Keep up to date with Rhos and Bill as they enjoy life in country Victoria and places beyond. Photos by Bill and Rhos

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Driving The Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail.....

The unmade red dirt road is called Hyden-Norseman Rd and is 300 kms long.  It was closed when we came across in Dec but was open and quite good now.  We did not meet any trucks at all and only a few cars so had a really good, though dusty trip.
There are 16 stops along the way and we did stop at each one learning something about the area each time.

The first stop was Hyden and Wave Rock so we started our journey from here.
The Second stop was the State Barrier Fence.  Formerly known as the Rabbit Proof Fence running from Esperance to Port Hedland it is now renamed and runs 1170 kms from north of Kalbarri to the coast near Hopetoun mainly to keep the wild dogs and feral goats out.  
There is also a plaque here commemorating Ben Mouritz who had the lifetime dream to open a road from Hyden to Norseman as a crucial East-West alternate route saving 100kms on the journey.  He was given the honour of co-opening the road in 2000.
The Third stop was Holland Track and it was here that John Holland, an experienced bushman, sandalwood carter and kangaroo shooter, together with three other men and five ponies, forged a track from Broomehill to Coolgardie as a 'shortcut' to the goldfields.  Today the track is used as a 4wd 'adventure' track.
The Fourth stop was the Forrestania Plots and it was here that during the 1920's the WA Govt had a grand scheme to establish 3500 farms in these parts for Australian and Migrant farmers.  The Depression halted the scheme until interest was revived in 1958.  Trials from 1961-67 looked promising however a newly elected Govt ditched the project once more.  Now with clearing completely banned in WA this land is destined to return to it's natural state.  There is only an old shed here now and current day Doggers still use it for camping.
The Fifth stop was the Shire Boundary and we crossed from Kondinin Shire into Dundas Shire which stretches more than 900 kms from here eastward to Eucla.  Overall it covers a massive 92,725 square kilometres much of which is wilderness.
The Sixth stop was Grevillea Hill and it was here that you will find the beautiful Flame Grevillea.  While not really in flower as we travelled we did find a few late blooms still around.
The Seventh stop was The Breakaways and we stopped here and set up camp for the night.  We were the only people camped that night and we thoroughly enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the beautiful Australian Bush.  
The breakaways is a large area of hard capped and colour filled cliffs.  Also called the Yilgarn Block this is one of the oldest geological regions on earth.  Millions of years of wind and water have shaped these 'Breakaways' to what we see today.  The sign tells us it is 'A lovely but fragile stopping place that people have been coming to for many Millenia'.  I hope people take notice and this almost spiritual place is here for a long long time to come.
The next morning we left straight after breakfast and continued our drive of discovery so The Eighth stop was Emily Ann.  This was an old mine site which is now part of an international mining company so other than seeing a board telling us about them there was nothing else.
The Ninth stop was McDermid Rock.  This was another very large Granite outcrop much like Hyden Rock was and the best way to see it was to do the walk/climb.  We set off and I was only able to manage the first two stops.  To get to the third required a very steep climb and I wasn't able to continue.  
Bill did and completed the walk meeting me at the other end where I had approached from the last stop in so I saw about five of the eighteen points.  Even doing that much I had got to a fair height so had magnificent views across the countryside to Lake Johnston.
The Tenth stop was Lake Johnston, a large salt lake which we parked beside and had a little walk along the shores.  There were a couple of very large holes which had been dug out from the edge filled with water.  By whom and for what reason we'll never know but it gave you a good idea of what was under the layer of salt.
The Eleventh stop was The Lake Viewpoint which was just that.  Standing on a lunette which had been formed by the salt blowing off the lake over many years you had a great view of it all.
The Twelfth stop was Disappointment Rock.  This was another large rock and another walk trail.  We had lunch and then with the track notes in hand started off on another walk.  This time I was able to climb the more gentle slopes and we made it all the way enjoying the information and the views along the way.

The Thirteenth stop was the Woodlands and this was a lovely stand of mature Salmon Gums interspersed with the also lovely but much smaller copper coloured Gimlets.  
The Fourteenth stop was Gemfields and here we found a few hectares of old mining land that was now owned by the council. No permit was req'd here to try your hand at prospecting and there was evidence where many people had done just that.  An inquisitive lizard was all we found here.  As the afternoon was drawing to a close we continued on to the next stop.
The fifteenth stop was the Lake Cowan Lookout.  From here you had the most amazing view across Lake Cowan, the huge salt lake.  You could clearly see the causeway we had to cross and the road into Norseman.  The huge tailings dump takes centre stage as you look across.
Leaving the lookout we made our way down the hill and across the causeway and as we drove over we could see the Salt Mine and the Gold Mine at each end.  

A few minutes later we had arrived in Norseman and made our way to the caravan park where we stopped for the night.  Now the astute reader will realise that there is no stop no. sixteen.  That is a Woodlands Walk on the other side of Norseman and we'll leave that until the next time we cross the country.  We did take a walk around the town and found 'Norseman' the horse that the town was named after.
The story goes that his owner had camped overnight near here and in the morning the horse was lame and pawing the ground beside the tree he was tied to.  When they inspected his hoof there was a gold nugget wedged in there and so began the gold rush and the place was named Norseman.

So now our journey of discovery was over.  We had loved the last two days stopping and learning about all the history along the way.  The highlight had to be freecamping at the Breakaways and having the place to ourselves.  How lucky we are to have such places to visit throughout this wonderful country.  
Tomorrow we start the long haul across this huge country but more on that later.

Until next time........

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