The 2006 Legendary Outback Expeditions (LOE) took expeditioners into the Kimberley in Western Australia. Read all about the trip in the following article, written by Ron & Viv Moon, which appeared in 3 parts in the January, March and April issues of 4x4 Australia magazine.
The Remote Kimberley - Part 2
Part 1 Part 3
With some success behind them Ron and Viv Moon take in some of the remotest country in the Kimberley and try to find a number of trees blazed by Frank Hann.
The rough track got rougher as we approached yet another rocky, step strewn jump up. I slipped the Patrol into low ratio and let it crawl up the slabs of sandstone, dragging the T-Van camper trailer up the slope as it did so. As we crested the ridge a vista of rugged ranges and sheer escarpments met our eyes while a grassy well treed valley stretched away from seemingly right below us.
Climbing rocky country on the track to Walcott Inlet.
We were west of Mt Elizabeth Station on the remote and little used track to Walcott Inlet. This vehicle route had been put in by Peter Lacey of Mt Elizabeth station back in the early 1960’s to service the Sale River and Munja pastoral leases. Today each season, after the track has dried enough to allow a 4WD tractor access, Rick and Ann (Pete’s sister) who own Bachsten Camp lead a group out to clear the track, slash the tall grass and smooth out the washaways and jump ups for the travellers brave enough to tackle the 200km from Mt Elizabeth to Walcott Inlet.
The track ends just past the old mission site of Munja which can be recognised by an old water tank and the ruins of a stone chimney and baking oven, set back just a 100 metres or so from the turbid muddy waters of the inlet. A few hundred metres further on is Lone Dingo, marked by a triple trunked boab, which is probably the best camp in the area. Really though this is a place that only fisherman and keen wilderness lovers would want to stay longer than a night or two as the mudflats and mangroves make a prime breeding area for sandflies and mossies. But, the fishing here can be tremendous and we’ve seen some great barra landed here while they are only outnumbered by the big saltwater crocs that are often seen cruising and lurking along the wide muddy stretches of the inlet.
During his 1901 expedition Brockman had explored extensively around here, pushing west from near Mount Elizabeth (which Hann had named earlier) and exploring along the Charnley River before crossing the range to follow the Calder River down to Walcott Inlet, much as modern travellers do today. He then explored to the west and north discovering many art sites around the Bachsten River (which he named) in the vicinity of today’s Bachsten Camp, before pushing further west and north.
With fires being lit close to the camp and smoke, flame and burnt-out country being an unwanted companion during our first stay at Walcott Inlet we headed back to Bachsten Camp for a pleasant stopover and a bit of an explore for ourselves. While our first group had explored down the Bachsten River with Rick leading the way, our second group, who we never took into Walcott because the fires had got bigger and more extensive, explored around the delightful Wrens Gorge and some of the fine Aboriginal art sites that can be found in close proximity to the camp and gorge.
Pics Left to Right and bottom: Travelling through burnout area at Walcott Inlett; Rick showing our group some Aboriginal art near Bachsten Camp; Delightful Wren Gorge.
There’s some fabulous Aboriginal rock art sites to be found along the whole route in from Mt Elizabeth to Walcott Inlet, while in one spot close to the track an ancient rock arrangement sprawls across a bare rock slab on the edge of a hill. Other art sites contain impressive Wandjina figures while others are made up of some of the finest ancient Bradshaw paintings you will ever find.
With our foray into the wilderness behind us we headed back to Mt Elizabeth Station and then onto the Gibb River Road where we headed for Manning Gorge and its nearby, well established, Mt Barnett Roadhouse.
Frank Hann had explored all this area during his 1898 expeditions and there are a number of blazed boabs that can be found in the vicinity. Once we had torn ourselves away from the delightful waters and setting of Manning Gorge we headed for Charnley River homestead where a large boab right beside the access road is the easiest found Hann tree in the Kimberley.
With permission from the homestead we headed our along the station tracks towards the ruins of Old Beverley Springs homestead and Old Station Gorge. The gorge itself is set in a semi-circle of low cliffs and is backed by a stepped waterfall, the last drop being just a few feet into the deep tranquil pool that is dotted with water lilies around its circumference. The cliffs curl around the pool, while a grassy verge where the narrow rocky creek flows from the main pool, gives relatively easy access to the water. All in all it’s quite a spectacular spot and one we enjoyed during the hot part of the day.
Next day we backtracked and crossed the Gibb River Road to head along the main access track to the Mornington Wilderness Lodge. This was the rich cattle country first explored by Frank Hann and the names of the mountains and rivers we passed and crossed were all his. The brooding bulk of Mt House itself dominates the whole area and the vast cattle property that now surrounds it takes its name from this flat-topped mountain.
Later that day we reached Lake Gladstone just north of the Tableland Track, the lake being the only natural lake in the central Kimberley. Hann had camped here on his second foray into the Kimberley and at the eastern end had blazed a boab, which we had found some years previously but wanted to find and photograph again.
