The inaugural 2004 Legendary Outback Expeditions (LOE) took expeditions into remote Cape York. Read all about the trip in the following article, written by Ron & Viv Moon, which appeared in 3 parts in the July; August and September issues of 4x4 Australia magazine.

Part I   - Through the Flinders               Part II  - Into the Desert               Part III - Onwards to the Gulf

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Gulf to Gulf - Following McKinlay

Part 1- Through the Flinders

The ARB/4x4 Australia magazine's Legendary Outback Expedition for 2004 followed the route of the 1861 McKinlay expedition from Spencer Gulf to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It started easily but it didn't always go that way. Ron and Viv Moon report.

Dust was billowing up from our wheels as we tracked north along the eastern edge of the Flinders Ranges. The country was dry, the sun an unrelenting orb of bright flaring yellow in a expansive sky of deep, deep blue. It was early April, but Autumn seemed a long, long way away.

Then quite unexpectantly, marching out of the west was a large, solitary, dark, billowing mass of cloud that had snuck around the northern extremity of the ranges just seconds before. It was now sweeping eastward, dancing this way and that across the flat plain, driven by unseen forces, as if planning to meet us, or at least cross our path, somewhere to our front.

After helping out a kangaroo processor who had lost a wheel off his mobile chiller somewhere south of North Mulga station ('I thought I heard a bit of a thump!'), he said when we called him up on the radio) we crossed tracks with our dark cloud suddenly. One second we were in sunlight and dust, the next rain was lashing at the windows, our windscreen wipers called into hurried use while visibility amongst the cascading water was cut to just a couple of hundred metres and the track turned almost instantly from dust to slippery mud.

Leading the convoy of adventurers we were in the thick of the storm, while just back a little way, behind the main group of vehicles, Michael Ellem, 4x4's photographer, was in blazing sunshine photographing dust clouds and vehicles with a backdrop of dark cloud.
Within minutes a torrent of water was washing down each side of the track and with the Patrol in 4WD high, we battled to keep Patrol and T-Van on the crown of the road.

While the rain eased to a steady stream, sections of the track had now vanished under water and we slowed and ploughed our way through, the chatter on the UHF radio from our convoy indicating that everyone was enjoying the drive and the sudden change of conditions and challenges.

Outback Australia is like that, especially in summer or early autumn when storms can bring heavy rain, or just as frequently, blinding dust.

John McKinlay, one of the unsung and almost unknown heroes of Australian exploration would have most definitely seen and experienced many such storms during the 1850s, when he spent a number of years in and around the Flinders Ranges, especially the northern Flinders, which we were now passing through. (See below for more information.)

Then, just as suddenly as the track had turned to mud, we were back on a dry rutted track, a dust cloud billowing behind us. We stopped for lunch at Terrapinna Waterhole, one of the largest waterholes in the northern Flinders and yet it was near dry, the water confined to a steep sided pool just 10 metres in diameter. It was a sad scene from previous times when we had visited this spot with the water lapping the sides of the cliffs 40 metres apart and stretching for over 150 metres back through the low range. The drought was taking its toll in more ways than one.

Our party of adventurers was bigger and more extravagant than any McKinlay had lead, our group having gathered at Port Augusta a few days previous to our rain storm encounter for our first get together and the important task of dividing up the mountain of stores we were carrying. Reading the old journals of the early explorers we seemed to be a bit more like the over-supplied and extravagant Burke and Wills expedition and while we knew we weren't going to perish in our crossing of the continent, it was also obvious we weren't going to get even a little bit hungry.

All told there was supposed to be 19 vehicles in our group - a big convoy for the places we were going but a few were having problems even reaching the starting point, including both the ARB and 4x4 Australia magazine's competition winners.

The staff took up four vehicles! ARB were adequately represented by Andy Miller from ARB Northern (Melbourne) and Andrew 'Big Daddy' Doenicke from ARB City Southern (Sydney). Head caterers, Macca and Karen, were in the Red Desert Truck, while Viv and I took another. Helping us and carrying much of the gear were the other 13 vehicles of our expedition.

From Port Augusta in South Australia, the starting point of many early expeditions and a place McKinlay must have passed through on numerous occasions, we headed through Pichi Richi Pass, the township of Quorn and out onto the flat Willochra Plain before coming to the small hamlet of Hawker.

Just to the north of here the Flinders Ranges begin to reach one of their many zeniths as the peaks of the Elder and Wilpena Pound Ranges begin to dominate the surrounding area.

Our group camped at the historic Arkaba Woolshed in the shadow of the Elder Range, the old stone and adzed building having been built during McKinlay's time in the area. There is little doubt too that he would have stopped here on his many travels through the region, as along with the Aroona and Wilpena runs, Arkaba was not only on the main track north it was one of the finest and best watered properties in the ranges.

Guided by Dean Rasheed, the owner of Arkaba, we headed off on, what we consider, to be one of the best 4WD trips in the country. The route first crosses Arkaba Creek, which is very rarely without water and then climbs steeply to the first of many peaks. From there it is a roller coaster ride as the track skirts the edge of the ragged Elder Range, and with each peak the track crawls up, the route gets a little higher.

The view is grand and no matter how many times we've done the trip, we never get sick of it. Our group, some of whom had never been to the Flinders, were equally awe inspired and we took it slowly as Dean gave us a run down on the history of this impressive property, the natural delights of mallee and native pine, the wildlife, of conservation (which he won an award for, for his work on Arkaba), sheep mustering and of the Flinders Ranges in general, which his family has been involved in for generations.

Once back onto public roads we headed past Wilpena to Wirrealpa homestead owned by Warren and Barb Fargher. This historic property, which has seen five generations of Farghers', tucks in beside the eastern side of the range country.

