Australia 2006

Kalgoorlie - Holland Track - Perth

On Wednesday, October 18, 2006, we leave Kalgoorlie and drive south to Coolgardie where the Holland Track starts.

For the ones interested in the history of the Holland Track, here a short introduction to it:
In September 1892 gold was discovered in Fly Flat near Coolgardie (some 560 km east of Perth), which generated a gold rush.
A contemporary newspaper reported "In Perth and Fremantle everyone seems to be either carrying tents, picks, shovels and dishes, or otherwise preparing for the road." In fact, local stores actually sold out of shovels as a steady steam of men poured eastwards to the gold fields.
Few were experienced prospectors, most were just clerks, shopkeepers, farmhands ... they went in drays, wagons, on horseback, on foot, carrying swags or pushing wheelbarrows.

The streets of Albany were soon as well crowded with fortune seekers who came by steamer from the eastern states. Many of these "t'othersiders" continued on by train on the recently completed Great Southern Railway towards York or Northam, where they purchased supplies and equipment before tackling the long trail east to the gold fields.

As having a railway town closer to the gold fields was becoming more and more important several attempts were made to find new routes starting from several locations.
Many of the parties were forced back by the waterless and impenetrable nature of the country. Some were never heard of again.

Then John Holland, a local sandalwood haulier and kangaroo shooter, had the idea to directly cut a final track and use that track instantly to get supplies and water to his men. He was joined by the brothers Rudolph and David Krakouer and John Carmody, all local people too. They left with five ponies, one hauling a dray with 100 gallons of water and their provisions.

Within days they were engage in hacking their path through dense thickets. Each morning, Holland rode out alone, casting up to 30 km ahead of the group in search of water. The found supplies usually consisted of rockholes and soaks at massive granite outcrops.

The party reached Gnarlbine Rock, close to Coolgardie, two months and Four days after their departure in Broomhill.

Using the new track, travelling time between Broomhill and Coolgardie was now about two weeks. As anticipated, the track was immediately used by hundreds of eager diggers joining the gold rush. The track was also used by horse and camel teams transporting goods and supplies to the goldfields.
However the extension of the railway from Northam to Coolgardie just three years later put an end to the regular traffic on the Holland Track.

The Holland Track was almost forgotten for several decades. In the 1920s, parts of the route played an important part in the opening up of wheat growing regions such as Pingrup, Lake Biddy and Newdegate. Sections of the track were incorporated into the rural road network. But the low rainfall out beyond the Rabbit Proof Fence discouraged settlement. The northern half of the Holland Track gradually returned to the wild ....
In the 1980s, attempts to retrace sections of the track were made by several 4WD enthusiasts. In November 1992 the track was opened up again with a tractor fitted with a timber rake following a compass course. In some areas traces of the old track were still visible. Despite the use of mechanised equipment the people gained an insight into the magnitude of the task achieved by Holland and his team.

In 1995 a map and small book was published encouraging 4Wdrivers to give the Holland Track a try.
Today the Holland Track is maintained by the Toyota Landcruiser Club.
Thanks guys, you are doing a great job!

We will be travelling the Holland Track in two OKAs, our OKA NT 01 and Peter and Margaret's OKA 196. Peter and Margaret will also be towing a boat behind themselves, as they are coming from Kalumburu (where they had stayed over winter) and are on their way home to Adelaide. We are not sure, if we will manage as the track width is really made for and by Landcruisers, but we will see.

According to the weather forecast it will be sunny for the next few days. This is good news as the Holland Track is well known of getting boggy with rain.
So we hit the dirt track shortly after Coolgardie and turn south into Victoria Rock Road.
Soon after we reach the first highlight: Gnarlbine Rock.

We explore the rock and find some interesting rock-formations.

It is also easy to see how nature is working on "blasting" large sections of rock away.

Even though the soak at the bottom of Gnarlbine Rock is dry and the day-temperatures are in the mid 30s the flowers bloom in the crevice and around the rock.

We continue to Victoria Rocks Nature Reserve and stay over night.

On Thursday morning we hike around Victoria Rock and the ladies are busy taking pictures.

We also try to find the large Gnamma hole that is supposed to be on the west side of the rock but only find puddles of water (Gnamma holes are waterholes used by the Aboriginals, usually covered by granite slabs to keep them clean and animals out).

Ruedi and Peter decide to grease the OKAs, so Susi and Margaret have lots of time to go for another look of the Gnamma holes ... and of course to take pictures of flowers!

