Gelandewagen to take on Canning Stock Route

At the turn of the 20th century east Kimberley cattlemen sought to break the monopoly held over the supply of beef to Perth by their west Kimberley counterparts. It was decided a cross-country route through the West Australian desert was required to transport their cattle to market.

After many years of lobbying, the West Australian Government eventually appointed Alfred Canning, a surveyor from their Department of Lands and Survey, to survey the proposed route and ensure the provision of adequate water was made available. To this end, a total of 52 wells were eventually sunk along the route.

By 1910, and after many trials and loss of life, Canning had completed his mission presenting a detailed map of the Wiluna-Kimberley stock route, as it was then known, to his employers. Commercial droving along the stock route began later that same year, though due to the many hardships encountered along the way, only eight mobs of cattle were driven along the route until 1931.

The track soon fell into disrepair, and following a Royal Commission into the price of beef in Western Australia, the decision was made to repair the track which was then used a further 37 times until 1959. Despite its commercial shortcomings, the track was considered strategically important should the north of Australia be invaded and during the Second World War it was upgraded at "significant expense".

With the advent of four-wheel drives, modern day adventurers headed for the Canning in numbers, determined to make the infamous crossing for themselves. The Canning Stock Route was conquered end-to-end for the first time in 1968, and as word spread of the challenge, a fuel drop was established at Well 23 in the 1980s.

Later this month Mercedes-Benz will itself take on the entire length of the Canning Stock Route -- labelled one of the toughest offroad journeys in the world --with a small fleet of G-Wagens. Extending the challenge to a group of international and Australian media the expedition is expected to take 14 days to complete.

"This modern retracing of the steps of the early Western Australian explorers needed a vehicle that was going to be up to the task of taking on the inhospitable and dangerous (when not prepared) but dramatically beautiful far north of WA," enthused Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific managing director, Horst von Sanden.

"Just as the G-Class has stayed true to its unique heritage, we wanted to demonstrate the unique heritage and challenge of the far north of WA, the Canning Stock Route delivers that and more.

"The Australian outback has a rich history where the early explorers risked and in some cases lost their lives in opening up some of the largest sparsely populated regions. It is easy to be entranced by the raw beauty and majesty of the outback and to forget just how inhospitable it is to be so far away from the services and comforts we take for granted.

"The G-Class is more than up to the challenge of taking on this terrain and environment without punishing the drivers and passengers. I can't think of anywhere else that would challenge the G-Class quite as comprehensively as the Canning Stock Route.

"We have chosen to do what we believe no other manufacturer has chosen to do... the Canning Stock Route from start to finish. This trek is the perfect G-Class challenge," concluded von Sanden.

For more information on the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, visit the links below:

Mercedes-Benz G 350 BlueTEC / G 55 AMG launch review

Mercedes-Benz G 350 BlueTEC road test

Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen and the Australian Defence Force

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