John Holland Way

6/3/2018. Tuesday. R & R slept better than last night. RL’s ear was still blocked and ringing but they got straight out for breakfast and showered and straight into gear to sort clothing. That was more challenging that doing food and cooking essentials! RL packed the clothes into the camper and filled the water tanks while RA sorted a few photos and did a wash. The Hum dropped the camper at Tim’s and she picked him up as they headed for Albany and coffee at the Dome with their friend, S. A bit of a first for RL; he had never paid for a coffee in his life. His wife had bought one; finding herself under prepared at the swimming pool for a carnival that had turned dismally wet and chilly. Luckily, S was seated as they arrived so he stood to great them and immediately offered to fetch coffee. It was lovely for them all to catch up, chatting at least an hour and a half. S showed his photos of a thorny devil which can be seen in the Forrestania area where he works. R & R took a claim to Medicare, checked in at Optus about unsent emails and got some photos printed at Harvey Norman. It was really late when they sat to lunch at home just after 2:00pm. Their daughter, S, rang and held them up a little but eventually they went to the hospital to drop off the travel claim form, refuel the Hyundai and book in a weigh in for the Ute and camper at Southern Haulage. R & R put a turkey roast on for dinner, sorted more towards packing and getting away. They went for their walk late to benefit from the coolness towards evening. RL copied some more music while R A watched MAFS as well as chatting again to daughter,S.  As it had been a very warm day they showered again before bed. 

7/3/2018. Wednesday. They slept well enough considering there must have been some excitement/in-trepidation about finishing up everything, packing and leaving hopefully by middle of the day. B at Newhaven had requested forms, E, RL’s sister, required payment for works at Marine Tce, S, daughter, needed them to speak with the guys at Alllpest about the ants and there was the final printing of papers and backups of everything on the computer before they left. R & R got through all of these as well as the sorting of toiletry items and final packing of the car. After a late morning cup of coffee and banana, they showered and drove to Southern Haulage to get everything weighed. The Hum had been worried but it came in just under so all should be well. R & R drove out of Barker just on 1:00pm and stopped just off the Cranbrook turnoff for turkey and salad wrap and were on their way again before 2:00pm. Hopefully, the only item forgotten was R L’s nasal spray so it was agreed to take the opportunity to pick some up at the Katanning pharmacy ($20). Chemists in rural towns are few and far between. Fortunately, when they arrived at Nyabing, it was just 4:15pm and the Shire Office was still open. They were able to pay for a camping spot ($18) at the local sporting grounds; there being little choice for alternative sleepover or camping spots. R & R set up under the shed and rode the bikes a couple of kilometres out of town in search of echidnas which are sometimes seen in that direction. Not this time! Preparation of dinner on their first evening out was a little disoriented but unremarkable until RA sprayed a bottle of soy sauce all over everything. After that R & R pawed over maps about the Holland Track and made plans for the next day ... about 9:00pm RA spotted the Saucepan and RL pointed out the Southern Cross in the clear night sky. 

8/3/2018. Thursday. R & R slept well enough; hearing their camping neighbour leave for work at 4:30am but they slept again heavily to 6:30am.  Opting to shower first, they rated the facilities as 5 star. R & R breakfasted, packed down and were on their way by 8:30am. They spent their morning weaving their way along dirt roads and tracks that form the John Holland Way and the early parts of the Holland Track. Never before had they seen so many bob tails in one day. Granted, it was another warm day nearing 40*C. There were also kangaroos and many varieties of birds from the common, to larger hawks and a couple of graders working on the roads. Arriving at Newdegate about 11:30am, they ate lunch in the park and went walking for information. They had been hoping to email the kids and  find out something about the condition of the Holland Track further up. But, apparently, only Telstra works out here and not very well out of town.  A lady from the hairdresser let RA ring the Lake Grace Shire who indicated there had been no closure. After refuelling and the lady there, who was a Christian, had given them each a crucifix, the Hum again followed dirt roads and a real “track’, single track, where ant hills were growing and a sticky patch in a low lying area caused mud to flick up from the tyres for a while. RA sweated it out over the maps but the Hum calmly followed his instincts. For about 20kms, starting at a farm called “Oaklalona”, he drove at about 20 kms/hr before returning to better roads. It must have been somewhere along this track that one of the spots disappeared never to be seen again for it was noticed missing when they stopped for the evening. R & R opted to drive to Hyden in an attempt to phone J about his visit to the doctor but again they were disappointed by the lack of reception. RA left a message on his mobile from a pay phone for 50 cents. Curiosity, drew them into an op shop were an elderly lady gave them a map and directions to get to Forrestania Plots, a free camp about 70kms directly east of Hyden on the other side of the rabbit proof fence. She too had seen a thorny devil only this morning on her way in from their farm which borders the RPF.  Shortly out of Hyden, a little white Hyundai over took the Ute. R & R both believe that it could only have been their friend, S, who was due to drive back to a nickel mine at Forrestania that afternoon.  The Navigator showed them the last bit and they stopped just before 4:00pm.  There was a shed which is dubbed the Forrestania Pub; no cold beer or five star showers here. It was so hot setting up the camper which took about an hour but an intermittent breeze blew so they were grateful to get inside and read/write with a coffee for a while with the idea of using Spot to message the kids. They walked up and down for about 15 minutes to give anyone a chance to ring them on the Sat should they need to before settling to dinner, some quiet time and a well deserved rest ... and about 9:00pm they searched the night sky finding, not one but, two aeroplanes flying the same path and only a minute or so between them.  

