The debate about whether or not it’s a good thing to seal some of Australia’s iconic dirt tracks is one that has long divided grey nomads.
As someone who has enjoyed some serious – and fabulous – adventures on the country’s remotest roads, veteran traveller Claude Scivolo certainly appreciates the appeal of a rough track challenge. However, he also remains deeply scarred by countless hours of driving on boneshaking corrugations.
“Some things are so burnt into your memory that, years after the event, you have very vivid recollections as though they occurred yesterday,” he told the GNT. “Our trip across the Great Central Road back in 2014, was one of these times!”
Many grey nomads love the adventure of driving on dirt roads … even with a caravan in tow
Although he has previously completed two round-trips across the Nullarbor at a time when the road was unsealed from the WA/SA border to Port Augusta – once in a Datsun 1000, and once in an HK Kingswood – Claude said he was a virtual novice at dirt road driving when he set off on his epic cross-country trip from Perth to Uluru.
Ahead of their journey, they got their trusty Pajero serviced, obtained permits to transit Aboriginal lands, and thoroughly did their homework on what they could expect … but nothing could have prepared them for what lay ahead.
“The corrugations rattled and shook the vehicle and its occupants,” said Claude. “Dropping tyre pressure, going slower, going faster, driving in the middle of the ‘road’, driving on the left shoulder, driving on the right shoulder – nothing worked.”
Nonetheless, after what Claude describes as ‘days of hell’, they made it to Uluru and treated themselves to a few nights at the resort there where dining under the stars on the red sands with the Rock in the background was a real highlight.
Ironically, while Claude survived the Great Central Road, he then punctured a tyre side wall on the track from Kingoonya to Ceduna in South Australia, only to find his jack had lost its fluid, and he had to rely on the kindness of a stranger to save the day.
“We said then that the Great Central Road was the hell of a drive, and we say now that we remember it fondly as the hell of a drive,” said Claude. “And, given the opportunity, we would do it again!”
So, should routes like the Great Central Road be sealed, potentially ‘taking the adventure out of Outback travelling’? Claude points to the potential boost to tourism sealing might offer, and the importance of having an alternative cargo route from WA to the eastern states when floods or bushfires close the Eyre Highway.
“I’m certainly not in favour of sealing every dirt track that is dear to four-wheel drivers, but we must ensure the movement of supplies is as quick and efficient as it can be to those who need it,” he said. “There are many tracks out there which will test the diehards and these should remain as they are, graded occasionally … but not sealed.”
Claude says tracks like the Connie Sue Highway, the Anne Beadell Highway, the Canning Stock Route in WA, should remain as they are.
“We love our four-wheel driving in Australia, and this is a huge country with many tracks for those who wish to test their endurance and their vehicles,” he said. “But the guarantee of supply of goods must take precedence.”
