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The 2007 and 2008 (due to popular demand) Legendary Outback Expeditions (LOE) took expeditioners from Kalgoolie, across the Great Australian Bight to Port Lincoln following in the footsteps of Giles & Eyre. Read all about the trip in the following article, written by Ron & Viv Moon, which appeared in 3 parts in the April, May and June issues of 4x4 Australia magazine.

Following Giles & Eyre - Part 1 - Kalgoorlie to Cape Arid

Part 2      Part 3  

Our journey begins as we head east from Kalgoorlie to Giles’ Queen Victoria Spring, but it’s the track south to the coast that offered the most challenges for our Legendary Outback Expeditions crew. Ron Moon explains.

The low rolling dunes, burnt bare by a recent bushfire, stretched away to a distant horizon in all directions. What was once densely covered in mallee scrub dotted with swordfish banksia, majestic marble gum, camel poison bush and the occasional stand of native pine was no more, with just the burnt out blackened stems and branches of once verdant trees standing mute above the naked raw sand. The desolation continued for kilometre after kilometre but as we closed in on our destination we were heartened to see a swath of greenery that somehow had escaped the carnage.

The vehicle track wound amongst the vegetation and our coming disturbed the resting kangaroos that leapt up and bounded away just far enough so they could look back and ascertain whether we were any danger to them or not. Bird life seemed to be pretty scarce but that was probably more to do with the time of the day than any other factor.

 

As the Magellan Crossover GPS indicated we were coming up to Queen Victoria Spring, first discovered by Ernest Giles in 1875 (see below) and used by most desert exploring expeditions there after, the green tangle of mallee scrub and ground covering spinifex continued all the way to the small carpark. Just a short distance from where we pulled up, the claypan and small depression that is the spring, was dry, while the recent fire had licked the scrub just a few dozen metres from the spring itself. We dug down to the firm almost rock-like clay that traps any water above it only to find moist sand and mud, but no water. Many other explorers following Giles found the springs in a similar situation and our experience seemed to confirm that Giles had indeed been lucky to find water there.

 

 

Earlier in the day we had left Kalgoorlie and headed north east winding our way through a long string of barren but partly moist salt lakes where only the brave or the foolish would take a vehicle. Some had tried it seemed, their wheel marks grinding deeper, breaking through the crust and into the sludge underneath, until they stopped, marooned in a flat white salty world where only a lot of hard work with shovel and winches would see them on dry land once more.

At the Pinjin homestead a fainter track heads east just south of the homestead and passes the old shearers quarters before leaving the homestead paddock and following a ruined fenceline east. This route passes some low granite rock outcrops that act as catchments for the gnamma rock holes that have long succoured Aboriginal people as well as early explorers and prospectors. Again we found most empty, silted up or contaminated with the remains of animals that had died trying to get to whatever water was available.

 

 

 

Around 95km east of Pinjin we turned south on a very sandy track and soon entered the Queen Victoria Springs Nature Reserve, one of the most biologically surveyed deserts regions in the whole of Australia having first seen scientists with the 1891 Elder Scientific Exploration Expedition. In more recent times such acclaimed and well known biologists as the Serventy brothers and Harry Butler have carried out studies here.

Our overnight stop at the springs saw us leave next morning and after some initial slow going winding in amongst the mallee we crossed the Trans Australian Railway Line and followed it east to the small almost deserted outpost of Zanthus.

 

From here south to the Eyre Highway settlement of Balladonia, along what passes for the main access track, is one of the longest and deepest sections of bulldust I’ve ever had the pleasure … or misfortune … to encounter. The billowing talc-like powder slowed our progress so much that we stopped for camp amongst some shady mallee trees near a large tank or dam, just off the route south. Next morning the bulldust continued and we discovered by talking to the locals that instead of risking the 200km run north to Zanthus, they prefer the 560km run to Kalgoorlie and then back along the Trans Access Road to Zanthus. Time wise it would take about the same!

 

          

 

Two hours later after passing the Mt Ragged access track it wasn’t dust that was slowing us down but mud – deep sloppy mud and bog holes of muddy water as we travelled the Esperance-Mt Ragged track southwest towards the coast at Cape Arid. These bog holes played merry hell with a few of our vehicles’ alternators (see box story) but initially that slowed us only a little. Through here too, the low heath country was spectacular and, in places, carpeted with a rich variety of wildflowers. With the occasional kangaroo bursting out of the close scrub it was an enjoyable drive to that night’s camp on the coast at Seal Creek.

This is a spectacular coastline that extends all the way to the modern town of Esperance and beyond and is worthy of a two or three week visit just on its own. The beaches and bays are absolutely mind blowing but for Edward John Eyre in 1841 the beauty was probably lost on him. Trekking along here on his epic ground breaking journey from Port Lincoln to Albany he had, by then, got through the driest stages of their trip west, but he and his faithful Aboriginal companion Wylie, were still gaunt and haggard and just managing to exist on the occasional bounty from the sea. West of Cape Arid, at what we know as Mississippi Bay, they were ‘rescued’ by a French whaling ship, before continuing their march westward.

