On the Strzelecki Track

We were awake early today (Monday). Sunrise was at 6:18am and we wanted to be heading south by 6:30am. It was only three degrees with a chill desert wind blowing but the sky was blue and cloudless when we started. The road sign at Innaminka still said the track was closed from Innaminka to Merty Merty which was the northern third however the SA government website said the track was open for 4WD of less than three tonne not towing – so we went.

Meet a couple of road workers just south of Innaminka and they assured us we could go and that later that day they expected the track to be opened to all vehicles. It was good we had a head start over the caravans and camper trailers waiting to head south.

Still a bit of water about

The track was in good condition. There were still patches that had been churned up by vehicles ignoring the restrictions but on the whole it was a good run. Not much water remained although in some places it would have been unwise to go near the edge of the track as that could still be very wet and soft.

Just a couple of desert wanderers

Corrugations occurred in places but not very badly and they hardly effected us. One car and caravan heading north passed us and it was plain that they had disregarded the “road closed to vehicles towing” status of the track. It doesn’t take many selfish people to disregard the track rules and ruin the track surface. Still there are always the few who think rules and social norms don’t apply to them!

A sandy section of the track

About half way down the track a vehicle heading north just passed us as we pulled into a rest area, this vehicle turned around and followed us in. They had seen our Tassie number plates and this couple were also from Tassie. The first fellow Tassie travellers we had seen this trip. We had a bit of a yarn before going our seperate ways.

We arrived at Lyndhurst around 2:15pm. We had passed about ten vehicles heading north but no vehicles heading south had overtaken us so we must have got a head start on others leaving Innaminka. It had been a good drive but a tiring one as I had to concentrate every second to pick the best route and avoid hazards.

Been on the road for 8 months – heading home to Queensland

The desert was as always beautiful. It had come alive after the rain and was continually changing as we drove south. Seventy Four kilometres before reaching Lyndhurst we reached the now sealed section of the track. In fact three times whilst on the dirt we came across seven kilometre sections of bitumen. Probably trial sections leading up to the complete sealing of the track.

The southern stoney part of the track

Not much at Lyndhurst, really just a hotel/motel. It is at the southern end of the Strzelecki Track and the northern edge of the Flinders Ranges. We will stay here tonight as we now have plenty of time to get to the boat by Friday night.

Our overnight “donga” at Lyndhurst

From here on it is all bitumen, very uninteresting. Oh well there is always next year. Maybe Queensland via the Birdsville Track?