Travelling to Urapuntja and Our Office

Road Directions

If you use the Google Map to find Urapuntja or Utopia, it may direct you to the wrong location. Google map directions to Utopia may take you to the Utopia Homestead, a landmark from a bygone era.

Call our office for the current directions to Arlparra if you are in doubt, but avoid relying on Google to tell you where the current Utopia or Urapuntja is located.

Tip: Use the co-ordinates on our Google Earth Map image on this page for accurate directions to Arlparra and our location. Simply copy and paste it into your Google Map or Google Earth and away you go. Our Google Earth Map coordinates are: 22°05’21.2″S 134°46’21.9″E

Road Travel to Urapuntja

• During periods of heavy rain, usually in the Wet Season, unsealed roads become flooded, making them impassable, resulting in road and highway closures.
  
  
• Check weather and road and community closures before travelling, particularly during the Wet Season and ceremony time.

Tips

• Avoid at all costs travelling at night or sunset. Travel during daylight hours to reduce the risks of accident, injury and death to people and wildlife. Visibility is poor, there are no road lights in this region, and wildlife are regularly traversing the highway at this time, often sight unseen.
  
  
• Exercise caution driving on unsealed roads to Urapuntja. Accidents happen, even for those experienced on these roads.
  
  
• Check your vehicle is fit for driving on these roads with a large enough petrol tank to drive hours without access to a petrol station.
• There are no shops or petrol stations for a few hours, until you reach Arlparra where there is a community store.
  
  
• Check you’re prepared for an emergency, to be able to change a tyre, or use a satellite phone, should your car break down. Ensure you have a torch, adequate bottled water, food supplies and a First Aid kit for your journey, as you may be waiting a long time in the desert if your vehicle breaks down.
  
  
• It’s a bumpy ride that lasts for a few hours on unsealed roads layered with corrugated iron.
  
  
• Dress comfortably, wear sunnies to protect your eyes against the harsh sun, and bring a cushion for your passenger, or yourself for extra padding on the seats.
  
  
• Many areas of the Urapuntja region, including the homelands, has zero cellphone network coverage. The nearest cellphone coverage is at Arlparra with Telstra cellphone network coverage. But the network coverage isn’t 100 percent reliable.
  
  
• Finally, let people at your departing location, and at your Urapuntja destination, know the exact time you start driving to the Homelands, and your expected time of arrival. When you arrive, immediately contact an agreed person with cellphone coverage in Urapuntja to let them know you’ve arrived. So they know you’ve arrived safely.

Local Wildlife

Please be mindful of the wildlife that may cross your path. Don’t touch the snakes, they can be venomous. Wild horses, donkeys, kangaroos, birds, and big lizards like goannas roam freely. They also use the highway roads, often unexpectedly, when you least expect it. Be alert, slow down to let them cross the road.