The rocks are inhabited by lots of dragons. They are everywhere!
It is very funny to watch them moving as they erect themselves on their back-feet to run away.

Amongst the many flowers Susi and Margaret also find a Donkey Orchid.

We continue south and turn off towards the Pigeon Hole.
The track is very narrow. In addition the branches of the trees lean into the track and are so low that both OKAs have to take care that they don't rip down too many trees and branches. Here it is obvious, that the track is not made for trucks of the size of an OKA.
Still, the roof collects a fair bit of firewood ....

The water holed at the Pigeon Hole has fresh water but is busily visited by a swarm of bees so we don't dare getting too close to it.

A beautiful sunset is presented to the weary travellers ....

On Friday morning we reach an area of road where both sides are covered with wildflowers.

There are so many different colours, shapes and specialities to be discovered ... Susi and Margaret would stay for hours but the men get restless ....

We also find a blazed tree along the track.

Then we find a lot of ripe quadongs. We collect a hat full and later that day they are turned into jam.
The jam tastes quite nice, like rose hip, just a bit stronger.

The track is interesting and varied, sometimes even a bit challenging and a lot of fun.

At Thursday Rock an interesting selection of rocks can be viewed.

Again we try to find the soaks mentioned in the guide but have no luck. All we find are puddles of water, some with fascination decorations made by lichen.
With us as scouts poor John Holland and his crew would have died of thirst out here!

Around a patch of high grass we find a selection of flowers, paper daisies and ... the pink one could be an orchid, the blue one a lobelia, but the flower book once again does not help much with identifying.
We can't blame them!
In Western Australia there are well over 10'000 different wildflowers species identified and thousands of new ones are awaiting classification.

Last year large parts of the Holland Track had fallen victim to bush-fires.
We are surprised to see that the sections where recent bush-fires had gone through are the ones where the most flowers bloom.
But somehow it makes sense; there is less competition for water with already established plants and bushed and there is also more sunlight.

It is such a delight to drive through these tracks.

We continue on to Diamond Rock, where we go for a walk.
It is incomprehensible how thoughtless people can be by driving on the rock.
It crushes and destroys the rock and the marks will be visible for many years.
This are the idiots responsable for future, else unnecessary road closures and the like.
To prevent further damage CALM has erected barriers.

The next stop is at Agnes Gnamma Hole.
The hole is located just beside the road and has good quality water.

The Gnamma hole was named after John Holland's wife Agnes.
She was the first woman to travel the track when, aged 20, she accompanied John on his second trip to the goldfields in December 1893.
She died of typhoid in May 1894, the first white woman to die in Coolgardie.
Agnes and John Holland are both buried in Coolgardie's' Pioneer Cemetery.

We continue south, past Ewing Rock. The track gets narrower and is overgrown.
The OKAs start getting the "Holland Track look" ... green marks along the sides from the shrubs and bushes ...

We reach Krakouer Rock (named after the Krakouer brothers who accompanied John Holland) where we stay for the night.
We enter our visit in the log book, being a glass where one places a small piece of paper with the details of the visit on it.
It is fun to check out who has recently been her and read their comments.

During the night there is sheet lightning and a few drops of rain fall.

On Saturday, October 21, we see showers of rain falling north of us.
We wonder how the track will be today.

As we continue south we sight a car coming towards us and stop.
After having been alone on the track for 4 days the men have a chat with the driver of the car to get detail on the track ahead of us ....

.... the ladies (including the one in the other car!) wander off into the flowers ....

Being a sandy stretch of the track Susi and Margaret find many new species they had not yet seen.

Shortly after we reach an area where there had been rain last night.
The patterning on the road is amazing. We feel sorry to drive over it as it means destroying it.

The course of the Holland Track has been changed in the past because of the damages caused to the track.
But the new parts already show signs of deterioration; people have already started driving around the damaged areas.
Because of the widths of the OKAs we cannot drive around it but have no problem driving through it.
The Holland track is known to be very boggy when wet. travelling the track requires a few days. If one is hit by rain, he has to decide if he may stay put or if he has to carry on. If he continues driving on the soft track he of course generates severe damage to the track.

We continue on to Centenary Rock.
Tourist information is broadcasted on the Holland Track on FM at 100 MHz, Centenary Rock being one of the broadcasting points. The transmitters are very weak and can only be received around the touroistic spots. A very good idea.

We continue on the sandy track.
Here the bush-fires must have passed through much faster, thus also being less destructive. Nature has already recuperating, soon this track will be overgrown again.