9/3/2018. Friday. RL slept well but RA felt restless most of the night so. she was glad to be up and about. They ate breakfast, packed up and let the tyres down all round and were on their way at 7:30am. They had to backtrack a few kilometres to the beginning of the Holland Track which was at Site 3 on the Woodlands Trail. The Track was only wide enough for one vehicle and slow going at under 20 kms/hr. R & R were only 2 kms in and 10 minutes when they encountered a flat tyre on the camper.  Despite the early hour it was already hot and they were eaten alive by bull ants. The ground was as hard as slate and the band new never-used-before camper jack wouldn’t wind. The whole episode was a struggle but fixed by 9am; an hour and a half. Fortunately, there was a spot where the Hum was able to turn around a couple of hundred metres ahead as, by that stage, they had figured that it was not wise to continue with the camper and no spare for it. By 9:30 pm they were back on the East Hyden-Norseman Rd where speeds varied from 30 to 70 kms/hr depending on the condition. There were power poles lining the edge of the road for a couple of kilometres either side of Flying Fox and Lounge Lizard Mines. R & R had been travelling about and hour before RA realised that she had acquired a very large splinter (about 1 inch/2.5 cms and quite thick) while changing the tyre. Her husband stopped to help pull it out while she pushed from behind. She was able to dress it as he drove. They saw very little wild life all day save a dingo who was so thin you could count its ribs and one of those little lizards that stand alert and erect and then makes  a dash for it. Having travelled 140 kilometres and just before the Hyden-Norsemen Rd veers east to Norseman, the Hum turned 1.5kms northward on a track to McDermid Rock and stopped a little early for lunch. It is a free camping area with toilets. They were away again by 12:15pm.  The Victoria Rocks Rd veers north east from the Norseman Rd at this point. The first 30 kilometres were a bit slow but soon after entering the Shire of Coolgardie the conditions improved especially in some sections.  Stopping off, they washed away the morning’s dirt in a large puddle on the side of the road. It was really pleasant. R & R arrived at Victoria Rocks free camp with toilet at 2:30pm, set up and were reading and writing before a walk and using Spot to message. The road had been difficult in patches but they were truly surprised that the latch/lock for the camper door had sheered off. So disappointing!  All day they saw no one; only the lovely forested woodlands, sometimes in full splendour, at others in varying stages of regrowth from fire. The gimlet is particularly spectacular with its strong bronzed trunk displaying deep green foliage that glistens silver in the breeze ... where the only litter on the side and the edge of the road, is, as it should be every where, leaf and bark.

10/3/2018. Saturday. R & R woke about 5:30 and it was not long before they were out of bed. Having packed down, they went for their walk over Victoria Rock. It was lovely. Not only did it have a large gnamma hole but there were many rock pools and shallow areas where the grass was green. They had been told that it had rained about 10 days ago so felt fortunate to see it like that. About 8:00am R & R headed north east on Victoria Rocks Rd for Coolgardie. About 15 kilometres out, just before 9:00am, they came into reception and the phone went mad updating a couple of days worth. The Hum stopped to pump up the tyres while his wife chatted with their daughter H, messaged their son J and sorted out some of the emails. There was absolutely no luck with Jayco; the service manager was not even able to recommend an approved repairer.  RA set the Navigator for Tyrepower and RL headed for Kalgoorlie. As you leave Coolgardie the road is flanked to the north by “the pipeline” and shows mines and tailings on the south before returning to woodlands again. R & R were able to drop the tyre off shortly after 10:00am and headed down town to walk the streets looking for all the op shops (not that they needed anything) and asked at the Tourist Bureau about the condition of the track to Rawlinna (Trans Australian Railway Track). A very bright and cheerful girl was certain that it was well maintained as she regularly gets updates from people passing through. Driving in search of Hammond Park R & R  stumbled upon an arboretum  which looked lovely, had picnic tables under trees, a toilet and a large shady bay to park the Ute and camper. Perfect. They enjoyed late lunch and deleted tons of emails as they had been told via Optus live chat that it was their full email that was causing the sent mails to remain in the Outbox. Another session with live chat and they were no wiser. R & R spoke with their other daughter, S and checked out Mass times before heading back to Coolgardie as fuel was 10c/ltr cheaper there. Using the Top Parks guide and phone, RA tried her luck a pre booking a caravan spot in Kalgoorlie for Sunday night before setting the Navigator for Lake Douglas recreation area. It was quite windy but that did not seem to deter any of the campers there, particularly families on mini and quad bikes and others, catching yabbies, while  R & R went for a walk on the lakes edge. Dinner was a delicious mix of the last of the vegetables, bacon and pasta before reading/writing and bed ... so cloudy was the night sky that nothing could be seen other than the red light of a mine beacon not far to the east. 

11/3/2018. Sunday. It was a windy night but R & R slept well enough; not keen to get up as they were in no hurry. They spent a while reading and writing after breakfast before packing up to leave. They marvelled at how their fellow campers, the parents, that is, were able to keep those boys off the bikes until 8:00am. It was shortly after that they headed for Kalgoorlie. Being a little early for Mass, RL drove back to the Arboretum and they sat quietly to enjoy a cup of coffee. Mass was unremarkable other than it seemed to RA that the larger the building the more difficult it is to keep every one together when singing. The reception staff at Discovery in Boulder were welcoming and R & R set about putting the camper up to have lunch, doing a load of wash, checking out the book exchange, hanging the washing and having a well earned mid afternoon nap. A luxury when you are constantly moving and only setting up later in the day. RL read while RA did her best to get the Telstra wifi USB working, ending up with an email from Telstra saying that there had been a problem with activation. Unsuccessfully, they tried to download a Louis L’Amour book for The Hum onto his iPad using the phone as hotspot. It had worked fine at home but not this time. RA was so over it all by then and, possibly, a bit anxious about the next stage, feeling quite out of her comfort zone heading, off into the unknown ... but knowing how important it was to her husband,  she did not want to spoil it for him.