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The Bro-in-law and I had been yakking, for a while, about taking a run along the Holland Track but it had never quite come together. Then we got the opportunity to tag along with Leachy and a few of his mates for a long-weekend trip. It wasn't real hard-core 4 wheeling. There was a bit of mud, a lot of real suspension testing ruts, corrugations, twisty bits, dirt, dust and fast gravel ... but it was mainly an historical journey and a chance to spend a few days with some great company.
History Lesson
The WA gold rush really took off in 1892 when discoveries were made at Bailey's Find (Coolgardie) and Hannan's (Kalgoorlie). Prospectors were attracted from all over Australia and the rest of the world with many arriving by steamer at the port of Albany. At the time there was a rail run to Perth but no direct means for prospectors to walk (yep - walk) to the gold fields.
On April 14 1893 John Holland and his team left Broomehill (about 300 Km south east of Perth) to cut a direct route from Broomehill to the goldfields. Several other men had attempted this task before but all had failed.
Holland and his companions reached Bayley's Find (Coolgardie) on June 18 1893. They had covered nearly 330 miles of unexplored country in 2 months and 4 days, at that time cutting the longest cart road ever made in one stretch in WA. The route to the Goldfields established direct communications with the south-west of the Colony and shortened the journey by a fortnight or more.
Much of the South Western portion of the track, from Broomehill to Hyden, has been overtaken by private farming land and the rural road network. Some sections are accessible by 2wd vehicle. In contrast, the bushland of the north eastern section, East Hyden to Coolgardie, remained largely neglected until 1982 when a group of local enthusiasts retraced the route taken by Holland and reestablished many of the Tracks previously impassable sections. This relatively recent work has established an important and remarkable heritage trail that is now accessible to 4WD enthusiasts.
No fuel or water is available between Hyden and Coolgardie, so you will require a range of 360km plus between those centers. To give you time to explore the rocks and other features along the track, allow at least three days. The trip is probably best tackled in the spring wildflower season. It is recommended that you don't attempt it after rain. You'll have a miserable time getting yourself unbogged and wreck the track for others.
/Here endeth the lesson
The convoy consisted of 4 white Prados - an '05 diesel (Steven), 2 D4D's (Leachy and Ian) and my V6, a Diesel Hilux Surf (Marty) and a Suziki Vitarra (Oren).
The first stop, just out of Hyden, was a visit to Hippo's Yawn and Wave Rock.
The crew was seeking a bit of shade as they day started to warm up.
One of the locals enjoying the sunshine.
This is it. The turnoff and start of the Holland Track.
Jay checked out this memorial at the beginning of the track.
Dust, dirt and scrub. Although this is a two way track there are some parts that are quite tight. Other sections have room for you to pull over and let others past. There are also some sections that have no room to move - so if you meet oncoming traffic one of you is going to have to reverse.
We actually caught up with a couple of groups and, at one stage, there were 20 vehicles heading in one direction and a group of three had pulled over to let us past - they must have thought they were going to be there all day.
Marty found some mud to play in.
It did get a bit confusing, at times, with 4 white Prados - 3 of them with roof rack and Sovereign bar. I watched Leachy, one afternoon, walk up to the back of my rig and open the door to put some of his stuff away - apparently he didn't notice the 4000 V6 sticker on the side :lol: - or maybe there's some secret desire to change over from diesel :lol: :lol: :lol:
Up on top of Mount Holland. It's a rocky climb but nothing really dramatic. The rocks are quite sharp though and you risk damaging a tyre by going too hard.
This is one of the tight sections. There's really nowhere else to go but forwards or backwards.
There was the odd joke about bringing everything - including the kitchen sink. Bugger that for a joke - I brought the entire kitchen !
Here we are gathered at the vermin proof fence. This fence was constructed to keep Eastern Staters out of God's Country - rabbits that is :lol: :lol:
Half way along the track is the visitor's book - sitting inside the metal toolbox. It's interesting reading the history of people's travels since the track was re-opened.
The patches of mud were fun - but there was a really hard base underneath and they were drying out quickly. Having a look at the track though - it could get really ugly after a bit of rain and there's a lot of places where there is no other way around. It's for this reason that you're recommended to not travel the track after decent rain - as it would chew it up and make it impassable for others. The Hyden - Norseman Rd sufferes a similar fate. It is frequently used by heavy trucks and if they get caught coming through in the wet the road can be renderred impassable for days, weeks or even months depending on how bad it gets. Signs at each end of the road indicate whether it is open or not - but don't mention the amount of currugations, potholes etc ...
