Description

The Canning Stock Route is a challenging adventure through the deserts of Western Australia

Alfred Canning lead a survey for a stock route in 1906 across 1700 kilometres of desert country. Canning’s route explored between Wiluna in central Western Australia and Halls Creek in the north.

Keen 4-wheel drivers now follow Canning’s route, tracing the network of more than 50 wells along the way. But these adventurers need to be well prepared for an extended period of time. Shops and service stations are few and far between.

The Canning Stock Route video follows the adventures of a convoy of travellers under the leadership of Peter Ikin. We began our journey at Halls Creek in northern Western Australia and ventured down the Tanami Road. We stopped to admire Wolfe Creek Crater along the way before continuing on to Billiluna.

From Billiluna, the fun began as we followed the Stock Route through station country before the we encountered the first well. From Well 51, the sand dunes gradually grew in size to challenge all of our driving skills.

The travellers found an unexpected desert environment due to the amount of water lying around. Lakes dotted the landscape and many of the wells were flooded. Two previous years of extreme wet seasons and cyclonic rains had closed access to the northern end of the Stock Route. Luckily for us, we found many waterbirds and wildflower meadows to enjoy.

See the trip we enjoyed on the Canning Stock Route, most of the wells as well as the history of the survey expedition and follow up bore sinking operation. The video also includes the vehicle problems, such as broken shock absorbers and vehicle suspension issues, encountered due to driving the difficult terrain.

This video is superseded by our more recent trip Canning Stock Route Adventure, but some copies are available at a discounted price.