Great Western Woodland Tour

The Great Western Woodlands is the largest remaining area of intact Mediterranean climate woodland left on Earth – comparable to Africa’s Serengeti. It is an internationally significant area of great biological richness.

Through the Wheatbelt

: ROUTE FROM KARAGULLEN TO SEWELL NATURE RESERVE

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The route to our first overnight camp, Sewell Nature Reserve, took us through Brookton, Pingelly and Yealering.

: Gazanias at Pingelly Sports Ground.

: The jetty at Lake Yealering. Although described as ephemeral the lake has an average September depth of 1.6 metres and a surface area of 160 hectares. It is a large lake for the WA Wheatbelt.

: Heavy winter rains had filled the Lake.

The central Wheatbelt was looking great. The canola was just starting to turn yellow.

: The canola paddocks were just starting to turn yellow.

Sewell Nature Reserve

The track into the Reserve was reasonably easy to find but it was then a bit of a guess to find the track around the base of the huge Sewell Rock.

: The track into Sewell Nature Reserve was easy find and easy to follow.

It leads to an extremely large and level campsite. But …mosquitoes. Apart from these annoying pests this would be a fine campsite – an absolute gem.

: Large, wide open area. Without the mosquiotoes it would be a great campsite.

While the surrounds were damp it was unclear if this was the entire reason for the presence of so many of these annoying creatures. Reasons aside, they were in plague proportions.

: The beginnings of a great fire.

: Someone had built a tree house.

: It was a cool night and an even colder morning -1.6°C

Start of the Road Trip Proper

: ROUTE FROM SEWELL NATURE RESERVE TO MCDERMID ROCK

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To Kulin

Cold overnight – 1.6°C. Everyone was familiar with our 8.00 a.m. departure routine. It’s pretty simple – we leave at 8.00 a.m, regardless!

: Early morning and the moon is still up.

Eight vehicles (13 people) from the Cockburn 4WD Club left Sewell Nature Reserve on Saturday morning of the September long weekend headed for Lake King via Holt Rock.

: Wildflowers at Sewell Rock

: The track out of the nature reserve

: On the way to Kulin.

: Kulin

: Kulin Post Office

: Turnoff to the Tin Horse Highway.

Tin Horse Highway

The Tin Horse Highway leads from the Kulin townsite to the Kulin Race Course, scene of the Kulin Bush Races, held annually on the last weekend of September. Despite it being held at the same time as the AFL Grand Final the event is always well-patronised and online tickets sell out very quickly.

: Welded sculptures /ine the road from the town to the race track.

: One of many ‘country constructions’ with a horsey theme.

: Themes all based on horses and many constructed from 44 galllon drums.

Holt Rock

: Information board at 24 hour campground.

: Typical paddock around Holt Rock

: 24 hour campground at Holt Rock,

: If the plan was to get one wondering how it was done, they succeeded.

Lake King

Lake King is at the edge of the wheatbelt in this area. We took the opportunity to refuel and have a look around this ‘dot on the the map’.

We had no time to check out a list of features and historical sites advised by Lake King historian Kevin Penny and they will be the reason for a future trip to the area.

: Originally contructed as the despatch and receival point for Lake King and surrounds. The store opposite had a ‘gallon licence’ and was a popular social gathering point known as the ‘Hole in the Wall’ until the tavern opened in 1987..

Frank Hann National Park

The State Barrier Fence and Frank Hann National Park are 31 kilometres to the east.

: The bitumen soon turns to dirt.

Frank Hann National Park is an unusually shaped reserve named after one of Western Australia’s greatest explorers, Frank Hugh Hann. Revisionists are trying to have it renamed.

A large and extremely hot fire devastated the Park in 2019. The country is only just now starting to come back.

: The country is starting to regenerate after devastating fires.

Wildflowers

I pulled into an open clearing for lunch. It was the site of what looked like an Optus optic fibre cable repeater station.

: Gravel clearing for lunch.

: Recent rains had filled a depression. Repeater station in the background.

: Steve relaxing at lunch.

Ninety Mile Tank

The Ninety Mile Tank is just outside the north-east end of the Park. It was built during WWII as a water supply on an emergency route to/from Western Australia and then used to supply water for an experimental farming trial in the late 1960s.

The roof diverted rainfall water into the tank.

: Ninety Mile Tank at the north-east end of Frank Hann National Park.

: The structure is direlect and wosening.

: Not much diversion of water going on today.

: The tank is dry.

Lake Hope Track

The Lake Hope Track extends between Lake King-Norseman Road and the Hyden-Norseman Road, passes the Bremer Range and runs along Honman Ridge. It passes between Lake Hope and Lake Johnston.

On our drive north along the Lake Hope Track it was evident that had we been a week earlier our passage would not have been as easy – to the extent of being impassable.

On the approach to Honman Ridge we encountered three low lying, wet areas. After I skirted the first, Andrew showed the way through the two-to-three hundred metres of shallow water. The track was a little soft but firm enough to give confidence that bogging was not going to be an issue. After that it was easy.

: Scott and Zsuzsanna in Scott’s heavily-modified Patrol.

: Elvis crosses in his Prado.

: Andrew and Jo in their Prado

: Scott’s Patrol

: The view through the windscreen of Jeff and Micaela’s Prado.

: Lake Hope.

McDermid Rock

Once we arrived at the Hyden-Norseman Road (HNR) it was an easy run to McDermid Rock.

Knowing that the campsite would be bereft of wood sufficient for a good campfire we stopped on the inward track to collect a quantity necessary for our needs.

