THE change was dramatic! Less than 12 months previously, the lake was full to the brim with life-giving water. Now, while its surface glittered like the mirror of an inland sea, it was all but a mirage; only in the centre of the once expansive lake was there a hint of moisture, but even that was nothing more than a thin veneer of water over mud that was fast becoming desiccated, cracked and dry.
I was disappointed, having thought that once full and with rain in the intervening months since my last visit, there would be enough water to revel in this inland oasis. But, like most surface-water sources in the vastness of the Gibson Desert, they are ephemeral expanses subject to wind and unrelenting sun; their existence measured in days and weeks, not months or years.
On a large coolabah on the edge of the drying pan, a group of 10 or so white-faced herons perched forlornly and dispirited, their fate sealed by the vanishing waters and their retreat back to more permanent reservoirs cut off by the expansive sea of sand now devoid of any life-giving succour and any hope of escape. They were doomed, and they seemed to know it.
Our fate wasn’t anywhere near as assured, permanent or as dramatic, and we decided to camp on the flat dry pan well away from the spinifex and scrub that dominated the surrounds. And while there was little or no water, Lake Cohen, just off the north-south track that is the Gary Highway, makes for a pleasant camp; it’s just better when it is full of water.
COAST TO COAST
この記事は 4x4 Magazine Australia の Summer 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は 4x4 Magazine Australia の Summer 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
CORRUGATIONS.SAND, AND SPINIFEX
WHEN TALKING LEGENDARY TRACKS, THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE HAS THE TITLE OF LONGEST HISTORICAL STOCK ROUTE IN THE WORLD, BUT TACKLING ITS 1850KM IN A 1970S LAND ROVER MAKES FOR ONE INTERESTING DRIVE FOR THE TV CREW FROM SERIOUSLY SERIES. YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF BY VIEWING ROAD TO RUIN
PURE WATER
THE GUZZLE H2O STREAM IS THE IDEAL WATER PURIFICATION SOLUTION FOR PROVIDING A RELIABLE SOURCE OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER OFF THE GRID
DOES IT GET ANY TOUGHER FOR THE AT52S?
HAVING TACKLED SOME OF THE ROUGHEST TRACKS IN THE COUNTRY, THESE ALL-TERRAINS HAVE PASSED THE TEST
TOP 5 4X4 SPOTS IN SA
HERE ARE FIVE OF THE BEST 4X4 DESTINATIONS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
PLUGGING IN
GWM IS STUDYING THE VIABILITY OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VERSIONS OF ITS POPULAR 4X4S FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET. WE GOT A CHANCE TO SAMPLE THEM ON TRACK
TOP TANK
WE HAVE COME AWAY IMPRESSED AFTER A WEEK IN GWM’S TANK 500 HYBRID 4X4.
HARD EARNED
HARD WORK AND THE RIGHT ADVICE HAVE HELPED JAMES ATKINSON BUILD THE PATROL OF HIS DREAMS
DYNAMIC DEBUT
OUR FIRST TASTE OF THE LC250 COMES IN THE FORM OF THE LEXUS GX550 OVERTRAIL, AND THIS LUXURY 4X4 WAGON IMPRESSES BOTH ON THE ROAD AND OFF IT
BLACK GROWLER
IF YOU’RE GOING TO SWAP FROM A DOUBLE-CAB UTE TO A 4X4 WAGON, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO WITH THE BEST AVAILABLE. BRUCE HAS DONE JUST THAT AND EQUIPPED HIS GR SPORT 300 WITH THE BEST GEAR ON THE MARKET
2025 NISSAN PATROL MAKES GLOBAL DEBUT
CURTAINS DROP ON SEVENTH-GENERATION PATROL BUT NOT HERE UNTIL 2026