara to Warburton and Laverton.
   The so called Old Gunbarrel runs from Warakurna to the Heather Highway junction. It is not permitted for tourists.
  You access the Gunbarrel Highway from a turn off from the Great Central Road a bit after Warburton. Then you drive on the Heather Highway to the Heather Junction, and then you drive west towards Wiluna. Shake, rattle and roll mate.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
The number one attraction is the incredible nature. Deserts are not for everyone, but to me it was an almost supernatural experience. The landscape shifts a lot too. It's nothing like sitting in an air condition bus to from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock and stare at the scrub next to the bitumen.
   Lasseters Cave: A cave where the unfortunate gold seeker Harold Lasseter died during an expedition to search for a large "gold reef", that he claimed that he had found earlier.
   Giles Meterological Station: The people at the station might show it to you, depending if their work permits them. Ask at the Warburton Roadhouse. Len Beadells grader stands in a cage at the station. The kitchen (only for staff) has some cartoons drawn by Len Beadell on the walls.
   Len Beadell Plaques: The Gunbarrell Crew set up plaques made out of sardine tins on trees to mark their progress with road.
   Mount Beadell: A Len Beadell memorial is raised on top of the hill. The view from the hill over the desert is splendid.

AS LONG AS I'VE GOT COLD STUBBIES IN THE FRIDGE
Australia has its collection of characters. Out on the Gunbarrel we met a gentleman from Queensland dragging a caravan! He and his wife were returning from their daughters' wedding in Kalgoorlie.
  Believe me, it was a slow ride dragging a caravan in those conditions. But as the gentleman put it:
  - As long as I've got cold stubbies in the fridge, no worries mate!
   Australians....