Connie Sue – June 2022

Saturday 18^th June – Friday 1^st July

Attendees:

Penny and Spence – Landcruiser

Ivo and Lucy – Landcruiser

Bill and Christl – Landcruiser

David Johnson – Patrol

Alex and Diana  – Colorado

Keith – Ranger

The Trip

We had travelled the southern part of Connie Sue in 2020 but were unable to go north due to Covid restrictions, so this time we were determined to finish the northern part of the track. 

We headed for the Anne Beadell, travelled down Anne to Neale Junction, and then turned north onto Connie Sue.  It is a wonderful track (and much nicer than the southern section), remote and beautiful, with stunning scenery and a great variety of track conditions.

We headed off in the rain, but despite the mud it didn’t stop us enjoying some interesting spots on the way to Anne, camping at Karalee Rocks, Lake Ballard and Laverton, and visiting Gwalia old mine site.

Old Yamarna Homestead

Yamarna is an abandoned homestead , with cattle pens and an old truck left behind.  Unfortunately, there was also a generator for a local mining operation that kicked in between sunset and sunrise, so we didn’t have a very peaceful night.

• 

• 

• 

Yeo Station

Yeo is a great spot to spot, with a shower constructed from an old rainwater tank.

• 

• 

• 

Neale Junction

Neale Junction at the intersection of Anne Beadell and Connie Sue is a great place to stop. Anne is named after Len Beadell’s wife, and Connie Sue after his daughter, and there is a plaque noting the names of the people involved in the Gunbarrel Construction Party.

Vehicle Issues

The real journey started when we left Laverton on the White Hills-Yamarna Rd.  Stopping at old Yamarna for lunch we noticed a problem with Bill and Christl’s trailer.  Unfortunately, they had to call it a day, and David and Alex escorted them back to Laverton.

• 

• 

• 

We had a few other issues on the trip (as you would expect with this sort of remote trip). Spence had two tyres split – this led to many comments about Coopers types, and Penny and Spence now no longer use Coopers!.

• 

• 

Other minor repairs were handled effectively, including some minor issues with “Blue Ranger”, and “Collie1” requiring a battery transplant from David Johnsons Patrol.  David Johnson was awesome in finding solutions as always.

When Drones Attack

In addition to vehicle issues we had a nasty drone attack, with Alex misjudging the drone landing in his hand.

Tracks

Anne and Connie provided some lovely tracks to drive. Some of the track had not been open for long, was not well used and provided a few challenges. The only time we had to turn around was trying to get into Point Sandercock, with the track being too washed away to get through.

We also saw some wildlife, including dingos and a camel.

• 

• 

Camping spots and lunch spots

We found some great spots to stop for lunches, and to camp at night. 

Hanns Tabletop hill was a highlight, stopping there for 2 nights and taking a break from driving.

As always we had plenty of evenings talking rubbish round a camp fire.

• 

• 

• 

Awesome Photography

We were lucky to have a record of the trip via Keith’s awesome photography.  (Although Alex needed to turn off Mega Light in order to get some of the night shots, and Keith may have inadvertently caused a dingo temporary blindness with Spence’s Mega Torch when the dingo crept up behind him during a night photography session.)

The Way Home

After finishing Connie Sue we refuelled at Warburton and headed home, stopping at Laverton again (this time Keith avoided the Carbonara special since, the first time we stopped there it had clearly confused the chef and was delivered to the table well after we had all finished.)

Baladjie Rock was a great final stopping spot for what had been a very special trip with a great bunch of people.

• 

• 

• 

Story by Penny.