The Holland Track trip this year was touch and go for a while – the rain had been causing many tracks to be closed but we were lucky as the rain held off and the tracks were reopened!
Here’s the crew who tackled the trip this year… (thanks Mitchell)
L to R: David, Jared, Graeme, Tilly, Suresh, Darshan, Enzo and Mitchell
DAY ONE
Our meetup point up for the trip was at the Hyden Roadhouse and given the distance from Albany we all arrived near enough to the agreed time. Once we had fuelled up the vehicles and bought some good healthy roadhouse tucker, we set off for the Holland Track. Arriving around 1:30pm we took the obligatory photos, aired down and headed on in.
At the start of the Holland Track – note the clean vehicles
Jared, David and Graeme
We travelled for around four hours that afternoon and once we reached the boggy section my trip computer claimed 12 Kph in motion so, yep, it was pretty boggy with the chicken tracks getting a bit of a work-out. Compared to last year’s trip at about the same time I found it didn’t seem any wetter however the track was a lot more chopped up which made for some interesting ‘pick a line’ decisions.
Pick a line…
Hmmm, maybe not that one…
We found a suitable camp site and set ourselves up as daylight was fading. As a number of us had only met for the first time that afternoon it was good to gather around the fire with a refreshing beverage of choice and get to know each other a bit better.
DAY TWO
We broke camp and after a checking for rubbish and ensuring the fire was dead we headed off around 09:00 am. This section of trip saw us increase our travel speed to 17 Kph by lunch time, so yes we had a few challenges. Of course we all know it’s those challenges that sometimes make for the best memories!
The climb up was fun and the view from the top of Mount Holland was worth the effort.
On top of Mount Holland
View from the top of Mt Holland
That evening we made camp a little short of Diamond Rock.
Camp fire and relaxing, chatting about the days challenges.
DAY THREE
We were underway by 9 am again the next morning and it didn’t take long to reach the end of the Holland. The decision had been made earlier that Suresh and Enzo would depart the trip once we got to the end of the track so they could get their lads back home in time for some soccer commitments. The rest of us would continue onto Cave Hill.
A quick chat before Suresh, Enzo and their lads head home
The Cave Hill Track proved interesting however due to Jared’s Hilux developing an alternator fault we decided to make a beeline for Norseman as we hoped to get some help there before close of business. As a result we didn’t do any exploring of Cave Hill so looking forward to checking it out on next year’s trip. Once we reached Higginsville we aired up and off to Norseman, fortunately the Hilux alternator started to function again and behaved for the rest of the trip. We fuelled up again at Norseman and went into town for a meal after which it was off to Peak Charles Rd!
Peak Charles looked amazing and this photo below just doesn’t do it justice. We were so impressed we have decided to return there later in the year to explore the tracks and check out the wildflowers (info will be in the events tab on our FB page)
Peak Charles
As we left Peak Charles, there was a sign that read “road impassable if wet” and I can confirm that would definitely be the case if any wetter than what we experienced. As it was, we managed to get through okay except on the very last wet section – I got well and truly bogged! This would have been a serious setback had I been travelling solo.
Thanks to Jared and David who had to link vehicles so I could hook the winch up and drag myself out!
Bogged!
It was getting late by the time I got free and so, long story short, we didn’t find an out of the way camp site so we set up on the side of track. It was a good night despite someone pointing out the monster dog prints in the sandy track and told some stories about wild packs roaming the area we were in.
My basic setup
Roadside camp
You have to love a good campfire and a refreshing beverage of choice…
Graeme, Jared & David kicking back and relaxing … not at all wobbly at this stage
DAY FOUR
We had a quiet night with nil dog attacks and enjoyed a few hours travel on more bush tracks before we made our way out on to the bitumen and off home. A very enjoyable trip in good company with everyone enjoying the challenges, looking forward to next year and hope to see you there!
Be sure to check out the events tab on FB page to see if you spot any trips you would like to be a part of.
Cheers All and safe travels,
Tilly
Ps. Images used supplied by Graeme and myself. Cheers Graeme!