As I drove into the campground there were two caravanners sitting around a great fire in a designated fireplace. Their look of awe/surprise at the amount of firewood on my roofrack and the way it was carried (hanging everywhere) was worthy of remark but it was very soon challenged as firstly Steve, then Elvis, then Scott, then Rod drove past dragging substantial logs. And Andrew had a load of large logs arranged over his RTT.

It is not necessary for our fires to be seen from space but we do need sufficient coals for a number of people to use camp ovens.

: Fires at McDermid Rock must be in concrete rings.

Issues With Elvis’s Prado

Elvis had a steering issue with his Prado. Long story short he wasn’t going to be able to continue the Road Trip. The best course of action was to proceed at a gentle pace to Norseman and arrange a flatbed ride from there. A decision would be made in the morning.

: Zsuzsanna looks on while Elvis tries to work out what’s wrong.

McDermid Rock in the Morning

: ROUTE FROM MCDERMID ROCK TO BUSH CAMP

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The sunrise from the summit of the rock was spectacular.

: Sunrise from the summit of McDermid Rock.

A gallery of sunrise photographs by Micaela is here.

: Jeff and Micaela’s camp at McDermid Rock.

Lake Johnston

Only seven kilometres towards Norseman is the Lake Johnston camp area and viewpoint.

: Lake Johnston

Elvis headed to Norseman, accompanied by Rod and Mal. After assessment at Norseman they continued home without issue.

We backtracked on the HNR and turned north on the Victoria Rock Road.

: The sign is wrong. It is 193 kilometres to Hyden not Kondinin.

Banks Rock

The track into Banks Rock is not immediately obvious and does not lead directly off Victoria Rock Road. It’s a very twisting, turning track.

: Starting the climb up the rock from the ‘carpark’.

: Numerous waves.

: Lake Johnston in the distance.

: Lots of wildflowers on the rock.

Banks Rock is technically a monadnock or inselberg. It was named by explorer Frank Hann in September 1901 during his trip from Ravensthorpe to Southern Cross.

More photographs of Banks Rock.

Old Hyden Norseman Road

While the signage message is daunting the reality is not so – at least until we turned north onto Mundale Track.

: While the signage message is daunting the reality is not so.

Mundale Track

This track took way longer than expected. Very winding. Numerous bogholes. Great drive.

: An unusually straight section of the Mundale Track.

Sunday Soak Track

This track is nearly as tedious as the Mundale Track although it does open open out towards the northern end closer to Sunday Soak.

Widgiemooltha

With the afternoon being eaten up by the unexpected amount of time required to drive Mundale Track and Sunday Soak Track it was necessary to take the straighter and more open Cave Hill Road to Higginsville on the Coolgardie Esperance Highway, en route to Widgiemooltha for refuelling.

Widgiemooltha is where the Golden Eagle was discovered – the largest nugget ever found in Western Australia.

We needed to head west and get as close to Victoria Rock as we could. Camp in the vicinity if possible.

The Cave Hill Road from Widgiemooltha is a wide, high speed dirt track to the intersection with Burra Rock Road. From this point the good road continues to the popular Cave Hill. The Cave Hill North Road that leads to the Victoria Rock Road after this intersection is a different proposition. Totally unmaintained, plenty of bogholes and impassable after rain.

Cave Hill North Road

From the Burra Rock Rd/Cave Hill Rd intersection to our overnight camp the track presented at least fifty bogholes of varying depth and ‘bogginess’. All had a ‘chicken track’ that was used in most cases.

The passage of time since the last serious rainfall (about a week or so) lessened the difficulty of negotiating the track. A week earlier and the journey might not have been so easy.

: Tiny boghole, mostly dried out.

: Unlike this mud patch, some of the bogholes have been there for many years.

: This innocuous puddle was not indicative of many that were as deep as a vehicle.

Campsite

One of the delights of the Great Western Woodlands is that it abounds in great campsites. Open, level areas with plenty of firewood just seem to pop up right as you need them. And so it was this evening.

: Convenient Camp

Our overnight camp was only a few clicks short of Victoria Rock Road.

Depart for Victoria Rock Road

: ROUTE FROM BUSH CAMP TO WOOLGANGIE

Download GPX File.

: Ian’s camp.

: Kim’s camp.

Victoria Rock

: Victoria Rock Road is a well-maintained, high-speed dirt road. The results of the devastating 2019 wildfire can be clearly seen.

: Victoria Rock

: Joanne, Andrew, Kim, Steve, Jeff, Scott, Zsuzsanna, Ian, Tassy – and Micaela took the photo.

Dally Track

Prepared signs were posted at the beginning, mid-point and end to confirm the name of this 38 kilometre track. A wheel loader has been used to open up the track and make it more-easily navigable than it was only a few years ago.

: Start of the Dally Track.

: Positioning a prepared sign mid-way along the track.

: Sign at northern end of track at Yerdanie.

Yerdanie Rock

This granite outcrop was an important feature for early explorers and, later, hopefuls making their way to the Goldfields.

: Official survey cairn at the summit of Yerdanie Rock. This granite outcrop was an important feature for early explorers and, later, hopefuls making their way to the Goldfields.

Hunt Track to Woolgangie

From Yerdanie to the Great Eastern Highway is only seven kilometres along a short portion of Hunt Track.

The Road Trip ended at Great Eastern Highway, Woolgangie. Kim turned right to head to Kalgoorlie to do a Presentation on Western Australian Exploration and everyone else turned left to head home.

The Great Western Woodlands Tour was from 20-23 September 2024.

Distance 1500 kilometres.

Road Trip 2126 – Great Western Woodlands Tour.

Photographs by:
Micaela Anderrson
Ian Franklin
Tassy Epton
Joanne Newhouse
Kim Epton

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