Another vehicle crossed .... this place is getting crowded!
Today being Saturday we must expect more traffic as 4WD-enthusiast will hit the track for a bit of fun on the weekend.

We reach the State Barrier Fence where we find some nice specimen of Featherflowers.

This 260 km fence, running down from the No. 1 Rabbit Proof Fence northwards of the wheatbelt town of Bonnie Rock, was built in 1954 to keep flocks of emu from farmlands.
The fence ends at this remote spot because work had to be stopped when the government run out of funds .....

We drive through Jilbadji Nature Reserve and reach Sandalwood Rocks.
When John Holland camped here there had been pockets of sandalwood but not a single tree has survived the logging.
The visitors log at Sandalwood Rocks is a bit special too: flat rocks are used to record the details of the visitors on them.

The track gets narrow and has lots of curves. Luckily there is no oncoming traffic!

We stop for the night in the vicinity of the Bounty Gold Mines.
A looming thunderstorm generates stunning colours in the sky.
Just as we finish dinner the first few drops fall ..... just enough to get us running for cover .... no more rain falls after that.

On Sunday morning we continue on the track, that gets narrower and narrower ...

... sometimes too narrow ...
When we removed this dead tree from the roof we did not realise how close Peter has parked his OKA behind ours.
We miss his roof by about 20 cm ....

We reach the Mallee Fowl's nest but find it to be deserted.
We cannot blame the bird for doing this; the road basically goes around its nest!

Shortly after we have to hit the breaks.

A Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) sits in the middle of the track and challenges the OKA .....
It does not move, no matter what we do .... beeping the horn (no wonder with the horn the OKA has!!!!) ..... getting out of the car .... walking around it .... it just stands there and stares at the OKA.
Peter picks it up and places it on the side of the road, just beside a reddish rock.
Fascinated we watch as the skin of the Thorny Devil changes from the greenish touch it had on the track to a more reddish touch, blending it into the landscape perfectly.

As we are ready to continue travelling 3 cars arrive from the opposite side.
They come over for a chat, expressing their disbelieve that we actually got through a track that is made for Toyotas and alike with the OKA.
Then they move their cars out of the way to let our OKA through (the rule is that the smaller one moves out of the way).
Their facial expression changes to disbelieve when Peter and Margaret's OKA appears behind our OKA .... a second OKA, and it's even towing a boat! ... and we get a good laugh out of this.

We pass some more stunning patches of flowers with Featherflowers, Waxflowers, Clawflower, Grevilleas, Smokebush and then the wildflower guide fails again ....

When we reach the Hyden - Norseman Road, where the Holland Track ends, we decide to continue on into the John Holland Way.

Up to the vermin-proof State Barrier Fence the track is fine and well maintained, after that it a different story .... it really gets narrow.
The section just before Emu Rock has not been driven for a long time and we do some real "bush-bashing", plough our way through the overgrown track, the branches hitting the windscreen.

The scrubland surrounding Emu Rock is blooming in vivid yellow colours. Against the red soil it is quite a sight.

From here on the track again is well maintained.
It looks like visitors to Emu Rock rarely come from the north.

We continue on passed Modesty Rock to Lake Carmody.

We seem to travel on tracks that are not used very often. The rain has obliterated all tire-marks thus making it perfect to display animal tracks.
Every day we seem to reach a new area of vegetation with new species of flowers to be discovered.

Some of the plants like the coneflowers only reveal their secret once one gets a closer look.

We reach Dragon Rocks and are amazed how well the tracks are preserved after more than 100 years!
We decide to stay here for the night and after this hot and muggy day with temperatures in the mid 30s enjoy the well deserved cold shandy.

Monday greats us with an overcast sky.

On our way further south we are once again surrounded by a blooming country.

Featherflowers, Eucalyptus, Bottlebrush, and the Curly Grevillea ....

Not much is left of the Lake Biddy townsite.
The fridge, today used as letter box, is occupied by a large Huntsman and also a Redback Spider (we didn't dare get that close to take a picture of the Redback ...)

We find a large watertank and fill the tanks of the vehicles.
Even though we enter our details in the provided book and the amount of water we have taken (approx. 200 lt) we never get a bill.
Thanks to the water community at Lake Biddy!

At Silver Wattle Hill Nature Reserve we have a look at some wheel ruts of the original Holland Track but they are far less distinctive than the ones at Dragon Rocks.

We reach Holland Tank and explore the water-catchment system on Holland Rock.
The water falling on the surface of the large rock is collected and directed to a pipe leading to the tank.
The tank has small leaks enabling the animals to have its share of the water too.

