Innamincka Roads

Submitted: Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 15:49
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Good afternoon all,

Looking at travelling the road from Innaminkca to Tibooburra and then Tibooburra to Nocundra with a 14 foot off road van in tow. I am assuming both these roads are not sealed?? Are they generally in good condition? I realise outback road conditions can change very quickly.

Trip is pending what Covid restrictions will be in place late August.

Many Thanks
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 16:49

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 16:49
No problem.
Cheers,
Peter
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Reply By: Member - Warrie (NSW) - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 18:08

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 18:08
We went in opposite direction from I to T in 2018 and it is still the same gravel road as previous trips. There will be rocky and corrugated and sandy sections. Had a 14 foot Goldstream in tow. Meandered thru Sturt NP to join main rd at Fort Grey then up to Camerons Cnr, Merty Merty and Old Strez Tk to Innamincka. Enjoy... W
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Follow Up By: Gazza70 - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:02

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:02
Thank you for your reply. When you say "Sandy sections". Is it deep sand that may pose a problem for a 2wd. Have a 2017 2wd Colorado that has done many outback roads previously with ease.

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Follow Up By: Member - Warrie (NSW) - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:10

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:10
Seem to recall some dunes with a clay capping between Merty and Camerons. If the cap is eroded out then it is sandy underneath but nothing you can't drive around.. Go intoPlaces and check out each place on your route. Chances are that there will be pix of road conditions , and you can get some idea of what to see.. Start with these.
https://www.exploroz.com/places/14688/nsw+binerah-well
https://www.exploroz.com/places/97272/sa+strzelecki-creek-at-merty-merty
https://www.exploroz.com/places/41324/sa+cameron-corner
Cheers, Warrie.
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Reply By: Member - Jim S1 - Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:44

Wednesday, Jul 08, 2020 at 19:44
Here's a webpage that has some info ....

https://innaminckahotel.com.au/getting-to-innamincka/roads-weather/

Cheers
Jim
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Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 09, 2020 at 07:25

Thursday, Jul 09, 2020 at 07:25
From Innaminka you could go over the border into QLD towards the dig tree. It is Bitumen from the border back to Brisbane.
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Reply By: Erad - Thursday, Jul 09, 2020 at 20:41

Thursday, Jul 09, 2020 at 20:41
Many years ago, my wife and I drove from Tiboorburra to Innaminca via Camerons Corner and out onto the Old Strezlecki track. West from Camerons Corner, there were quite a few dunes. The road surface was a clay capping over the sand. We were in a Pajero, and had no problems. Cresting a dune, the procedure was to look where the track went to and pick the best line. It had rained a few days before, and the valleys of the dunes were muddy. When someone got bogged, they backed out and went further South or North onto the fresh grass and cut new tracks. In places we couldn't see where the opposite track had gone to - it was so far away. Eventually we hit the Strezlecki track and it was a super wide road which had recently been graded. Loose rocks everywhere - I had at the time new highway construction tyres on the Pajero and was worried about cutting one of them. Luckily that didn't happen.

We came over the crest of one dune and saw a 5 year old front wheel drive Nissan Bluebird with about 100 mm ground clearance towing a 12 ft back door caravan. I was watching my left door mirror, trying to give the oncoming rig as much room as possible. As it passed, my wife commented "That was a woman driving that car, and she was alone!" I replied that possibly her husband was feeling a bit crook (we were feeling a bit woozey ourselves a the time - the dunes were a bit like sea sickness). Anyway, eventually we got to Innaminca and the publican asked us which way we had come. We told him, and he asked "Did you see a 74 year old woman out there with a caravan by herself?" We replied that we had and he said "Good - we were a bit worried about her." When we got back to Tiboorburra, she was still there. Nice old lady. Her husband had died a few years before and she decided that she wanted to see the country, so that is what she did. She could do everything by herself except reverse the caravan, and there was always a man around to do that for her. I doubt that she had many problems handling the dunes.

We returned back to Tiboorburra via the Dig Tree and then back via Santos station. At the time, all roads were good dirt surface and we had no problems at all. Of course, if it rains, that is a different story then.... To get to Tiboorburra in teh first place, we had come into Tiborburra from Noccundra, and that road was ultra dusty. For most of the time, I couldn't see the caravan in my mirrors. There were severe corrugations as well, but conditions can and do change by the week out there, so it is best not to rely on any reports of road conditions - get your own report from Innaminca store, Tiboorburra or Camerons Stores - they will have the most up to date information.
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Follow Up By: Gazza70 - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 16:48

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 16:48
Thanks mate for such a great reply. Looking forward to our trip.
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Reply By: Member - Cuppa - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 10:32

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 10:32
In 2018 we drove from Innamincka to Tibooburra. We were advised,by a truck driver in the Innamincka pub, to use the 'Old Strzelecki Track' rather than the 'Strzelecki Track', because the Strzelecki track was a quite rocky in comparison, plus it had a good deal of heavy trucks using it to service the many mine sites up that way at the time. We took the advice, & so don't know first hand what the 'Strez' is like. We bumped & jolted our way over the corrugations out of Innamincka & reached a sign for the 'Old Strez' warning that it was an unmaintained road & that taking it would be at our own risk. We did wonder about the quality of the advice we had been given. However having turned onto the 'Old Strez', the corrugations ceased & it really was a lovely drive just as we had been told. It took us down to close to Merty merty, where we turned east onto the dunes which provided a fun, rollercoaster-like ride to Camerons Corner. Dune after dune after dune - seemingly never ending. All hard surfaced, some corrugations, but a drive like nowhere else in Australia. We were towing our Tvan, but saw a number of largish caravans being towed across there. Highly recommended! Btw, when at Innamincka, one of the best things you can do (THE best thing as far as I am concerned) is to go up to the Coongie Lakes to camp for a few days).
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Follow Up By: Member - Cuppa - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 16:54

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 16:54
Perhaps not the Coongie Lakes with 2wd.
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 17:26

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 17:26
The road to Coongie July 2017.
https://youtu.be/gKTO1PaTYFY

Looking for a camp site along the spit.
https://youtu.be/HmbwWTo4N58

Special place.


Cheers,
Peter,
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Follow Up By: Member - Cuppa - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 17:49

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 17:49
Your camp on the spit was within a few metres of where we camped just a couple of months later Peter. (I incorrectly said 2018 in my earlier post, it was 2017). I certainly remember the dune going in. It was softer than it appeared in your video, & was a lot 'fluffier' & softer on the way out a few days later thanks to a full day's worth of very strong winds. I think we had tyre pressures at 18psi all round going out. That was also needed on the climb back to the main track too. After having trouble back at 'Big Red' the drive over the dune in your video with appropriate tyre pressures was a significant part of my learning curve. I actually did it several times, & then drove around the back of the lake too with new found enthusiasm.

http://cuppa500.com/Blog/2017/09/26/birdsville-to-tibooburra/

There were a few sections of fairly soft sand on the way up too. Nothing that worried us, but when I re-read Gazza's post & saw he had a 2wd I thought he would have trouble.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 20:36

Friday, Jul 10, 2020 at 20:36
.
And Coongie Lakes at dawn...... great camp.
Cheers
Allan

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Reply By: old mate - Thursday, Jul 16, 2020 at 07:50

Thursday, Jul 16, 2020 at 07:50
Yesterday the Warry Gate road (border) to Noccundra was closed due to recent rain. Bush telegraph suggests this road will soon be sealed as Is the last section of dirt between Tibooburra and border fence.
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