Days of washboarded roads and dust along the Gunbarrel Highway.

Journal and photo by Todd Borgie

No more Camels: Carnegie to Meekethara

We should hit paved road today, but I am not holding my breath. Crossing the Gun Barrel Highway has been one of my favorite parts of this expedition. Four days of nothingness, that is if you are not counting the many camels, dingos, and kangaroos. The ground is always red, the road is often illusive, and the pace is slow, yet continuous. The washboard roads have prevented us from using our computers during the day. This has allowed many of us to bathe in the scenery that we are slowly passing; at least we get to bathe somehow.

Actually, the shower thing is not entirely true; we had showers yesterday in Carnegie Station. This was a much-needed stop and the first place in over 800 km that had petrol. Today we will cross the first part of the Gun Barrel Highway (or the part that was built first). The Gun Barrel Highway was forged by a Surveyor/Engineer named Len Beadell. Coincidentally, today is the 9th anniversary of his death. Len’s expertise led him all around the world; however, he is much better known in Australia for his work in developing over 6,000 kilometers of roads through 2.5 million square kilometers of some of Australia's harshest deserts.

The Gun Barrel highway derived its name from its original purpose. Western Australia is a vast area of dry scrubland, which at first sight wouldn’t seem to be the most hospitable place to live, although the aboriginals might disagree. As you move west from Queensland, land just seems to get drier and drier. This area is home to the Gibson Desert and the Great Sandy Desert, and lies just north and west of the Victoria Desert and the Simpson Desert; ok, so you get the picture. This is why this area became a bombing range. To check the accuracy of missiles and the like, a system of roads had to be built into this area. The Gun Barrel Highway was created to reclaim and further study the accuracy of the guns and such that were delivering these high explosives to their targets.

Fortunately, this area of the country has been in retirement for sometime, so we were able to freely go from one end to the other of this highway with out seeing a single rocket or hearing an explosion, besides lightning. Driving in this area has been one of the great joys on this journey for me. We drive until we are tired, or about the time the sun goes down, fix a meal from collections of cans, cheese and salami, and then we chill, write, or play guitar until the next day, when we get up and repeat the previous day. Keep in mind we can still check e-mail with our sat phone, regardless of our remote location. The vastness is really exciting to me, and I have enjoyed being out in the open for days on end. However, knowing that Australia is home to the 11 most deadly snakes in the world, it causes me to think more than once or twice when I have to pee in the light or dark.

Our drive ended in Meekethara. As we drove into town, we lost the vibrating dustiness of the Gun Barrel, and will presumably be on pavement for the rest of our time in this country. A mixed blessing, as I will not have an excuse for not working on my computer in the vehicle. Well, I will have to work on that.

We rolled into Meekethara and celebrated our accomplishment with great joy. It was a great bonding experience, although we look forward to the all the stuff we have coming up. I believe all of us have benefited from driving on this lonely highway. I am not sure exactly how, but I think we will all look back on this experience fondly. I would also like to extend a special thanks to the police and medical people in Meekethara (I am sure Nancy’s blog will tell you what we spent our early hours of the morning doing).

Logbook for May 12th, Day 194
Start: Carnegie Station, Australia
Time: 8:30 a.m.
S: 25* 47.774
E: 122* 58.472
Finish: Meekatharra, Australia
Time: 7:00 p.m.
S: 31* 53.363
E: 116* 02.032
Mileage: 313
Notes: We left the Gunbarrel Highway when we left Carnegie. The road was still dirt, but it was wide and level. We filmed some convoy shots and investigated a couple of dead camels, and then we stopped at a grocery store. There, we shot some team interviews and worked on the webpage before continuing toward Meekatharra. When we arrived, we stopped at a pub to chat up the locals. Later, the police helped us locate a nice campsite, and we parked it for the night. Nancy decided to do some exploring in the dark and climbed up a little burm toward what appeared to be a large crater. She took a step forward into what she thought was just a shadow or a dark spot of earth and ended up stepping down into a meter-deep hole and landing on the side of her foot. Her left ankle swelled up instantly, and it was clear to the team that she needed medical attention. Under protest, she went to the emergency room, where she was x-rayed and medicated, the ankle was declared unbroken, and they sent her home with a bandage. It’s double the size of her right ankle. Nancy has a fankle (a fat ankle).
(N.O.)

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