Goldfields Trip Western Australia.

These are the trip logs from short journeys into the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The standard was generally easy, however after rain, the tracks range from hard to downright dangerous. It would be easy to slip into an old dis-used and unmarked mineshaft. The woodlines were a series of rail tracks along which labourers cut wood to provide pit shafts for the mines and wood for the water stills. Many of the pit props survive now. Relics from the wood-cutters' camps can be seen along the tracks. Rail spikes seem to have an affinity for rubber and although we all escaped on this trip, puncture repairs are usually required. The "Cherry" was crewed on this occasion and several subsequent trips by a family from Saudi Arabia who enjoyed the variety the terrain provided and its challenges.

Goldfields Trip

Sept 30 - Oct 3

Geology

Early History

The stories of Bayley and Ford, & Flanagan, Shea and Hannan are well known and documented. Water was a rare and precious commodity on the Goldfields. Until rains came , many men "did a perish" and the poor sanitation resulted in outbreaks of typhoid. Water eventually came to the Goldfields by the pipeline from Mundaring.

The pipeline was finally opened in January 1903 in a temperature of 41C. "It is said that never was there a time when water was so much talked about and so little drunk!"

Flora and Fauna

Wedge tail eagles, whistling kites, and little eagles are the main predators. 28, mulga and Bourke's parrots are the main representatives of their families. Corellas , red-tailed black and gallahs represent the cockatoos.

Trees: Gimlet gum, Salmon, Coral, York gums , Blackbut, Mallee and Casuarina commonly present. Sandalwood can also be found.

Wildflowers: Daisy bush, Poverty bush, Salt bush, Blue bush, Wattle, Cassia, Flame Grevillia, Pea flowers, Mulla Mulla and Pigface can be found.

Rendezvous:
As previously agreed the convoy gathered at "The Lakes" service station on the Great Eastern Highway. The last vehicle arrived at 1725 Hrs and we departed at 1730 Hrs. All vehicles were equipped with 27 MHz CB radios and tuned to channel 3.

Water carried 190 litres.

Day 1.

An uneventful trip out of town. "The Magistrate" needed a "gas attack" at El Caballo since "the Lakes" didn't stock autogas. We proceeded steadily towards Southern Cross when we saw a police vehicle at an accident site about 10 kms west of Kellerberrin. The convoy stopped to see if aid was required but the victim of the roll - over was on way to hospital. We proceeded to Southern Cross for tea arriving at 2125 Hrs. After a pleasant meal and a discussion on the "Eagles" game of the morrow, we moved on at 2215 Hrs to our camp site near Boorabbin Rock.

We arrived at 23oo Hrs. Position S31° 12.44' E 120° 17.62' . Distance travelled 423kms.

Day 2.

0600 Hrs Tanya, feeling lonely, decided the whole camp should be up and about. Tanya promptly set off "the Cherry's" car alarm and knocked 5 years off the life of Nigel and Pat. Tanya saw a wild 'roo. Probably also awoken by the alarm!

After breakfast round the camp fire, we went for a walk to the rock and saw a mine site. This had been used to mine ballast for the narrow gauge railway between Perth and Kalgoorlie and its remnants pass close to the southern border of the rock. Drill holes for blasting were easily visible. Small gnamma holes present all over the rock and the views were excellent. Part of the old water-scheme pipeline was also visible.

We departed at 0830 Hrs. Water used:- 16 litres.

We easily picked up the track to Jaurdi and proceeded North. En-route we passed a group of tree enthusiasts and a C.A.L.M. member who stopped for a yarn. They mentioned a new track that could cause confusion and warned of a truck on the road.

Reaching the Trans-Australian Railway, we turned east and followed the railway until a crossing point was reached. Crossing the line, we almost immediately turned onto a tightly vegetated track that followed a wood-line. We passed evidence of old dwellings. This part of the journey resulted in a few scratches to the cars but no serious damage. The turn off this track was eventually found and we arrived at Wallaroo Rock at 1145Hrs. Position S30° 48.58' E120° 29.58' . Distance 96kms

Camp was established and John Payrits provided radio reception of the A.F.L. Grand final. The younger kids played around whilst the older kids listened to the demolition of the Geelong side.

Afterwards the group went for a walk onto Wallaroo rock. There were two large dams and yabbies could easily be seen. Photos. were taken of the group at the trig. Point at the top of the rock. At the second dam, Michael and David went fishing whilst the teenagers tried in vain to catch a yabbie.

We descended the rock and went back to camp where a fire was lit and the evening meal cooked. After the meal, Chris provided everyone with a good damper from the camp-oven. We all yarned into the night when we eventually retired at 2230Hrs.

Day 3.

Awoke at a more peaceful rate at 0530Hrs and revived the fire. We had a cooked breakfast and broke camp. Water used 35 litres.

Followed the woodline until a side track took us down to the railway. This track wasn't as good as the Jaurdi Siding end but provided no problems. Minor washouts were present. Wedge-tail eagles, lizards and abundant wildflowers were along this part of the journey. We curled round past both old and modern goldmines until we arrived at Coolgardie. A snack was eaten at the roadhouse and we all wandered around looking at the historical posters and buildings that made up Coolgardie

Arrived Coolgardie at 1045 hrs Departing at 1145 Hrs.

Leaving Coolgardie we headed North again to Ora Banda. Nigel stopped to have a look at an old bush grave on the side of the road. We arrived at Ora Banda at 1330 and had a pleasant break over a cold drink. We marked the quiz and "The Bogwoppit" won. Callie received a little Garfield book as the prize.

