Menindee to Ivanhoe NSW

[Mulgabill]

Haven't toured for quite a few years but doing some route planning for perhaps next year. I had one thought that I would like to do a trip up to Mildura - Menindee Lakes and then on to Ivanhoe and back to Vic through Hay - Deni and Echuca.
Has anyone had any recent experience with the Menindee to Ivanhoe road?? I realise it is unsealed and at times can be closed to vehicular traffic due to bad weather and would have to carry water.

[il padrone]

Awesomely flat out there

[Warin]

Recent? No. But I've been along it several times.. Nothing 'exceptional' about it .. no deep sand nor long stretches of corrugations. that can change with traffic/weather/road works. And the change can be rapid .. so even a 'recent' report can be out of date.

[Mulgabill]

Thanks for the replies to-date.
il padrone, I stand to be corrected but the Menindee to Ivanhoe Road is still unsealed.

Warin, I understand that the conditions can change very quickly especially after the road has been graded and followed by rain. I guess that I'm looking for others experiences along this stretch and if it is one or two nights bush camping. Not that it really matters but trying to envisage how much water to load up with as I do not think drinking water is available over the 210kms.

[il padrone]

Thanks for the replies to-date.
il padrone, I stand to be corrected but the Menindee to Ivanhoe Road is still unsealed.

Yes, probably is. My comment was more about the nature of the landscape, especially the Hay Plains .

[Mulgabill]

You are so right il padrone! On the surface there is not much to see, but as Darryl Kerrigan said in The Castle, " So much serenity".

[Warin]

Not that it really matters but trying to envisage how much water to load up with as I do not think drinking water is available over the 210kms.

Plan on 2 nights. 1 night would be 2 very long days. Water .. there are a number of tanks shown on the 1:250k maps .. what condition they are in I don't know, even if good they may be empty. You should get the maps .. available free from Geoscience Australia. Umm SI5501 Ivanhoe, SI5404 Maara, and SI5403 Menindee. The middle one covers most of the distance.

Sealed? A 5km section north west of Ivanhoe is sealed then another 2km east of Menindee. The rest is unsealed. That is off the maps .. and is what I remember..

[Mulgabill]

Good to know Warin! Thanks for the map info as well. I will look into that.
I was initially thinking of 2 nights as I will not know what road conditions/weather I would strike.

[rifraf]

especially the Hay Plains .

Worst stretch of my NSW to WA tour.
The road was unridable for a few days due to high winds.
Not even in the lowest gear could I make any headway.
I plan to look for an alternate route next time

[Warin]

especially the Hay Plains .

Worst stretch of my NSW to WA tour.
The road was unridable for a few days due to high winds.

The Menindee to Ivanhoe dirt road has a little vegetation growing along side it .. so you do have a little cover. I much prefer it to the main sealed road - lots less traffic, it does have more corners though. But no petrol stops (with water, food and shelter). Much the same comments from Ivanhoe to Hilston, Lake Cargellico except there is a bit of up and down in that bit.

[fh6162]

Mulga....I travelled this road a couple of years ago on a bike ...it was fantastic !..... please make sure before setting off that you wont get any rain or you'll be stuck...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WL4eEsx8A8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ( watch from 8minson ).....to be safe I carried around 12 litres of water to cover me over the 2 days for this section ...(drinking & cooking) ...repeat you dont wanna get caught out there....we left Broken hill and camped 1st night 40k's past Menindee just off the road in a few trees...second night we found a great spot ( 130k's further) on the side of the road with a water tanker parked where we had a cold shower, which was nice....another tip...get some puncture resistant tyres...there are tiny little thorns in parts that get into your tyre..my mate had several punctures on normal tyres I had 1 on my Specialized Crossroad (Armadillos) just as i hit the tar before Ivanhoe....Menindee has a grocery store where you can load up before setting off and be wary if you leave your bike unattended in Menindee ..we think the kids punctured my mates on purpose as we had a feed inside the milk bar ??...seriously once the word got out half the population of the town turned out to watch him fix it...it was like they'd never seen bikes before ? it was weird....depending on your itinary you will need to consider your water again if you are heading to Hillston via Mossgiel Rd...152k & another dirt road ?....mate also consider taking a Spot Tracker or the like ? I didnt, but probably would if I went out that way again ( i've since had a heart attack) ...your a long way from help....anyway good luck...only to glad to assist you further if you want any advice ?

[Mulgabill]

Thanks fh6162! Some great info there! What time of the year did you do that trip? What was the wind conditions?
I was going this coming Oct but plans have changed. So was now considering Apr next yr. I will be coming from the South to Menindee through Mildura and then to Ivanhoe across the Hay plains back down south through Echuca. As I will be solo the Spot Tracker is well worth considering or any other suggested tracker. Thanks again for you response and look for to your reply.

[fh6162]

Mulga, ring me 0468 586 473...its easier to talk ..I can offer some thoughts with your with gear set up etc. ...cheers
Fred

[Mulgabill]

Thanks Fred! will ring tomorrow friday 28th

[Warin]

I've had a look at the OSM data along there.. it is OK .. but lacks the water features that we'd like. Unfortunately the data that can be added to OSM has certain copyright restrictions .. the tools that are readily available are limited in resolution out that way so you cannot pick out smaller things .. like water tanks. I think they (bing) limit it so the data size is not huge (and thus their costs). What is there on OSM is good. I've added a few tracks and buildings that I can see but it is not much. So it is about as good as I can make it out there between the towns.

The maps I referred to above are better for resolution .. but they are old maps.

[Mulgabill]

Thanks Warin! I will look at it when time permits. You seem to be right up with OSM. I'm still a very novice.

[Warin]

I like maps.

Looking at one section of the BNT .. the BNT maps show one thing. The 250k maps show another but are less detailed, the 25k maps show yet another with more detail. The bing sat view .. confirm some bits of the tracks on the maps .. but also have other tracks ... Of course the sat view is obscured by trees from place to place.. but you can 'see' where the trees form straight lines bits of .. possibly roads .. or ? Putting it all together .. and then doing some exploring might be good .. if time permits.