Australia So Much to See

2007 We investigate the history of the Coolgardie Kalgoorlie Goldfields including the Holland Track, the John Holland Way, the historicWoodlines and the Golden Quest Discovery Trail. This section takes us to parts of the northern section of the Holland Track from the Hyden-Norseman Road to Gnarlbine Rock where the Holland Track finished, as the remaining thirty kilometres to Coolgardie was along an existing formed track used for water carting. 

After our experience on the narrow track, we chose to continue along the Hyden-Norseman Road ‘The Holland Way’ rather than continuing along the restored Holland Track section which heads north east from the Hyden Norseman Road.  Signage at the start of the northern section pays tribute to John Holland and his team, and another sign asks travellers to observe the code of conduct, tread lightly and leave no trace.  The track has been adopted by the Toyota Landcruiser Club of Perth.

For continuity, parts of the track we later travelled follow here, and we will come back to outline the Holland Way in the subsequent travelogue. 

Thirty eight kilometres from this junction, the Holland Track intersects the Forrestania-Marvel Loch Road near Mount Holland. We briefly joined the Holland Track at this point on our return journey and walked to the peak of Mt Holland, a small rocky hill with trig point, overlooking mainly scrublands, as this is beyond the farmed land.

This part of the track both to the west and east of Mount Holland was wide and this section would have presented us with no problems. There is current mining activity in the area.

This dragon lizard seen at Mount Holland is not as colourful as those seen on the granite outcrops, but at least he was willing to pose for the photo.

A grader was working here, so we later drove this section of the Holland Track, where it winds through a woodlands reserve with ease. Overhanging branches had been broken off and the track was well and truly wide enough for our F250.   

Taking the woodlands section little further than Thursday Rock, we left the Holland Track and turned north, as a bulldozer had preceded the grader on this overgrown cut line heading straight north to the Great Eastern Highway.  Sections were narrow and gave our vehicle a few more scratches, but regrowth and overhanging branches had been cleared by the bulldozer so the cut line was again passable. When found the grader had turned off the cut line to grade a side track, we hoped that the bulldozer had continued north all the way otherwise it would be impassable for us. 

The grader had turned down what is on the map a faint track heading towards Pigeon Hole, a small watering point which can be visited via a nine kilometre four wheel drive track from the Victoria Rock Road, nine kilometres north of the Holland Track-Victoria Rock Road junction.  Much to our relief, the bulldozer had continued clearing the cut line.   

Travelling on this line took us through differing soil types with woodland, scrubland or sand plain, until we came across a small salt pan.  We stopped here for the night as we were only a few kilometres south of the Great Eastern Highway.

We were surprised when two Landcruisers drove in, also from a southerly direction, as we did not expect anyone else would be travelling on this just re-opened and as yet ungraded track. One driver stopped and asked us if we knew where we were.  He said they were geologists doing exploration and were lost.  I assured him that he would meet the Highway in eight or nine kilometres if he continued straight on.  Mining exploration seems to be the reason for the re-opening of this track and their work on the woodlands section of the Holland Track. 

We did not visit Pigeon Hole which is accessed from the Victoria Rock Road as we were uncertain of the width of the track, and it is really just a historic place where water was discovered in a small gnamma hole by John Holland and his party, presumably by observing pigeons flying to water.  The locality of Pigeon Hole proved difficult for Graeme Newbery and others before him to re-discover, finally tracing this watering point in 1994. 

Victoria Rocks is a massive granite outcrop named by John Holland in honour of Queen Victoria.  It is a popular picnic and camping spot.  Wind has hollowed out boulders into interesting formations in top of many of the outcrops in the region.  Holland’s party rested for two days at this rock and placed a flagpole on its highest point.

Explorer Charles Cooke Hunt first camped at this rock in 1864 noting that the water might prove useful.  In 1888 explorer and prospector Gillies McPherson was saved by an Aboriginal boy named Toobey who led him to this well after he was unable to find water. Hunt constructed wells at the foot of Gnarlbine Rock from 1864 to 1866. This was the main source of water for the boom town of Coolgardie. Water was carted from here thirty kilometres to the town by horse and dray. 

Holland’s cutting of the track effectively terminated at Gnarlbine Rock as the route to Coolgardie was well established for water carting.  Holland and his small team had taken a little more than two months to make this track which followed the watering points they had found. 

Dragon Lizards on Victoria Rock have distinctive markings and blend in with the rocks and lichens apart from their black and white banded tail.   

One of the reasons we did not take the entire track from the Hyden-Norseman Road was because we thought the twists and turns through the woodlands may be too tight for our long vehicle and we would have no way out.  Our fears proved quite unfounded, thanks to the clearing done by the bulldozer and grader.    

The final section of the historic Holland Track is along Victoria Rock Road from the Holland Track Junction to Gnarlbine Rock, thirty kilometres south of Coolgardie.