Day 7 McDermid Rock to Peak Charles
Friday, 19th September 2014
Today we’re heading to Norseman via the Old Hyden to Norseman Road.
-
- Holland Track D7 – McDermid Rock to Peak Charles
-
- Road condition warning on the Old Hyden-Norseman Rd
Travelling along this track was in parts worse than Holland Track and The Woodlines minus puddles. The bushes at the side of the road encroached over making it narrower than the width of our car. The side mirrors were continually being
-
- History or Litter?
It’s disappointing that even on these tracks and roads, some less travelled than others, litterbugs abound. It would be fair to say most of the travellers along these tracks would be 4WDers which doesn’t bode well for the reputation of 4WDers if some are littering. We carried our accumulated rubbish ( 4 bags ) since starting the Holland Track to Coolgardie to dispose of and again we are now carrying rubbish until we reach a suitable bin. To see the broken bottles, beer cans stuck in trees, white ribbons (aka toilet paper) and other litter out here is annoying and sickening not to mention any harm litter could cause local wildlife. In contrast to the litter, there was still a lovely display of wildflowers along the way.
-
- Bushes at the side of the road, Old Hyden-Norseman Road
-
- Local wildflowers
We met some little challenges along the way to Norseman, trees across the track, sections where the road appears to have been opened up by an earthquake. One of these was on the left hand side of the road and could pose a problem if you’re driving too fast.
After negotiating a few more track conditions we stopped just before turning onto the Coolgardie – Esperance road to have some lunch and pump up the tyres before hitting the bitumen on our run into Norseman. It has taken us just shy of 5hrs to do the 120kms of the old Hyden-Norseman road. It’s funny they call this a “road” but it was more of a “track” than the Holland Track 🙂
-
- Track conditions along the old Hyden-Norseman road
-
- Lifted a wheel here and there
We filled up at Norseman, grabbed an ice cream and took off for Peak Charles. Just as we turn off the bitumen to head into the Peak Charles National Park we check the mobile phone and found that by holding your tongue right and pointing the phone to the sky we had enough service to send and receive a couple of texts – who’d have thought? We arrive at Peak Charles about 3.00pm and make camp for the night.
-
- We’ll camp here tonight
Trip info – From Mc Dermid Rock to Peak Charles
Distance Travelled 228kms
Average Speed 32kph
Total Travel Time 6hr 57mins
Fuel Economy 8 kpl ( Widgiemooltha to Norseman )
Visits: 2998