Ron and Viv Moon tackle spinifex and scrub as they traverse the legendary David Carnegie Road, encountering ample historic, cultural and natural highlights along the way. 

The scrub had closed in around us, the track zig zagging this way and that as it wound amongst the trees, verdant with new shiny foliage after the recent run of good seasons and higher than normal rainfall. In fact, we were travelling along an almost imperceptible creek bed, only really obvious because of the trees. Amongst the tangle of gums and acacia there was a covering of drying grass and soft spinifex, but on each side of this relatively moisture-laden section, the desert and the spiny spinifex reigned supreme.

The track too showed signs of flowing water with a couple of erosion gullies and potholes ready to trap the not-so-observant driver and in amongst one of the thicker sections of scrub one of our group suddenly had a flat tyre. A quick inspection of the trailer tyre and the problem was obvious: a badly dented rim. We quickly changed the tyre and rim, the tyre seemingly alright, but a final decision would have to wait until we got into camp, smashed the rim back into some semblance of roundness and reset the bead of the tyre to see if we had done any damage to the rubber itself.

Then we came across an abandoned camper, indicating that some previous traveller had more misfortune than us and testimony to the challenges this track can throw at those wanting to trek along it.

We were on the David Carnegie Road about 140 kilometres north of its junction with the Great Central Road (GCR). This 250 kilometre-long road, or track really, runs essentially north-south between the GCR and the Gunbarrel Highway, the GCR being more of a ‘highway’ than the famous Gunbarrel. But what’s in a name?

This north-south route was first established by the Eagle Oil Company in the 1980s and was called the Eagle Highway. In 1996 the southern section was renamed the David Carnegie Road to celebrate the centenary of David Carnegie’s 1896 expedition when Carnegie and a small body of men tramped from Coolgardie to Halls Creek and back again. The Eagle Highway, in fact, extends north from the Gunbarrel but hard-to-get permits are required to travel that section so it is rarely accessed by travellers.

Our group, part of my son’s Moon Tours party, had left the tiny outpost of Tjukayirla Roadhouse (pronounced ‘Chook-a–year-la’) which is on the GCR about 15 kilometres east of the junction. Fuel for the vehicles and food for the soul was the main requirement at the roadhouse, the hamburgers being rated first class while the ice-creams were deemed ‘yummy’.

The road north from this southern junction is in pretty good condition, relatively speaking, and we cruised along effortlessly, stopping for the night just off the track where there was an area clear of the spiny spinifex, due to a fire burning through here a year or so previously. Finding such a camp spot is harder than it first seems and at times, late in the afternoon, we thought we’d never find a suitable spot … and I hate camping in amongst thick, old spinifex!

Next morning, we took the side track to Breaden Bluff and about one kilometre from the junction you’ll pass the easily missed Pikalu Rockholes off to the right of the track. A few kilometres later you’ll arrive at the end of the vehicle track. A short walk from here across a gully or two brings you to the Breaden Bluff Caves, which are well worth exploring. Once used by Aboriginal people you can still find the occasional sign of their presence with stone chards and discarded grinding stones scattered here and there. Carnegie had spied this red rocky bluff on his way north and while he never actually visited the spot, he named it after Joseph Breaden, one of the members of his small team. 

Another few hundred metres further north from the caves the keen and observant explorer may find some standing stones and ancient stone-marked pathways of an Aboriginal ceremonial ground. Wandering this far from the vehicle though demands you take care with your route finding — you don’t want to get lost out here.

Backtracking we pushed north along the main track and soon came to the semi cleared area that surrounds Empress Springs, some 60 kilometres north of the GCR. An Aboriginal guide had led Carnegie to this spot on the 10th August 1896 and they had stayed here for five days before pushing northwards once more.

The spring, deep underground and accessed by a small hole found in a depression in the limestone sheet that covers much of this area, is today accessed by a chain ladder; in Carnegie’s time a tree branch gave a clambering access to the sandy base of the cave where a tunnel leads deeper to the spring itself. Not everyone of our group braved the ladder while even fewer crawled the last few metres to the water. Interesting though were the flocks of zebra finches that braved the darkness to get to the life-giving fluid. I guess their lives depended on reaching the water; ours depended on our vehicles and the easily accessible water within.

After a couple of hours at this historic site we headed onwards, the track immediately deteriorating to little more than a set of wheelmarks through the spinifex. In places the scrub closed in around us but generally it was pretty open with some reasonable spots to camp within 30 to 40 kilometres from Empress Springs.

Another 55 kilometres north and we were in a veritable jungle of scrub as described earlier as the track skirts along a section of ephemeral flood-out country where transient creeks, running down from the heights of the rocky rise surrounding Square Hill, coalesce occasionally into a shallow wide stream.We stopped to camp a short time later, giving us time to repair broken gear and fix tyres and rims.

A track found about 130 kilometres north of Empress Spring, leads east five kilometres to the site of John Forrest’s 1874 Camp 59. His expedition from Geraldton to the Overland Telegraph Line at Oodnadatta was one fraught with a lack of water and hostile Aboriginals. Today, there is a small rock cairn and nearby is the blazed tree, showing the signs of its tough last 150 years.

About 15 to 20 kilometres south of the Gunbarrel the country changed. We said goodbye to the heavy spinifex and were amongst small claypans and better country covered with a variety of desert herbs and young saltbush, while there were also quite a few flowers blooming — mainly honey grevillea and a lot of wattle. The rain from recent months had filled the claypans but they were now nearly completely dry with just cracked dry mud or a thin film of muddy water where you could see where the camels had been.

We entered the Mangkili Claypan Nature Reserve and as we got closer to the main claypan and within the Indigenous Protected Area we noticed quite a few dead camels spread around the areas clear of thicker stands of acacia. That was probably why we had seen so few on our drive north and that is a good thing as these big herbivores do untold damage to our desert country especially around any water source.

When we got to Mangkili, we stopped for a bite to eat thinking that there might be water in the pan, left over from the previous year when we had been here and it had been full to the brim with water, while birds and waders enjoyed the transient feed source. But this visit we weren’t so lucky as there was just dry, cracked shiny mud that looked as if it had a sheen of water over it — but it didn’t. With nothing to hold us here we turned east along the famed Gunbarrel Highway, cruising across rolling downs of waving spinifex to pull into the Geraldton Historical Society Bore for the night. 

Our trip along the David Carnegie Road had been enjoyable and eventful — like most travels in this remote country. While meals were cooked and the zebra finches came into drink we carried out a bit of maintenance including replacing some wheel bearings on one of the campers. No big deal … if you are prepared for such a thing… we say, as we prepared to head north along the Gary Highway, but that’s another story, for another day.

Information Bay

Best maps are the Hema Maps, Great Desert Tracks maps; see: hemamaps.com

You can’t travel this country without hearing of the exploits of Len Beadell and his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party of the 1950s and 1960s. He wrote some great books on their exploits —visit lenbeadell.com.au

Tjukayirla Roadhouse (245km west of Warburton on the GCR) — fuel, basic supplies and a camping ground. (08) 9037 1108.

Warburton (on the GCR 360km east of Mangkili Claypan) is the closest you’ll get to civilisation here — food, fuel, supplies, tyre repairs, campground, health centre. Ph: (08) 8956 7656

Carnegie Station (on the Gunbarrel Highway, 150km west of Mangkili Claypan) has fuel and limited supplies as well as a campground. Ph: (08) 9981 2991.

Outback Tilt Tray & Recovery—you’ll need these guys if things go badly wrong with your vehicle or camper. 0428 196 306

This adventure can be found in the 127th edition of Western 4W Driver at issuu.com