For our group, we headed east to Israelite Bay, first along Fisheries Road (the southern access via Point Malcolm was closed by DEC) where it passes through grazed and ploughed farming land and then along a sandy corrugated track that past through low heath country. At a cross road near Tookle-Jenna Rock the tracks were badly eroded with, luckily, dry bog holes and just a short distance further on we skirted along the edge of Daringdella Lake. Once again this lake, which lies just a few hundred metres inland from the coast and extends for much of the way between Point Malcolm and Israelite Bay, was dry but after any rain the flat muddy pan becomes slippery and then quite quickly, very, very boggy.

There are no facilities at Israelite Bay but a maze of tracks lead to points of interest, the beach, headland and the many camping areas scattered amongst the dense scrub. Sheltered from the southerly wind that blows here pretty consistently the camp amongst the trees is a good one. The bay and surrounding coast are part of the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, a 625,344ha reserve declared in 1969 which extends along the coast for almost five hundred kilometers from Red Rocks Point in the east, south east of Madura, to Cape Pasley in the west, where it joins the Cape Arid National Park.

Israelite Bay is most famous for its great fishing and its historic telegraph station that operated here from 1877 to 1927. Originally built from timber the current building dates from 1896, while nearby is ‘Glencoe’, a small stone cottage built in 1883. Built around the same time as the grand new telegraph station was a timber jetty to help load the increasing volume of wool that was being produced from the sheep properties in and around the bay. Two small cemeteries also date from these pioneer times and can be seen in the area.

But what is interesting is how this bay just north of Point Malcolm where Eyre and Wylie had spent a few days catching and eating kangaroo, fish and crabs, first got its name. The Aboriginal anthropologist, Norman B Tindale, states that the bay was so named by the Dempster brothers, white pioneers of the district, who in their travels in 1863, noticed that the area around the bay seemed to be the boundary between Aboriginal tribes who did and did not practice circumcision. Think the bible, the Israelites and you get the connection!

Next morning as we explored the area and tried to drive along the beach to Point Dempster, the tide pushed us back and we retreated somewhat hastily, our tails, literarily, between our legs. It wasn’t a good start for the 80 to 100km of beach running we were planning to do as we tried to stick to the route first blazed by Eyre over 165 years ago.

Giles’ Crossing of Australia
Ernest Giles had already tried to cross the continent from Chambers Pillar to the west coast when he named the Olgas in late 1872.

Still determined to seek out a route westward his third expedition left Fowlers Bay in March 1875. He past through Colona, the outermost sheep property of the time and headed north to Ooldea in blistering heat. Then, heading east, he arrived at Thomas Elder’s (his sponsor) Finnis Springs property in late April. Now equipped with 22 camels he headed back to Ooldea on an easier route from Beltana around the southern tip of Lake Torrens and then north around the northern extention of Lake Gairdner to Mt Finke.

At Ooldea he made a quick dash south to Fowlers Bay and back again before striking north where they discovered a waterhole at Ooldabinna. From there they struck westward through the thick scrub and across porcupine grass covered plains that make up the vast arid area he called the Great Victoria Desert. They finally discovered water at what they called Boundary Dam, 250km west, but with no surface water anywhere further on they turned back to Ooldabinna.

Still not to be outdone, Giles and his men filled everything that would hold water, then turned back west. By September 3rd they were back at Boundary Dam with a mere 950km to the first known and charted landmark. On the 22nd September, 380km from the last known water, they gave the camels the last of the precious fluid, Giles declaring it was, ‘like parting with our blood’.

Four days later when all thought they were about to die, their Aboriginal guide discovered water by following the tracks of the first emu seen. He named the small water source amongst the mallee covered dunes, Queen Victoria Springs.

From there their tracks continued westward passing to the north of present day Kalgoorlie. Another long dry stage followed and later they were attacked by natives who had probably become alarmed at the amount of water the camels would drink from their precious waterholes.

On the 4th November they arrived at the edge of European civilization, NE of Perth, before being feted and dined by a host of Perth admirers. But Giles hadn’t finished with the desert. In May of 1876 he headed back and led a successful crossing of the desert from the Ashburton River to his 1874 furtherest west point in the Rawlinson Ranges. His story is eloquently told in the double volume, Australia Twice Traversed, surely one of the most readable books written by any of our early explorers.

Giles later joined the gold rush to Coolgardie but was forced to take a clerks job. He died in near obscurity in 1897 and lies buried in the historic Coolgardie cemetery.

 

Giles 4th Expedition Party

Giles grave at Coolgardie Cemetery

 

Alternator Repairs
Driving through mud is often extremely detrimental to vehicle alternators. What normally happens is the mud clags up the brushes, which then don’t make contact with the sliprings and the alternator stops charging. If it happens to you pour as much water through and over the alternator as you can, while the engine is running. If that fails to fix the problem you will need to strip the brush assembly from the alternator and clean it properly. It’s not a complicated job but does take time as you will need to remove the alternator from the engine. You generally don’t have to strip the alternator completely.

ARB Esperance
During the trip we had to avail ourselves of the local ARB dealer in Esperance. Not only does Todd Shearer have a well equipped store selling all your ARB gear, Black Widow storage systems and other well known brands, he offers full mechanical and electrical repairs for all vehicles and camper trailers.

You can contact Todd at Southern Suspension & 4x4 Centre on the Norseman Road as you enter the delightful town of Esperance, ph: (08) 9072 0917.

 

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