We moved on towards Siberia and immediately stopped for J.S. to take a photo of a slow down sign- "the House maid gets silicosis".

We arrived at the Siberia site and found a camp just east of it. Arrived at 1525 Hrs. Distance travelled 186 kms.

Marina had acquired some flour and raisins for another damper that evening so Michael prepared his special Damper fire!!

Camp was established and a fire prepared.

Jo returned to the game- boy which she had, between snacks, lollies and sleep, become addicted to. As was remarked, she had to sleep to gain the energy to eat!!

The evening was spent socialising around the camp fire till all went to bed at 2230 Hrs.

Day 4.

Woke at 0530 and loaded the cars after breakfast. David was given his special DAMPER Birthday cake with 5 matches as candles. After the damper we sang "Happy Birthday" to David and departed at 0750 Hrs.

Following the Canegrass road, we headed towards Kalgoorlie and arrived at the 2-up school at 0905. Following a quick demonstration of the game by Stewart and Chris we moved on to Hannan's North Mine and arrived there at 0925 hrs. We all went into the mine where the majority went down the pit for an underground tour. Following on, we all went on the train around the complex and returned for the gold- pour. A short break was taken after this for refreshments and we then left at 1320 hrs to enter Kalgoorlie itself. We stopped on Hannan's Street and said our farewells to the Crew of "the Magistrate" who were staying on in Kalgoorlie for 3 days. The remaining vehicles set off for Perth at 1350 travelling at Marina's request via the notorious Hay Street.

"Bogwoppit" and "Leader" refuelled at Coolgardie and headed towards the West. Tea was taken at Merredin about 1730. We left an hour later and arrived at The Lakes at 2100 hrs. The "Cherry" went on its way and the remaining vehicles went to deliver the passengers to their respective homes.

Distance travelled 702 kms.
Total distance driven: 1407 kms.
Punctures: Nil
Animals hit: Nil
Fuel used by Lead Vehicle: 187 litres.(13.32 litres/100kms).

Goldfields Trip part 2

Oct 7 - 9

As one poetic prospector said:-

Dam Coolgardie
Dam the track
Dam it there
And dam it back!

The lead vehicle as agreed left Perth at 1505 hrs and after tea at the roadhouse in Yellowdine, made camp on the Northern side of Boorabbin rock at 2100 hrs. The night was warm, and the crew all slept under the stars to the sound of the gentle rumble of trucks on the highway to the south.

Rising with the dawn, camp was quickly broken and, following a short stroll, the crew headed for their rendezvous in Coolgardie. The vehicle was fueled and so was the leader and his family. As the last sausage and cup of coffee was finished, up rolled the Payrits family all clean and shiny from the caravan park. A quick hello and a discussion of the route home followed. J.P. who thought he was heading home via Hyden had a shock as he discovered the error!

Day 1 October 8th.

Rendezvous as described.

We left Coolgardie on the Kununalling road. As we passed the Bonnie Vale siding, the vehicles left the bitumen, not to be rejoined until Payne's Find. We headed out towards Credo and Callion on well maintained gravel roads and moved towards Riverina station. We looked around the old townsite at Davyhurst where relics of the past were easily visible. Arriving at Riverina, one of the passengers- who will remain nameless[Patt] - decided the sun was in the wrong place. She took a lot of convincing that :

1. The sun was in the correct place.
2. The satellite navigator was accurate.
3. The maps were correct.
4. The driver knew where he was going!!

We then headed onto the hardest part of the trip. We traced an old prospectors track between old mine shafts and passed Ajax west and Cactus mines on the right before rejoining the main track north-west. We continued along the gravel before turning north to stop for lunch at a Gnamma hole. Some feral goats supervised our repast from a safe distance. Jennifer and Michael made short work of some cakes acquired in Kalgoorlie. John suffered in silence as first one, then the second cake disappeared. Chris and Stewart weren't too slow in helping with the third cake!

Continuing our way, we drove on towards Sandstone. The "leader" stopped on the edge of Sandstone to examine an old well (Contradiction Well) before driving into the township. Whilst "the Magistrate" went to find Alex to pump fuel, Nigel, Debbie, Pat and the younger kids went into the National Hotel for a cold drink. Michael tried to lynch his can, Debbie after cleaning up threatened to do the same to Michael. We all spent some time wandering through the hotel looking at the photos of times gone by.

Camp was made at 1705 hrs near London Bridge close to Sandstone. The evening was spent round the fire chatting. We retired at 2130 hrs. Distance travelled: 456 kms.

Day 2

An early start [0720 hrs] saw the group driving back into Sandstone to look at the old buildings and mines on the Heritage trail. We then drove at a leisurely pace towards Payne's Find. Emus, Goats and Bungarras were present along the road.

We were passed by a rented ute driving at high speed. Shortly afterwards we saw him on the road-side with a blown tyre. High speed, soft tyres and a small stick are a mean combination! He eventually caught up with us at Payne's Find.

The Roadhouse at Payne's Find has been improved and now is a real luxury. It has lost some of its character. We then headed down towards Wubin for lunch.

John and Debbie were reluctant to go home and wanted a delay. A quick look into the maps saw the convoy detouring out into the farming areas towards Kalannie, Cadoux and down into Goomalling. Some potential picnic areas were noted for a day trip. The trip home was uneventful except for one or two drivers with a death-wish.

The convoy broke up at the Swan Aquatic centre at 1750 hrs. Distance travelled: 719 kms.

Total for trip 1175 kms.

Punctures Nil.

- Nigel Buxton 1996 -->

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