Wildtrax

WILD TRAX

with IAN ELLIOT

Laverton Visitor Centre Visitors to Laverton should note that the Great Beyond Visitor Centre is temporarily located at the pub while their new and enlarged premises is under construction. It'll be about six months I'm told, but Laurinda and crew are still providing a source of goldfields maps, books, good coffee and their usual helpful advice on all things Laverton and surrounds. Hanns Track I've been meaning to carry out a rubbish check on Hanns Track for some time now so I headed out a while back for my fifteenth expedition on Hann's historic 1903 route between Laverton and Warburton. Curious to see how my instructions given in our Hanns Track trip book related to the present-day track, I got a mate, Terry Bentley, to lead our group by following the trip notes. I was happy to find that the track itself has now had enough use to be bedded in permanently. The sand mounds beneath the spinifex we'd bounced over in first forming the track were gone and the

wheel ruts are now smooth, hard and easily visible for about 95% of the route. There are still a few rocky spots to negotiate and the track disappeared for a couple of hundred metres in a burnt out area just before we reached the Saunders Range. The visible wheel ruts were soon regained here by heading for the next navigation point, Wpt 72. I found an embarrassing error in the position of Wpt 2 which is located 900 metres before the turnoff to Hanns Camp. When the Shire agreed to grade a new access track into the camp (which, by the way, isn't where the map shows the name) they couldn't get the grader through the gate. Instead, they turned off at a spot where the fence is down and, unfortunately, I forgot to correct that waypoint before publication. No problems with the rest of the waypoints which provide a really good guide to the route. Almost all the distances published for the former 'cross country' portion of the route now give figures that are a fraction too long. I believe that this is due to two factors. Wheel ruts on Hanns Track are now smooth, hard and easily visible.

One is that, now the track is bedded in with a much harder surface than previously, tyre pressures do not need to be reduced as much. The other is the smoothness of the track. With the disappearance of the spinifex crushed by the passage of many wheeled vehicles, the sand mounds that used to lie beneath the spinifex have blown away decreasing the rolling surface distance by just enough to result in the small differences in my original measurements between turns or landmarks. That's my theory anyway. We found evidence of someone having been bogged below Amy Rockhole and I was bogged myself near Waulfe Creek in 2011 showing the folly of attempting this trip too soon after rains. Terry was concerned over a track forking northwards off the Hanns Camp track just after you cross Nambrock Creek, an intersection not mentioned in the book. This didn't rate a second glance when the camp track was newly graded but I must admit that the tracks now look almost identical. It's one to watch out for, but as Wpt 3 at the camp is to the SW I think this is enough to deter travellers from taking the northern track by mistake. Another to watch out for is when you're ascending the jumpup at the northern end of the Saunders Range. Just as your bonnet drops as you crest this rise the way straight ahead looks invitingly clear, but the track actually turns sharp right here to proceed over to Wpt 73 where you can park to walk to the rockhole, overhang and handprints. Asked about his view after leading our convoy of seven vehicles on this trip, Terry stated that he'd experienced no real problems in understanding the trip notes. The book and improved track conditions have made it possible for all to enjoy an easy 4WD trek into the history of the desert. I agree that Hanns Track offers a first rate, picturesque, remote desert experience to outback travellers and I'm happy to recommend it as a permanent established 4WD route now. Oh, and rubbish wise, we picked up one small green beer bottle along the entire 200 kilometres between Bishop Rileys Pulpit and Point Lilian, a great reflection of the neatness of those who have travelled the route since the publication of the trip book.

Bishop Rileys Pulpit.

Hearing

As my friends and I grow older the deterioration in our hearing is giving us more and more laughs at the misheard variations that occur from time to time. A recent campfire tale involved a tyre punctured by a length of copper tubing lying on the track. When the flat was examined all that was visible was a small circle of copper the diameter of the tubing embedded in the tread. Once the tyre was removed from the rim, the whole length of the copper tube was found wrapped round and round inside the tyre. Interesting enough but a query from the hearing impaired brought forth a roar of laughter from the rest of us. “How the heck did a cockatoo get inside the tyre?” “Copper tube, mate, copper tube – not 'cockatoo'!”