 

Guided by our hosts we took a tour of the old buildings then with Warren leading the way, we headed to our bush camp, close to an impressive cliff face at the edge of a dry river bed. Times are tough our here with a drought that doesn't seem to end but the people, like the land, are resilient.

Next day our route followed up the sandy river bed between a stately and ancient line-up of river red gums that flanked each bank. Then we picked up a faint station track which we followed for much of the morning before exiting onto the main Blinman Road.

With a visit to the ruins of the Sliding Rock copper mine and smelter on the Warraweena Private Conservation Park behind us, we headed for Copley and then onto the low key wilderness resort tucked into the northern Flinders at Arkaroola.

Established by Reg and Griselda Sprigg (told eloquently in Griselda's book, 'DUNE is a four letter word') the property is now run by Doug Sprigg who with his parents did the first vehicular crossings of the Simpson Desert.

Sadly, we couldn't stay longer than just overnight, so with a brief word to Doug and an excursion to his famous star observatory we headed out next morning - for our meeting with the rain.

 That night, with just one of our expedition members now missing because of mechanical problems, we pulled up to camp at the historic ruins of Blanchewater. These ruins are an important link with Australian history; Burke and Wills had tried to reach them by travelling down the Strzelecki Creek, after their fateful return to the Depot on Cooper Creek. They failed. McKinlay and others used them as a stepping stone into the interior and later they were to become part of the pastoral empire of Sir Thomas Elder.

Our destination too was north into the desert and while we knew what country lay ahead, getting permission to cross the vast pastoral properties that covers much of outback Australia was our biggest hassle - until the mighty Cooper Creek came down in flood. It was to change our plans completely!

To continue reading about the LOE 2004 adventure, go to LOE 2004 Part II

Travel Planner

Repair and Service centres
Augusta 4WD Service Centre, contact Fitzy, ph: (08) 8642 2786.
Outback Motors, Copley, ph: (08) 8675 2618

Accommodation, Camping, 4WD Tracks
There are a large number of properties in the Flinders where four wheelers can enjoy bush camping and some four wheel driving. This trip we used the following properties:

Arkaba in the Flinders Ranges has a cottage for accommodation, some great bush camping, and a fine self drive track as well as a spectacular tag-along trip. For details contact Wilpena Resort, ph: (08) 8648 0004.

Wirrealpa, situated on the eastern edge of the ranges offers a dramatically different experience with accommodation in the historic buildings and remote bush camping. Ph: (08) 8648 4828.

The Warraweena Private Conservation Park has bush camping and over 140km of tracks to drive, as well as a number of historic sites to visit, ph: (08) 8675 2361.

Arkaroola Wilderness Resort has accommodation, a caravan and camping area as well as a store, restaurant and fuel. The astronomical observatory is a beauty, while there are a number of historical sites and 4WD tracks in the nearby area. Ph: (08) 8648 4848.

Explorer - Big John McKinlay
Born in Argyeshire, Scotland in 1819, John McKinlay came to Australia to join his Uncle in 1836. He began exploring and taking up pastoral land nearly straight away.

In 1847 he along with others helped convince the SA government of the importance of the Murray River as a shipping route and then during the 1850s explored and took up land, on his own behalf and on the behalf of others, throughout the Flinders Ranges. These included Hannigans Gap, Wonoka and Moolooloo and leases around Mt Serle. His name appears on modern maps of the Flinders in the form of Mt McKinlay and Big John Creek, both in the northern Flinders, south of Arkaroola.

But Big John rarely made any money and lost his leases because he failed to stock them at the governments required rate. Still he was noticed as a competent bushman, only missing out on the chance to lead AI quest to be the first across the continent to John McDouall Stuart.

When the colonies began organising Ernie expeditions for the extravagant but poorly led, then lost, Burke and Wills expedition, McKinlay was the obvious choice to lead the SA party. He left Adelaide on the 16th August 1861 with nine men, 70 sheep, two pack horses and four camels, adding a number of bullocks before leaving the settled districts at the northern end of the Flinders - the ruins of present day Blanchewater, just off the Strzelecki Track being the furtherest station at that time.

He passed to the east of Lake Gregory and then explored north along the Cooper Creek for some distance, discovering what is believed to be Charlie Gray's grave (one of the three men who crossed the continent with Burke) at what McKinlay called, Lake Massacre.
McKinlay arrived on the Cooper where Burke and Wills had died a few weeks after Howitt had discovered the bodies and returned with King, the only survivor, to Melbourne. With that discovery McKinlay turned his eyes north and headed for the Gulf.

The party endured many hardships over the next few months and were close to starvation on many occasions as they followed the Diamantina, Leichhardt and Albert Rivers to the Gulf of Carpentaria. With no rescue ship waiting they turned and headed for the closest civilisation on the east coast near Bowen, arriving there in early August 1862.

In recognition of his efforts and being the first to overland stock across the continent, McKinlay was awarded a thousand pounds and his men six months pay by a grateful SA government.

In 1865 he was appointed leader of the Northern Territory Exploring Expedition which, although rife with recriminations, explored the area between the mouth of the Adelaide River and the East Alligator River. His daring return to the Escape Cliffs in a home-made boat remains an epic in Australian exploration.

McKinlay returned to Gawler where he had settled with his family. He died just a few years later in December 1872, a local hero, if not a more widely known one.

Like to read more about Big John, then you should get hold of the book:

Big John: The Extraordinary Adventures of John McKinlay 1819-1872
By Kim Lockwood
State Library of Victoria, 1995
Paperback, 272 pages
$32.95 (inc. GST)

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Images courtesy of Offroad Images - Action pics from all over Australia.