Holland Track & Lake Ballard -West Australia
 

Howdy Y'all,
First proper RR - so here goes...
Well its been a long time in the planning and now its done.
I made the pannier racks and the wind screen, fitted the safari tank and steering damper and learned how to navigate the byzantine Garmin GPS menus - AusTOPO maps are brilliant though.
Little WRR was faultless and perfect for the tough track conditions. Only 1 little off going slow through , of course, bloody sand.
Travelling companions were Guy and Scott in his tricked Suzuki Jimny. Met at Karlgarin Sunday October 17 and stayed at Tressies in a cabins they have there on a working farm. Hit the road early on Monday and visited Mulkas Cave and Wave Rock then hit the Holland Track. Stayed on the Track, Menzies and Mukinbudin. Lake Ballard & the Gormley Sculptures Installation (Inside Australia) are truly surreal and quite brilliant. 1700 odd kays in total in 5 days. Im sure i missed alot but it was for me a rec'ee run and riding was the object. It was quite mint. Weather was very favourable the whole time. The country was looking just beautiful that time of year - spring time down in Aussie. Amazing what a little bit of rain will do in this country.

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The Route

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The Man & the history

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Bike unladen. I made those racks - 12mm x 1.2mm steel tube & powdercoated. $70 worth of materials and about $500 of my time http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/Laughing.gif

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I made this....& yes, its held on with velcro. Worked mint!

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THE best last minute mod....

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....more surface area....for sand stands

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Left pannier, fuel water, tools

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Right pannier - food, water, stuff

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Freebee Tatonka :evil & PICO chair. Highly recommended.

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Packed up

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and good to go YFF's

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That'll be good for cutting by the time i get home. Im heading that way up through the hills

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Up through the hills

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Across into the range

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Out into the wheatbelt

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Past Albert Faceys house, (A Fortunate Life). I have a very fortunate life indeed.
If ever your feeling down in the dumps, have a read of his memoir A Fortunate Life. You wont believe what this guy lived through and still thought himself fortunate. You'll get a reality check - for sure http://www.amazon.com/Fortunate-Life.../dp/0140079459

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Stopping for fuel

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Met my travelling companions at "Tressies" @ Karlgarin. Highly recommended.

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Scott - its his Jimny. Good rig!

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Guy - general all round good bloke and knows lots about lots!

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I love this stuff

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Monday morning - time to go

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Nice crops all the way through the SW of WA up to that point. Late rains caused havoc to this years crops though. A real shame http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/icon13.gif

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Flowers are brilliant this time of year

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Mulkas Cave.....near Hyden

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Wave Rock @ Hyden

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On the road. Bloody windy....

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Last minute stuff

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Start of the Holland Track........bloody sand. I love my steering damper.http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/cooltu.gif

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Mt Holland - lots of flies
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We're heading that way. Cant imagine cutting a track through that by hand:huh

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Surprise!.....see the little guy at the base?

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....well, we met the rest of his little mates just a few clicks down the track. Having a marvelous time they were!

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That was a highlight.

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End of the Track. Only 1 nights camp @ Cat Camp and then off to Coolgardie for fuel then the blast thru to Menzies

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1 night in Menzies,.....everyone should do it at least once. Bizarre is not the right word There was once 55000 people here - all the gold was mined out and only the alcho's and crazies remained. It seems to be a magnet for eccentric types too. A trip highlight for sure for lots of the wrong reasons.

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Dress standards arent too high - lucky for us.

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These things travel in convoys of 3 (complete rigs) fueling a whole bunch of gold mines

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Fully auto gas station in Menzies - high security - no service - cool signs and memorabilia

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Something there for everyone

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Lake Ballard - Antony Gormleys' Inside Australia. Google it. Very Surreal, fits in with the whole outback thing and Menzies in particular. A Highlight.

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Guy liked this one

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.....so did I

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Shot by Scott

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Canon set to Vivid.....but really....it does look like this

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Awesome colours - wished id stopped to take more photo's of the wildflowers actually. They were truly spectacular.

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I stopped here for the boys for awhile but couldnt wait.

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I had to go this way for a night @ the Mukinbudin Pub

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Out of the bush......

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Back into the Wheatbelt.
See how the even the sides of the roads in WA are paved with gold - We're RICH man!!

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Down out of the range

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Past the City

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.....& back home

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"......Yeah Honey, you can come next time"

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Thats the sum total since Sunday arvo thru to Thursday arvo. A good trip

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Thanks for sharing.

Wish you the best trip.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.034580,-71.074562

Beautiful pics! Hard to believe it's the same planet! :thumbup

Gotta love the farm skills! They sure come in handy!

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Nice write up..........................and I have ordered "A Fortunate Life" from the local library to add to my winter reading list.

Cheers & enjoy the summer!
J

I love Australian ride reports! Thank you for sharing!!! :clap:clap

Bravo sir! Them sculptures are brilliant.

Yeah! Gormley's work sure is OUT THERE. The guys sure been busy. There's a pretty good look at his other gear here
The country out that way is real pretty in a harsh, you'll perish if you underestimate it, kind of way http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/Laughing.gif

Beetle
 

Yeah makad, a great trip it was, next time i'll do it on my bike without a doubt. :clap
You forgot to mention the special beetle that we encountered at one of our campsites and its nickname we gave it, perhaps you could elaborate for the others.

LGDH

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That would be the armour-plated, hard as fuck, fainting goat beetle. Tried to make him take on a spider. No dice.
Wouldnt take any shit from us........just went stiff and fell over. Scared of no man. What a beast.
(Not actual size) Terrible photo Sorry))


Good times!

Nice report! I am a primary school teacher in Queensland and I read the abridged version of A Fortunate Life to my grade four class every year! Such a great story!

Nice pics! Great country is'nt it.

Teach em well Joe http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/cooltu.gif - Guys like you are doing a GREAT national service.


Yo Gimme! How lucky are we man?? I have to pinch myself every day....but just keep the secret will ya. We dont want everyone to come here and clog up the place. :D


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I read your reports out of order... But enjoyed them both, makes me want to go Goldfields again! When you ride to Lake Ballard way it is really worth pushing on to Gwalia, the ghost town is very cool and so is the Sons of Gwalia mine where you can visit the house that Herbert Hoover, the US President, used to live in... Fascinating history. Thanks again for sharing mate! :clap

Rained out
 

We got rained out of Lake Ballard on the way back from Neale Junction last year. This is a trip I want to do, nice RR:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap:clap