Recently the area around the lake has been acquired by the national parks and has been fenced to keep the cattle out. A gate in the north-west corner of the fence gives relatively easy access to the lake shore and we cruised around the dry edge of the lake to Hann’s boab (GPS 17°11’13”S 126°14’36”E - Datum WGS84). Like him we saw a multitude of waterbirds including, geese, ducks, waterhens and pelicans. With its rich green shoreline, verdant growth of reeds and its patches of open water, it’s a magical spot.
Hann had also blazed another boab a short day’s march away. This was a tree we hadn’t found before even though we had looked for it previously, but now with more information we set out again to find the tree, which sits just back from the western bank of the Hann River (Hann had called it the Phillips) and north of the main Tableland Track.
The group parked beside some boabs along the Tablelands Track.
After a short amount of searching and wandering through the tall grass from tree to tree during our second expedition we found the tree much as it was when Hann had blazed it. It was a good find and we celebrated by taking a few photos of the treasure.
Then, with confidence brimming over, we got ourselves bogged in the deep soft sand of the Hann River, which always has a tendency to bring one quickly back to earth! With Macca leading the rest of the group clear of our predicament, our recovery crew – four experienced four wheelers from WA who were just waiting for something like this to happen – sprang into action. I was winched ingloriously onto terra firma before we headed for our night’s camp on the banks of a major tributary of the Traine River. The giant boab that overlooked the camp and the escarpment-clad range to our south was a truly remarkable Kimberley setting and a fitting finale to a great day.
Our plan was to continue east to Marion Downs and then to try and find a remote tree that Brockman had blazed in 1901. We had failed once before; the question was would we be successful this time around?
Frank Hann – Kimberley Pioneer
Frank Hann, who named more places in WA than any other explorer, was the younger brother of William Hann who did much to open up northern Queensland and Cape York.
Frank took up Lawn Hill Station in Queensland’s Gulf Country in 1875 but walked off the property in 1894. In June 1895, at the age of 49, he headed west, his only possessions being 67 horses. He passed through Halls Creek and headed south to Nullagine, where on two major expeditions into the desert he looked for gold.
In 1898, he headed back to the Kimberley and Mt Broome where gold had been discovered. Disappointed with the short-lived field he pushed north and successfully crossed the King Leopold Ranges, becoming the first Whiteman to do so.
On this expedition and a later one he discovered the fine cattle country around Mt House, which he named, along with the Adcock River and Bell Creek. Following the Adcock south-west past Mt Hamilton he came to the junction of the Adcock with the mighty Fitzroy River. He then discovered the Hann River, then discovered and named Lake Gladstone, the Isdell River, Manning Creek, and many more.
He camped near the junction of the Manning and Barnett streams, blazing a Boab that is near the old Mt Barnett homestead. While camped at this spot his six Aboriginal companions, ‘... caught a large quantity of fish’. Most Kimberley travellers would know the place – the Manning Gorge near the camping ground at Mt Barnett Roadhouse.
After leaving the Kimberley he explored much of the desert country of WA, only retiring when he had a bad accident in 1918 – at the age of 72! He died in 1921.
His diaries are to be found in the Battye Library in Perth and all are prefaced with the slogan, ‘Do not yield to Despair’. Those diaries have now been compiled into a book by that name, by Ian Elliot and published by Hesperian Press.
To continue reading about the LOE 2006 adventure, go to LOE 2006 Part 1, and LOE 2006 Part 3
Travel Planner
Mt Elizabeth Station - Camping, accommodation and rock art tours, ph: (08) 9191 4644, or check the web at:
www.holiday-wa.net/station.htm.
Bachsten Camp – GPS 15° 59’ 22”S 125°19’47”E. Camping, accommodation and tours. Ph: (08) 9191 1547, or check the web at: www.bushtracksafaris.com.au.
Rick and Ann Jane are the owner/operators of Bushtrack Safaris and have a strong affinity with the Kimberley Region, in particular the area they conduct their tours through. Ann is a true Kimberley local, she is the daughter of well known Kimberley Pioneer, the late Frank Lacy, who with his wife Teresa took up the lease of Mt Elizabeth Station in 1943.
Rick and Ann love introducing visitors to the Kimberley Region. Their tours offer an opportunity to experience the 'true outback', allowing visitors to experience nature in all her splendour. The Bachsten Creek area where Bushtrack Safaris have a Special Tourism lease and operate their Bachsten Bush Camp features in all their tours.
Mt Barnet Roadhouse - Fuel, supplies and camping. Ph: (08) 9191 7007.
Charnley River Station - Camping and accommodation.Ph: (08) 9191 4646.
The best guide for the area is, The Kimberley - an Adventurer’s Guide, by Ron and Viv Moon. The best map is Hema Maps, The Kimberley.