Here Ian was proving that Grandtreks are an awesome mud tyre.
These few pics should give you a bit of an idea of the changing nature of the track. As it had dried out we faced a lot of dust - at least that's what the guys in front of me were saying. Personally, I reckon they were trying to come up with an excuse to hide the diesel smoke :lol: Look carefully at these pics - I reckon it's more D4D smoke than dust :lol: :lol: :lol:
Some fools had cut sick on this salt lake. In the dry these scars may still be there in 10 years time.
This is Thursday Rock. No - not the little tower of stones - The whole great big slab of rock that everyone is standing on. It's a massive lump of rock and provides an amazing view of the surrounding countryside.
Just to give you an idea of the varying road surfaces - this one is sharp rock and lots of sharp tree roots - just looking for a tyre to rip.
A few of the sections were freshly graded and quite wide ...
.. but there was still the problem of diesel smoke ... :shock: :lol:
This shot is from inside the cave (at Cave Hill) looking out.
It's an amazing site inside the cave, it looks like a wax works on a hot day.
You can easily imagine 30 or 40 people living in here in the past.
At one stage we got onto a section of mine road - it had been freshly graded but I reckon the grader driver had tied one on the night before and was still off his lolly. Either that or he was one really impressive greenie - and created the road around all the trees instead of through them.
This salt lake was in better nick - but it had still been visited by some vehicles that had left their mark. It was bone dry - on top - but there was water just under the crust when we looked in some of the wheel marks. Go through the crust and you'd be there a while.
This lunch stop, on the last day, included an identity crisis - no wonder these guys kept getting into the wrong vehicle. Imagine Leachy's Prado in it's normal day-to-day outfit (where it wears Grandtreks instead of Superman tyres) and these guys would really struggle.
If you're looking for accomodation with a STAR rating then the Holland Track probably won't be for you. In the spring you really don't need anything special - the Vitarra was at standard clearance and running road tyres - and it got though with no dramas. You could be quite confident taking your standard rig out for a ride - but it's always easier in a bit of a group.
I must admit, the challenge of taking it on in the wet is interesting, but the damage you could do to the track would stuff it for everyone else for a long, long time.
Thanks to Leachy and Jen for letting us tag along - we had an awesome time.
Cheers
Chippy
History Lesson
The WA gold rush really took off in 1892 when discoveries were made at Bailey's Find (Coolgardie) and Hannan's (Kalgoorlie). Prospectors were attracted from all over Australia and the rest of the world with many arriving by steamer at the port of Albany. At the time there was a rail run to Perth but no direct means for prospectors to walk (yep - walk) to the gold fields.
On April 14 1893 John Holland and his team left Broomehill (about 300 Km south east of Perth) to cut a direct route from Broomehill to the goldfields. Several other men had attempted this task before but all had failed.
Holland and his companions reached Bayley's Find (Coolgardie) on June 18 1893. They had covered nearly 330 miles of unexplored country in 2 months and 4 days, at that time cutting the longest cart road ever made in one stretch in WA. The route to the Goldfields established direct communications with the south-west of the Colony and shortened the journey by a fortnight or more.
Much of the South Western portion of the track, from Broomehill to Hyden, has been overtaken by private farming land and the rural road network. Some sections are accessible by 2wd vehicle. In contrast, the bushland of the north eastern section, East Hyden to Coolgardie, remained largely neglected until 1982 when a group of local enthusiasts retraced the route taken by Holland and reestablished many of the Tracks previously impassable sections. This relatively recent work has established an important and remarkable heritage trail that is now accessible to 4WD enthusiasts.
No fuel or water is available between Hyden and Coolgardie, so you will require a range of 360km plus between those centers. To give you time to explore the rocks and other features along the track, allow at least three days. The trip is probably best tackled in the spring wildflower season. It is recommended that you don't attempt it after rain. You'll have a miserable time getting yourself unbogged and wreck the track for others.
/Here endeth the lesson
The convoy consisted of 4 white Prados - an '05 diesel (Steven), 2 D4D's (Leachy and Ian) and my V6, a Diesel Hilux Surf (Marty) and a Suziki Vitarra (Oren).
The first stop, just out of Hyden, was a visit to Hippo's Yawn and Wave Rock.