We also investigate the various Gnamma holes on the rocky surface.
They seem to be well maintained and the water in them is clean.

Later on we reach the area of the Chinocup Nature Reserve and its salt lakes and stop at Lake Altham for the night.
The temperatures are dropping slowly but surely with day-temperatures in the high twenties and overnight-temperatures below 15°C.

On Tuesday it is windy, overcast and rather cool, but by the time we reach Gnowangerup the weather has improved again.

It is quite obvious that we have reached an agricultural area.
And the tractors used in this farming community for certain have changed a bit with time ....

Later on we reach the Stirling Ranges where we find ourselves a spot for the night just outside of the Stirling Ranges National Park.
As the park is famous for its flowers (especially its orchids), the walks and the scenic drive we hope for good weather for tomorrow.

A bit of rain falls over night and the temperatures drop below 10°C.

On Wednesday morning the weather has improved and we decide to hike Bluff Knoll.
This 1'073 m high mountain is the only place in Western Australia where every winter a few snowflakes fall.
The difference in altitude from the parking lot to the tip is over 1'000 m.

The climb is pretty steep and we have to stop every so often giving us the chance to enjoy the changing scenery.
More and more we leave the scrub behind us and start getting a view of the country around us.

There is lots to be enjoyed on the way up, from interesting caterpillars ..... to the drumsticks (Kingia australis) no, it's not a grasstree (Xanthorrhoea preissii)!

... to flowers ... Dampiera, Velleia, Red Pea, the stunning Southern Cross, Bottlebrush, Darvinias ....

Every so often we have to sop and just enjoy the magnificent views.

Reaching the summit we have lunch.

Peter spots a suspicious fire within the National Park and call 000 on his Satellite-Phone cum mobile-phone (depending on the location the phone detects if it has to function as Satellite-phone or as mobile phone; no matter in what mode it is used the charges to the user are mobile-phone charges).
After being transferred twice his call is passed on to the Department of Conservation and Land Management CALM in Perth.
Peter is informed that CALM is performing a controlled burning and all is under control.
We are impressed.

The mountain is populated with reptiles in all sizes.
The Goana was at least 50 cm long and so used to people, that it would not be bothered by us at all and continued eating his ants.

On the way back to our camping spot we stop at Paper Collar Creek, famous for its orchids. Susi and Margaret virtually stumble over a Leopard Orchid, many Common Mignonettes, and some kind of Spider (or Bee?) Orchid ...

On Thursday, after another cold night with only 8.9°C it is overcast and a cold wind is blowing.

Still we decide to drive along the scenic drive and are rewarded with an abundance of flowers .....

... Mallee, Dryandra, Banksia with its fancy curling leaves, Hakeas, Starflowers ....

... Triggerplants ...

... Peas ...

.... Banjines, Coneflowers, Grevilleas ...

... Leschenaultias, Dampieras, Sundews....

... Cottonheads, Chittik, Honeysuckle ...

... Synaphea, Leschenaultia, Kunzea ...

.... and many more unknown ones.

As we drive along a small track the roadside suddenly looks like of it is burning .... what a sight!

Then we get challenged by a Shingelback (a kind of blue thong lizard).
They are amazing little critters.
If they get attacked, they form the body to an U-shape, turn their back legs around so for the enemy it looks like it actually facing two animals.
It gets really angry and attacks Peter's shoe. It's a fierce little thing!

Click here to view the movie.

We also find this Brown Snake or Dugite [Pseudonaja affinis] and once again are reminded that just because we don't see them all the time, it doesn't mean that there are no snakes around!

We pass through Cranbrook and turn into Boyup Brook Road.
The road is a Mecca for flower-lovers (The computer-administrator slowely goes bunkers, but our internet provider loves them too and most certainly will send us a increased bill due to our rising disk space requirements) .....

... Kangaroo Pows, Basket Flowers, Patersonias, Fringe Lily, Westringia, Milkmaids ...

.. and the orchids ..... Cowslip, Spider, Scented Sun, Blue Lady ....

... and some unknown beauties.

When we pass a deserted property with an old house on it near Palgarup State Park we decide to stay for the night.

On Friday, October 27, we visit Roo Gully (www.roogully.com ).

This is a kangaroo sanctuary that became famous through a series on ABC TV we also watched during the first half of 2006.
Carol, who runs the place, takes her time to show us around.

The babies are so cute! Ruedi looks kind of lost .... it is very obvious he never had kids!

