Thanks Wayne. A Chinese site where the description makes sense! Ron B. VK2OTC
2004 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

The Drive from Yardie Creek, Cape Range to Karajini through the Pilbara was mostly uneventful. The total distance was around 750klm, mostly tarmac. The Scenery from the road was stunning with lots of wildflowers in bloom. After fueling up in Exmouth town we stopped at the Ashburton River crossing for some photos. We took the shortcut to Tom price on Dirt roads where we refuelled again before entering Karajini National Park. The dirt Roads in the park were in very bad condition, not a good look for the many tourists going to see the Gorges

Heading into the Pilbara

Wayne,

Fantastic trip and even better photos. Stay safe, stay lucky and keep up with the reports.

Great thread Wayne. Thanks. ______________________________
Vogue tdv8 08MY poverty pack - wow

Karani National Park Spent 3 days here climbing down, along and out of the various Gorges. The rocks are the oldest on the planet, 2500 million years. Some are almost solid iron and apparently can be welded together. A really stunning place which should be on everyone's bucket list if fit enough. Camping here at the Eco resort was nice, unusually for a bush camp they had Solar heated showers and flushing toilets. Everything taken in must be taken out including all rubbish. The only downside as I noted before was the dirt roads getting to the various Gorges were in a bad state and shook the car to its core. So far I have had one puncture, one reverse light lens has detached and the centre console top box handle trim has fallen off. Pretty good considering the state of the roads and distance driven. Pictures speak for themselves

Karijini NP? It would be starting to get warm out there I suspect.

The weather has been perfect so far, mid to low 30`s every day. Was very windy at Cape Range though. 2007 TDV8 VSE
2003 TD6 gone.
2002 P38a gone
1999 P38a gone
1997 p38a gone
1993 VSE gone
1992 VSE gone
1966 Series 2a with V8 conversion gone

Watch out for thunderstorms? may be the wrong time of year with all that Iron it is spectacular with lightning strikes?
Not like holding a metal rod up in the air?
Very Hairy when the team had laid out explosives for mining the ore, and a big storm comes through and could set it off before you get out of the way.

Thanks for the Pictures and reports, please keep us updated when you can?

The sheer size of WA is staggering, here are two google maps set roughly to the same scale.
Cape Range marked on the WA map.

After Karajini we made the 500k trip South to Mount Augustus. Taking the slightly longer route through Parabadoo to refuel then leaving the tarmac to take the scenic route using backroads. Once off the main route, we had to air down the tyres as the corrugations and road conditions demanded. Although the roads were generally ok the constant crossing of floodways with the inevitable change of surface to anything from loose stones to bulldust kept the pace pretty slow so this was a long long drive nearing 10 hrs. One of my companions suffered a puncture, a big gash to the edge of the tread ruining a nearly new BFG all terrain. Arriving at Mount Augustus Station we chose our sites for the 2-night stay. I left the group and pitched in the Bush giving an uninterrupted vista of Mount Augustus. The stars on the 1st night were sensational, horizon to horizon Milky Way and we lost count of the shooting stars and satellites crossing the sky, magical!. For those who don't know, Ayres Rock, Uluru, is commonly thought to be the biggest rock in the world, Wrong, Mt Augustus, Burringurrah, is 2 1/2 times bigger and takes the title easily, the rock is 1,750 million years old. On the Second day, we all did the trek to the top. I had done a fair bit of hill walking in the weeks before we left to get the legs ready but was not quite prepared for the effort and concentration required. I did make it, finishing the last of my 4 litres of water 1/2 way down. Well worth it but hard work and I deserved a cold beer from the fridge in the car at the bottom All up 6 1/2 hours and 12klms

A fantastic read and description, Green with envy I will be there in 18 months looking forward to the next instalment?

Brilliant post and pics glad it is all going well brings back a few memories too

Our last planned destination was The Big Bell Gold Mine, now a Ghost town. This was a 450klm drive again on dirt roads. The Mine opened in 1904 and ceased in 1955. At its peak 1000 people lived there with 2 schools cinema and grand hotel. The drive was more of the same and took around 8 hours. Not much was left of the smaller buildings as most had been removed. We set up camp and explored the remains of the hotel and church and the general area before lighting our campfire. The youngest of our group would be leaving us early in the morning to drive directly back to Perth, Myself and the other vehicle planned to find a camp halfway, somewhere near Dallwalinu. We had a leisurely start to the morning exploring more then we hit the road, not far till we found tarmac. After an hour or so we received a text from our companion who had left 3 hours before us. He was in the middle of a massive storm and the road was flooding around him, not good. We fired up our tablet and got the live weather Radar to see which way it was moving. As nothing was conclusive we decided to press on until we hit Paynes Find Roadhouse or a Storm. We made it to Paynes find roadhouse with only spots on the windscreen but the sky was menacing and it was clear there had been a deluge before. We refulled then after more studying of the radar maps, we knew it was going to get wet very soon and camping was now out of the question. We decided to call off the last night and drive directly home, 705 klms in total. At New Norcia, the heavens opened and made the last 3 hours drive the worst of the whole trip, when it rains here it means it. On arriving home I just turned the car off in the drive, locked the gate and after a quick shower went to bed. A memorable trip, I did not see another L322 during the whole time away the RR was a delight to drive with no dramas.

Thanks for the commentary and pictures.

What a fantastic trip thanks so much for your detailed reports and updates, When are you looking to go again and to where?
Keep us informed have a good sleep I hope the rain on the roof won't keep you awake?