Twight Light Cove to Israelite Bay (WA)

Submitted: Monday, Jan 05, 2009 at 08:46
ThreadID: 64820 Views:2768 Replies:2 FollowUps:4
This Thread has been Archived
Hi guys

I refer to Gerry’s post a few weeks back - Post 64252. Does it ever stop raining he said?

Well what difference a few weeks make. Gerry did the trip about two or three weeks before us and had mud and water everywhere and big sea weed banks stopping him in his tracks.

We started our trip on the 28 December from Twilight Cove and followed the Telegraph Track/Cliffs all the way to Wylie Scarp and then drove along the beach to Israelite Bay.

The water and bog holes had dried up and we had to contend with powdery lingering dust.. We drove along the beach at 80 kph, at times below the weed (yes the tide was out) and got to Israelite Bay with out any problems. When then travelled up to Mt Ragged and Balbinia, along the Balladonia Telegraph Track to Norseman and Cave Hill, down the bottom half of the Holland Track and home.

Many thanks to Gerry for providing heaps of info and advice when we were planning our trip.

There were many stories coming up the track from Travellers going to other way that DEC in Esperance were saying that everything was under water, the tracks were covered with fallen branches from a storm and the beach was impassable with huge banks of sea weed right out to low tide make.

What vehicle problems did we suffer? None other than the usual scratches, a few torn off black plastic mouldings from Patrol doors and the usual tyre casualty list; which were mostly pluggable punctures.

It was certainly different from my usual Western Desert wanderings but was still an awesome trip and great fun.

Cheers and happy new year to all

Phil
There is a lot of difference between
‘Human Being’ and ‘Being Human’.





Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Willem - Monday, Jan 05, 2009 at 08:58

Monday, Jan 05, 2009 at 08:58
Phil

HNY

Yep, thats a good run and summer of course is the best time to do it when the tides are low. We came through there (Israelite to Caiguna) at the beginning of June 05 and the seaweed and the tides were against us which meant arounf 55km of pushing our way along a very overgrown track before heading for a very wet beach.

My experience with CALM at Esperance was similar in that they had no idea what the area was like. Told me the area was burnt out. No one(Rangers) had been there for quite a while, methinks. Ofcourse, the more we speak about these places the more travellers decide to go that way. In years gone by it was mainly the domain of local fishermen. Soon it will be a regular 4x4 trek and questions will be asked here...."Can I tow my caravan along that road?".....LOL

Cheers

AnswerID: 342666

Follow Up By: Member - Phil B (WA) - Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 04:01

Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 04:01
Hi Willem,
It’s certainly a great run. This was my second trip along this route, the first being in 1995.

The track is much more defined nowadays with lots more people about especially at the Israelite end.

cheers
Phil

There is a lot of difference between
‘Human Being’ and ‘Being Human’.





Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 610515

Reply By: equinox - Monday, Jan 05, 2009 at 10:01

Monday, Jan 05, 2009 at 10:01
Hi Phil,

Welcome back and happy new year too.

Sounds like a great trip. I would like to get out to Wylie Scarp one day.

Did you find anything exciting - saddle bags hanging from trees or similar?? :))

Cheers
Alan

Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way.



Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 342680

Follow Up By: Member - Phil B (WA) - Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 04:24

Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 04:24
Hi Alan,

It was a great trip. Re Wylie Scarp, now that it has black conveyor belting all the way to the top, that challenge 4WD has gone.

No luck with saddle bags hanging in trees – lol.

I am sure you knew your long time “idol” Carnegie was trained by Gus Luck in bush craft and camel work. Did you know that Luck did survey and exploration work in the Eucla - Madura area in 1888?

On the way home, I followed up on my long time in interest the Woodlines. We had some “fun” trying to locate a Woodline dam known as Dingo east of Cave Hill. We had to negotiate fallen trees and debris, it took us over 3 hours to do about 20 kms and it was mild "42°C". The dam was very small by Cave Hill standards, but worth tracking down.

There are a couple of other possible dams and woodline sites through out the area giving me more exploring opportunities in the future.

Cheers

Phil
There is a lot of difference between
‘Human Being’ and ‘Being Human’.





Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 610516

Follow Up By: equinox - Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 20:15

Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 20:15
Phil,

I have A.J. Lucks book, "The Outback Trail" and in it he describes his adventures marking out the route of the future railway.

One story sticks in my mind, when he and others ran out of water north east of Madura. (near Andoyee Rockhole - where is that??)

"I opened the tin of jam which I had tied to myself with a strip of shirt. We would stick our fingers into the jam and suck them"

"Thirst does strange things to a mans mind. I had heard many a time how a perishing man invariably pulled his clothes off and now I found out why. Wherever the clothes touch the skin it seems to burn like fire. The skin is so hot and dry, lips are swollen and there is no flow of saliva. Everything before the eyes turns black and down one goes."

"On we stumbled beneath the pitiless, scorching sun. There was not a ripple of wind. There was a pain burning inside us and we were not able to speak. Our only strenght seemed to be in tearing our clothes to get some relief."

They did it hard in those days.

Well done on finding the Dingo East dam. Looking forward to the report at some stage.

Alan

Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way.



Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 610644

Follow Up By: Member - Phil B (WA) - Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009 at 09:27

Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009 at 09:27
Hi Alan

Perishable of thirst would have to be a terrible way to go. That's probably why some old timers used to gun to end it before they got that bad.

I should have known you had 'The OutBack Trail'.

I really enjoyed Luck's bush craft skills. He used the bush, sun, direction of clouds, wind, the moon’s quarters and how it rose, seasons, fences, rocks, hills etc. In a forest 3 out of 5 trees have a more northerly leaning. Trees have more branches on the northern side. More leaves and debris can be found on the south side of a tree. He watched the flight of birds in the evening, watched were they roosted, then watched were they went to drink in the morning. In the evening bees go to water and return to their hives and do so at 5 to 6 feet above the ground. He looked for rocks in trees and rocks that did not belong to an area. These were usually native signposts for nearby water.

What an amazing bloke.

Phil
There is a lot of difference between
‘Human Being’ and ‘Being Human’.





Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 610718

Sponsored Links