The crew was seeking a bit of shade as they day started to warm up.
One of the locals enjoying the sunshine.
This is it. The turnoff and start of the Holland Track.
Jay checked out this memorial at the beginning of the track.
Dust, dirt and scrub. Although this is a two way track there are some parts that are quite tight. Other sections have room for you to pull over and let others past. There are also some sections that have no room to move - so if you meet oncoming traffic one of you is going to have to reverse.
We actually caught up with a couple of groups and, at one stage, there were 20 vehicles heading in one direction and a group of three had pulled over to let us past - they must have thought they were going to be there all day.
Marty found some mud to play in.
It did get a bit confusing, at times, with 4 white Prados - 3 of them with roof rack and Sovereign bar. I watched Leachy, one afternoon, walk up to the back of my rig and open the door to put some of his stuff away - apparently he didn't notice the 4000 V6 sticker on the side :lol: - or maybe there's some secret desire to change over from diesel :lol: :lol: :lol:
Up on top of Mount Holland. It's a rocky climb but nothing really dramatic. The rocks are quite sharp though and you risk damaging a tyre by going too hard.
This is one of the tight sections. There's really nowhere else to go but forwards or backwards.
There was the odd joke about bringing everything - including the kitchen sink. Bugger that for a joke - I brought the entire kitchen !
Here we are gathered at the vermin proof fence. This fence was constructed to keep Eastern Staters out of God's Country - rabbits that is :lol: :lol:
Half way along the track is the visitor's book - sitting inside the metal toolbox. It's interesting reading the history of people's travels since the track was re-opened.
The patches of mud were fun - but there was a really hard base underneath and they were drying out quickly. Having a look at the track though - it could get really ugly after a bit of rain and there's a lot of places where there is no other way around. It's for this reason that you're recommended to not travel the track after decent rain - as it would chew it up and make it impassable for others. The Hyden - Norseman Rd sufferes a similar fate. It is frequently used by heavy trucks and if they get caught coming through in the wet the road can be renderred impassable for days, weeks or even months depending on how bad it gets. Signs at each end of the road indicate whether it is open or not - but don't mention the amount of currugations, potholes etc ...
Here Ian was proving that Grandtreks are an awesome mud tyre.
These few pics should give you a bit of an idea of the changing nature of the track. As it had dried out we faced a lot of dust - at least that's what the guys in front of me were saying. Personally, I reckon they were trying to come up with an excuse to hide the diesel smoke :lol: Look carefully at these pics - I reckon it's more D4D smoke than dust :lol: :lol: :lol:
Some fools had cut sick on this salt lake. In the dry these scars may still be there in 10 years time.
This is Thursday Rock. No - not the little tower of stones - The whole great big slab of rock that everyone is standing on. It's a massive lump of rock and provides an amazing view of the surrounding countryside.
Just to give you an idea of the varying road surfaces - this one is sharp rock and lots of sharp tree roots - just looking for a tyre to rip.
A few of the sections were freshly graded and quite wide ...
.. but there was still the problem of diesel smoke ... :shock: :lol:
This shot is from inside the cave (at Cave Hill) looking out.
It's an amazing site inside the cave, it looks like a wax works on a hot day.
You can easily imagine 30 or 40 people living in here in the past.
At one stage we got onto a section of mine road - it had been freshly graded but I reckon the grader driver had tied one on the night before and was still off his lolly. Either that or he was one really impressive greenie - and created the road around all the trees instead of through them.
This salt lake was in better nick - but it had still been visited by some vehicles that had left their mark. It was bone dry - on top - but there was water just under the crust when we looked in some of the wheel marks. Go through the crust and you'd be there a while.
This lunch stop, on the last day, included an identity crisis - no wonder these guys kept getting into the wrong vehicle. Imagine Leachy's Prado in it's normal day-to-day outfit (where it wears Grandtreks instead of Superman tyres) and these guys would really struggle.
If you're looking for accomodation with a STAR rating then the Holland Track probably won't be for you. In the spring you really don't need anything special - the Vitarra was at standard clearance and running road tyres - and it got though with no dramas. You could be quite confident taking your standard rig out for a ride - but it's always easier in a bit of a group.
I must admit, the challenge of taking it on in the wet is interesting, but the damage you could do to the track would stuff it for everyone else for a long, long time.
Thanks to Leachy and Jen for letting us tag along - we had an awesome time.
Cheers
Chippy
ops: 
Snaga
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