Corrugated Aussie Roads...it's a real bump!

I received a comment about my visit to Point Perpendicular and yes…the roads do have corrugations in spots. For those of you who have not experienced corrugations before I will do my best to explain.

Upon entry to Point Perpendicular you pass through some boom gates; the road to this point is bitumen. Several meters further along the road’s surface changed to loose dirt and stone. The road began to resemble an old fashioned washboard; some fellow travelers have referred to corrugated roads as the “cyclist’s lament” lol. If you can picture a piece of corrugated iron tin then aply that look toa a dirt road. It is the bumpiest of roads that one can travel on I think lol. It is difficult to travel at any great speed on such roads yet at the same time one cannot travel slowly on an extreme example of a corrugated road as the base of your spine and back will take quite a thumping. Some years back John and I plus the three children travelled to Henbury Meteorite Park, which is located about 140km south west of Alice Springs. There are about twelve craters there which were formed as the result of a meteor hitting the earth’s surface back in the 1930s. Some of the craters were about 15 meters deep, and to be honest I do not remember what diameter they were. Huge is the only description I can think of lol. I remember the road into the site have incredible corrugations and we are talking approximately 30 kilometers of corrugations. We were travelling in a Toyota Commuter van at the time and the corrugations certainly tested the van’s suspension. I have often wondered if people who live in the outback are ever completely unmindful of corrugations.

The corrugations at Point Perpendicular are certainly no where near as extreme however, they are certainly one bump after another for many kilometers. At Henbury we were told that they are caused by a mixture of wind and rain. The wind blows continuously down onto the dirt causing it to develop a wave look about it and when the rains come to the dry area they run over the dry lands and trickle down throughout these “waves” causing them to set into ripple-like formations. True or false I have no idea but don’t plan to sleep while anyone is driving you down a corrugated Aussie road!

The roads here have beautiful wild flowers growing on either side and if you take your time as we did, the bumps are not all that bad. In fact, unexpected experiences make life so much more fun and adventurous. February 6th is our 28th wedding anniversary and we are planning to go camping out to Honeymoon Bay for the weekend. We are taking our trusted fishing gear and snorkeling equipment as the long range weather forecast is for good weather. If I think of it I will take a few photos of the corrugated roads out to the point.

Cheers
Heather