End of the great Outback track?

COMMENT

Don’t cancel that new off-road caravan just yet! But if you're still mulling over where and when to leave the bitumen, don’t wait too long either, because our great unsealed roads are disappearing fast.

The sad news for Outback travellers is that it’s inevitable and the locals who live and depend on the dusty, corrugated and often muddy and impassable roads that criss-cross Australia, are cheering on the bulldozers. Only the tyre repairers and windscreen fitters look glum.

The latest patch of dirt to be sealed is the 77km section of road from Lyndhurst to Marree, where both the beloved Birdsville and Oodnadatta tracks begin.

That’s good news for Victorian adventurer Tom Hardy and his carvanning mates, who for years have been working to reinstate the ‘ghost town’ that was once the proud Farina Township, 26km north of Lyndhurst. It means many more visitors and with them, more funding for the resurrection project.

Further north at the start of the Oodnadatta Track that once ran parallel to the Great Australian Railway where the original Ghan linked remote Outback communities, Marree publican Phil Turner has described the sealing as “a huge boost for tourism and pastoralists." But he and William Creek publican Trevor Wright, would like the blacktop to go all the way through to Coober Pedy on the main north-south Stuart Highway.

The problem, they explain, is that you only need a single avoidable mud puddle on the road between Marree and Coober Pedy for it to be downgraded online as ‘Suitable only for 4WDs’ and you scare off many timid travellers.

As a result, they will then miss Marree, Farina and potentially places further south on the bitumen like the Northern Flinders Ranges and the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna, with its famous ‘road kill’ menu.

If you really want to experience the old Oodnadatta Track, they argue, then keep heading north from William Creek to Oodnadatta itself. Doubtless, the good people of Oodnadatta would prefer the bitumen to reach them and carry on to Marla on the ‘Stuart’, pointing out that the road north to Mt. Dare, Finke and Alice Springs, still offers a true, unsealed Outback experience.

Turning right at Lyndhurst, you currently embark on the unsealed Strzelecki Track that can take you through to Innamincka and the infamous 'Dig Tree' on Cooper Creek, where explorers Burke and Wills failed fatefully to rendezvous with their back-up party in 1861. Or it can be a scenic short-cut to Arkaroola in the Northern Flinders Ranges.

But, given its access to the Moomba Gas and Oil Field operated by Santos, there has been talk for years about sealing the Strzelecki. In recent months, the South Australian Government looks set to have another swing at it, with a call out to measure the economic impact of the $450 million project.

The Birdsville Track from Marree to Birdsville that was once only on intrepid road travellers' bucket-list, is also in danger of falling under bitumen, with a long-standing proposal to seal the road made famous by Outback mailman Tom Kruse.

Locals say a proposal to seal the Birdsville Track would easily double the number of tourists using the road, as it's closed several times each year because of heavy rain and flooding of the Cooper. It would also ensure the on-time delivery of perishable goods from Queensland to South Australia.

Brian Hanna, who runs the Birdsville Hotel, says the lack of State Government funding for road maintenance, makes sealing more important than ever, saying it would be more economical to keep a bitumen road open in all weather.

North of Alice Springs, the massive short-cut to the Kimberley is the Tanami Track, whose unsealed section runs 790km from Yuendumu to Halls Creek in the Northern Territory, saving more than 1000km over the all-bitumen alternative via the Stuart Highway, Katherine and Kununurra.

A plan floated in 2015 to seal the badly corrugated, unsealed section, has moved a significant step closer to reality in recent years, following a joint NT and WA government proposal to upgrade the entire 1014km Tanami Desert link between Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Conditional on obtaining $680 million from the Federal Government, the concept has been welcomed by tourism operators and cattle station owners, as well as grey nomads.

A lot of people want a short-cut to the Kimberley with their caravans, but the Tanami is too daunting and frankly, quite featureless, so its main redeeming feature is its shorter driving distance.

Locals say a drop in people travelling up and down the road in the last two years, preferring the longer Stuart Highway, supports this.

After all, they say, there’s still the Gibb River Road if you want Kimberley bragging rights... but be quick!

A $750,000 contract has been handed out by the Western Australian government, which will go towards sealing 10-kilometre section of the Gibb River Road at the Derby end. And, in time, the rest will follow in the name of the ‘motherhood’ justifications of  'improved accessibility' and 'safety'.

The ‘Gibb’ was originally put in as a route for transporting cattle across the rough country from Wyndham to Derby and the majority of its 660-odd kilometres is still unsealed, giving travellers great access to some of Australia’s most stunning country and scenery.

But while the road was once a fairly serious 4WD challenge, it has since been well maintained (particularly if you follow the graders early in the ‘Dry’ season from early June), widened and partially sealed, which gives greater access to the scenery, albeit with less sense of adventure.

As it stands, 4WDs are still recommended for the road, as conditions are at the mercy of weather and there are still water major crossings of the Durack and Pentecost rivers to encounter. But I’ve done it twice now without issue, in the first instance towing a leaf-sprung Jayco Expanda, so today it’s not a huge challenge for a proper off-road caravan, or camper trailer.

If fact, all former cattle tracks that have morphed into Outback short-cuts are now on the bitumen hit-list for good reasons for local and State Governments if they can get the 'Fed' to kick the tin. It’s simple -  sealed roads are much cheaper than dirt to maintain and open up rapid road freight access to currently remote markets.

For example, there has been an ongoing campaign by the West Australian and Queensland State Governments to fully seal Australia’s longest shortcut ­- ­ the 2880km ‘Outback Highway’ formed by linking a series of highways from Laverton in Western Australia to Winton in Queensland, via Uluru and Alice Springs.

The Australian Government is also investing $330 million to upgrade key sections of the route that starts with the Great Central Road, with the investment made up of a number of commitments, which together will deliver upgrades over a more than a 10 year period.

So, hitch up and get off the blacktop now, because with the current rate of progress, ‘You’ll never, never know if you never, never go!'

Footnote: Don’t despair if the bitumen beats you. Ninety per cent or more of our most popular Outback travel destinations are already accessible from Australian capital cities on the bitumen, so all you need is a good all-road caravan equipped with enough unplugged water and power for free-camping, and a sense of adventure.