Uluru and the Great Central Road

Not all of our group travel is to international destinations; there is an awful lot of Australia to see, and it is all the more fun when travelling with others!  In 2011 a large group of us, in appropriately equipped Four Wheel Drive vehicles, set off on the great adventure of driving from Perth in Western Australia to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) in the Northern Territory and back again; a distance of some 3500kms (or 2200 miles) plus a little for deviations!

What a sight to behold, but first we had to get there!

A few suggestions to ensure a safe road trip:

(a) always ensure you have appropriate visas to travel through Aboriginal owned land.  The permits are usually free but are designed to help protect the privacy of Aboriginal communities, preserve Aboriginal heritage and culture, safeguard the natural environment and to promote visitor safety

(b) always ensure you have appropriate safety equipment - the vast majority of roads along the way are unsealed and you may need to dig yourself out or make minor repairs to your vehicle from time to time

(c) try and book campsites ahead when you can - for example Kalgoorlie is a busy mining town with high demands on the existing accommodation and Uluru itself is a popular tourist destination (though there is a variety of accommodation there from camp sites to 5Star hotels)

(d) take whatever food you can; isolated communities en route are not famed for their quality produce and chocolate is very expensive!

(e) try and be prepared for ANYTHING (always a good mindset when travelling anyway)

In our case the ANYTHING was the heaviest rains the desert had seen in a generation, making the area beautiful and lush, but flooding the road, making it almost completely impassable!  As the authorities had closed the road we were stranded for 3 days at the Tjukayirla Roadhouse (pronounced (very roughly) Chook - ee - yurla) - a sort of service station/ campsite/ general store. An oasis in the desert for weary travellers! 

While there we decided to explore some nearby tracks, which resulted in us all getting dreadfully bogged, requiring a mighty team effort to move the cars!  I have to admit as a traveller that I do not care for being bogged, and whereas it makes for an entertaining tale now, I was less than amused at the time!




If anything it reinforces the point that if you are going to undertake this sort of travel, you should ensure that you have the essential equipment to get yourself out of trouble!

It was a fantastic adventure, the trip of a lifetime.  Australia's outback can be daunting, as the distances are vast and the terrain unforgiving.  But if you travel well equipped, and you are with a group of good friends who make you laugh and who can share your stories, it will be an experience you will remember forever.