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With the Foundation Day long weekend just gone here it WA, I have just got back from a trip to the Helena and Aurora Ranges in the Yilgarn area of Western Australia.
We took off Friday afternoon and camped just south of Jaurdi on the trans continental railway. The next day we headed north towards Mount Finnerty before turning west and heading towards the Helena and Aurora Ranges. The tracks were very dusty with lots of bulldust so our convoy of nine vehicles was spread out over some distance.
Convoy
Jaurdi Camp
We found the Helena and Aurora Ranges without any problem, but finding our way to the top proved to be a bit more problematic. We took a gnarly track leading up to Bungalbin Hill but it soon petered out so we set off looking for another way to the top, eventually finding a track that took us to a very nice camp site on top of the northern end of the range. The 360° views from the top were truly spectacular.
Bungalbin Hill track
Camp site views
Track down from campsite
Rain overnight turned the track north towards Pittosporum Rock and Kurrajong Rockhole into a grease pit. The track looked OK, but it only took a very small amount of rain for it to turn into an ice rink. It was some of the slipperiest conditions I’ve ever encountered. We had a two week old 150 series amongst our group and it was quite amusing to hear all the alarms going off in the back ground whenever he was on the two way.
Pittosporum Rock
Pittosporum Tree with 150 series
Heading west again we came to the Bullfinch Evanston Road and turned south past Lake Deborah and its many branches eventually heading towards Baladjie Rock overlooking Lake Baladjie. Baladjie Rock is surrounded by wheatbelt farms who were all in the middle of preparing paddocks for this years crops.
Lake Deborah East
Baladjie Rock
Baladjie Rock campground
The last night was spent under a cold crystal clear sky before heading back to reality with the drive to Perth and work again on Tuesday.
The Helena and Aurora Ranges are currently held within a conservation park but are under threat from mining companies as the surrounding area is rich with iron ore deposits. There is also rumour of a waste disposal plant being built nearby, so for those that haven’t been out there, make it a priority as its well worth a look.
We took off Friday afternoon and camped just south of Jaurdi on the trans continental railway. The next day we headed north towards Mount Finnerty before turning west and heading towards the Helena and Aurora Ranges. The tracks were very dusty with lots of bulldust so our convoy of nine vehicles was spread out over some distance.
Convoy
Jaurdi Camp
We found the Helena and Aurora Ranges without any problem, but finding our way to the top proved to be a bit more problematic. We took a gnarly track leading up to Bungalbin Hill but it soon petered out so we set off looking for another way to the top, eventually finding a track that took us to a very nice camp site on top of the northern end of the range. The 360° views from the top were truly spectacular.
Bungalbin Hill track
Camp site views
Track down from campsite
Rain overnight turned the track north towards Pittosporum Rock and Kurrajong Rockhole into a grease pit. The track looked OK, but it only took a very small amount of rain for it to turn into an ice rink. It was some of the slipperiest conditions I’ve ever encountered. We had a two week old 150 series amongst our group and it was quite amusing to hear all the alarms going off in the back ground whenever he was on the two way.
Pittosporum Rock
Pittosporum Tree with 150 series
Heading west again we came to the Bullfinch Evanston Road and turned south past Lake Deborah and its many branches eventually heading towards Baladjie Rock overlooking Lake Baladjie. Baladjie Rock is surrounded by wheatbelt farms who were all in the middle of preparing paddocks for this years crops.
Lake Deborah East
Baladjie Rock
Baladjie Rock campground
The last night was spent under a cold crystal clear sky before heading back to reality with the drive to Perth and work again on Tuesday.
The Helena and Aurora Ranges are currently held within a conservation park but are under threat from mining companies as the surrounding area is rich with iron ore deposits. There is also rumour of a waste disposal plant being built nearby, so for those that haven’t been out there, make it a priority as its well worth a look.
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