TAKING THE SHORT CUT - CHAPTER 04

The Mereenie Loop

There is a red dirt road that connects Kings Canyon with the West MacDonnell Ranges called the Mereenie Loop.

It's nicknamed The Caravan Killer.

The road conditions change all the time, so before heading off we started asking other travellers what they thought.

The answers were all over the place. Some had avoided it altogether.
Some had heard it was badly chewed up after all the recent rain.
Others said it was absolutely fine if you took it easy.

It wasn't one of those decisions you just make on a whim.

We weighed it all up.
The road. The weather. The camper. The car.

Could we bend a towball? Maybe.
Blow a tyre? Quite possibly.

But we'd done our homework and decided to take the chance.
And I'm so glad we did.

Up until now we'd been camping in the red dirt. Now we were driving through it.
We'd left the bitumen behind, and for the first time on the trip it felt like we were properly off the beaten track.

The road definitely kept us on our toes.
But it also kept a smile on our faces.

Every now and then a bump would sneak up out of nowhere. Anything sitting on your lap would suddenly lift into the air and, almost without thinking, I'd glance in the rear-view mirror to make sure the camper still looked intact…and attached!

It felt wild. In the best possible way.

The best part though?

Choosing this road meant we arrived at Ormiston Gorge with time to spare.
Enough time to explore.
Enough time to set up camp without racing the sun.
Enough time to simply sit back and enjoy where we'd landed.

I always thought shortcuts were about missing out.
Turns out this one gave us more.

More time.
More adventure.
And one more story to tell.

I'm so glad we took it.

Oh... and we only chipped one reflector on the camper.