More things we saw on the road

Our 10-week journey, providing IT Training to eight remote Aboriginal communities throughout the Ngaanyatjarra Lands (and occasionally beyond their borders) has finished.

Here are some stats from our trip


Distance travelled: 6200 kilometres
Communities visited: Nine
Communities missed due to vehicular breakdowns: 1
Flat tyres: None! Incredible!
Radiator replaced: Once
Alternator replaced: Once
Fresh food consumed: Not nearly enough
Times we got lost in the middle of the desert, miles from anywhere: Once
Camels: Too many to count
Helicopter rides: One
Digital cameras broken: One
MacBooks damaged: One
PCs damaged: None (PC wins our vote)
Number of times we lost control of vehicle and slid of the road: Twice
Vehicle roll-overs (not ours!) we came across and assisted at: Once


Here are some photos from the road


Heading east along the Trans Access Road, from Kalgoorlie to Tjuntjuntjara.

The first time we attempted to find Tjuntjuntjara, we got slightly lost. Or, at least, we knew exactly where we'd come from, and how to get back, but where we ended up was nowhere near where we wanted to go.

Here's some of the intersections and road signs we had to interpret (and clearly failed) along the way.

It pays to get out of the vehicle at intersections, and wander around for old hub caps and drum lids that might have directions painted onto them. They don't always help though.

You can't see it, but right down the bottom, this sign "Tjuntjuntjara, straight ahead". Alas, it had fallen off its tree, and there were three possible directions it could have referred to. Using our map, we guessed. Turns out, our map was out of date. We guessed wrong. And that's where the nightmare began.

We were about to turn on the sub tank, which meant we'd used exactly half our fuel. So, realising we had no idea how to get to Tjuntjuntjara, and hitting a railway line, which meant we'd gone south when we needed to go north, we turned around and carefully retraced out steps back to Kalgoorlie. All up, 10 hours in the car and two tanks of diesel, all for nothing.

Had a recovery day in Kalgoorlie, updated our map, and tried again... and had more luck this time.

For our last trip, we did a drive I wanted to do years ago when I lived at Wingellina. It theTjuntjuntjara - Wingellina track. It's not used very often, and has a bit of a reputation. It's based on a walking trail the Ngaanyatjarra people made in the early days, and all along it are hidden water sources, rock holes and soakages and these days - not so hidden- water tanks.

It also has some fairly hefty sand dunes.

Our dawn departure meant we woke up the camels sleeping on the soft sand of the track. And they weren't in a hurry to get out of our way















And that pretty much brings us to the end of the trip. We're now remembering about things like driving in traffic, having a ridiculously large amount of choice of fresh food from supermarkets and markets, reliable power and hot water, and a whole lot of commercial superficiality that comes with being back in what I suppose is mainstream Australia.

The red dust of the desert is always in my veins, but for now I am enjoying a week off in tropical paradise, eating healthy food (wishing all the anangu I just spent two months with had access to it) and thinking about ways we in the cities can continue to struggle for the rights and lives of our very remote, often forgotten, brothers and sisters.