We continue north through the large forests of the Wilga State Forest, where pine trees are farmed.
We stay for the night near Lake Ngartiminny.

On Saturday morning we head north.
Today we are expected near Beverly, on the property of Robert and Cherry Williamson , fellow OKA-owners.

They want to build an OKA-camper but are still in the planning phase.
Having OKA 196 and our OKA there gives them a whole new way of looking at it.
While the men are OKA-ing again, looking at axles and technical solutions, the ladies have a little party in the kitchen.

As the night closes in the men join the party ....

On Sunday Robert and Cherry take their time to show us their station.

They haven't had decent rains this year and all is dry and yellow.

There is still water in the dam but Robert is feeding the sheep with grain, which is unusual for this time of the year.

We have a bit of fun at the creek where Robert shows us the abilities of his OKA.
One proud OKA-owner talking to other proud OKA-owners ....

On Monday it's the last day of the sheep-sheering.

Margaret and Peter both have experience with this, but for us it is great.

Click here to view the movie.

Out in the paddock Susi finds several small pieces of fur and curiously asks what it is.

Well, it is the "left-over" from young sheep prevented of becoming rams .....
Applying this rubber ring cuts the blood off and eventually the dead part falls off.
Good to know, that it doesn't hurt them.

Cherry then explains some of the tools they use ....
- the tool to squirt medicine down the sheep's thought
- the tool to crop the sheep's tails
- special animal-safe colour spray to mark the animals
- the paperwork required to move sheep around
It's really interesting to get such an insight into this side of running a station.
We just love it!

Later on Ruedi checks something on the OKA.
When switching the diesel tanks suddently all electronically controlled instruments go blank. Ruedi cannot get them back to work.
As we are just 100 km out of Perth an anyway on the way to OKA for the service he does not really bother checking for the reason.
Having just changed the diesel tank to the full one it does not matter if the diesel indicator does not function and he uses the GPS for speed-indication, so not having the speedometer does not bother him either.

Soon we are all again in the kitchen and the party continues.
Everybody has stories to tell and there is lots of laughter and fun.

On Tuesday Robert takes a day off and shows us the surroundings.
We drive to the Beverly gliding field, where Peter and Margaret, both being glider pilots, find some known planes.
Later on we find out that one of Ruedi's ex-bosses in Switzerland in 1993 was member of the Beverly Glider Club for one month to be able to compete in a competition.
The world is so small at times .....

We also visit York and its surroundings.

Then it's back to the station and some more partying .....

On Wednesday, November 1, we have to leave, Perth is calling!

Dear Robert and Cherry,
Thank you so much for your hospitality.
We had a great time!

Shortly before reaching Roleystone and the steep decent to Armadale the red warning light comes on announcing an auto shut-off of the engine.
This would mean no power breaks, no power steering .... all just before a fairly steep descent ..... stress sets in ....
Ruedi asks Susi to warn Peter on the UHF that we have a serious malfunction.
As we are being passed by a road train at the same time Ruedi has to concentrate on keeping the truck on the road.
Either Peter doesn't understand Susi or he is too close to the truck and is not able to react because of the boat he is towing, anyway, he also passes us.
Then Ruedi pulls the OKA to the other side of the road and up the embankment to stop it.

After a first seconds to catch breath again Ruedi and Peter start checking possible reasons for this auto-shut-off.
As the instruments are not working they cannot find the cause and Ruedi calls Linden, the engineer at OKA, to discuss what should be done.
So the driver-cabin is cleared out and the engine inspected ... no success.
All the fuses are checked ... all are fine .....
.... but as he removes and reinserts one of the least logical fuses .... ah, the instruments have a reading again.
Most likely the speedo, which holds the programm of all the instruments, had a glitch and Ruedi had to completely remove the power to reset the circuit.

When checking the instruments Ruedi detects that the tank indicator shows 0% diesel.
That is weird as he had changed the tanks over just before the instruments went blank.
Now it is clear what happened: because yesterday's failure had happened exactly when Ruedi was switching the tanks, the tanks had not really been switched .... so we had driven on an almost empty tank.
When the tank was empty logically the engine had shut down.
All makes sense now except .... what made the instruments to stop....?
Well, that will be something for Linden and the team at OKA.

During the failure Susi and Margaret have lots of time to have another look at the flowers.

At OKA the truck quickly becomes the central point of attention.

Figures, it is still the only one of the new NT-series that is on the road and the engineers have an opportunity to check how their "baby" has been doing on its travels .....