Tanami Track Day 14 - Riverbed No2 Camp to Sturt Creek

Day 14 - Thursday 5/7/01
Start - Riverbed No2 camp
Stop - Sturt Creek
Trip Odometer - 224.9km
Stopped time - 2.29hrs
Moving average - 75.5km/hr
Moving time - 2.58hrs
Max speed - 93.2 km/hr

After lifting camp this morning (9.50am) we came across some more good campsites about 2km north also on the LHS. The road continues to be great all the way to the NT/WA border, which we found was marked 2km short of where our GPS and Auslig and GDT maps said it should be. Once over the border, the WA part of the Tanami track deteriorates markedly, however with recent grading it still no trouble. The track from the border narrows down to just one lane wide and is straight as a shot-line.

There seem to be lots of well used tracks of to the LHS to possible camps? The section between the border and Balgo turnoff is in very good condition and the views of the Selby Hills are quite pretty. We had seen photos of this section of track taken just 6 days ago before the grader had been through, and its was definitely a boggy mess then but now it was smooth and dry. Even the Sturt Creek causeway crossing (which is concrete) was dry, although the creek itself was supporting loads of birdlife, including herons as it was flowing quite fast.

At no point between Alice Springs and Sturt Creek has there been water or boggy sections on the track. We stopped for lunch at Sturt Creek and enjoyed total solitude, however it was short lived. We agreed it was an idyllic camp and picked out the best of the grass sites by the river. By 4pm there were probably 10 other groups of campers. It rained lightly overnight but it made no effect on the track or the creek level.