Southern Cross

This trip begins at the Palace Hotel, in Southern Cross. Despite being described as having “scraggy bush, a canvas store, a hessian pub and no water” during its earliest days, Southern Cross was gazetted as a townsite under the Land Management Act on 20 March 1890.  The settlement quickly boomed as a business centre and soon boasted several hotels. One of the earliest, “Hampson’s Pub” on the Orion/Antares intersection, was blown away in a storm and replaced by the Exchange Hotel (known locally as the “Blood House’).  The present imposing, two-storey, Federation Filigreee style building was built by Frank Snook, the Mayor of Southern Cross, in 1911.

Koolyanobbing

The run out to Koolyanobbing is bitumen, but kangaroos, emus and the odd feral donkey can sometimes be a hazard along this stretch. Named the “Barlee Range” after Colonial Secretary Frederick Palgrave Barlee by explorer C.E Dempster on 26 July 1861, this toponym was rejected by the authorities owing to duplication. C.C Hunt, the next explorer to visit this rugged region three years later, recorded the Aboriginal name as Koolyanobbing and this was added to official maps immediately. The name is thought to mean “place of large rocks”. When Henry Dowd prospected in the vicinity in 1887, he thought the rocks were valueless.  John Chadwick thought otherwise when he passed through the locality in 1894. He returned to the area ten years later in company with Fred Gray for a more detailed examination.  This time his efforts were rewarded and a five-stamp battery was operating there before the end of 1904.

Iron Ore

In 1938, the Geological Survey Branch of the WA Mines Department surveyed the iron ore deposits at Koolyanobbing.  Total reserves were estimated at some 60 million tons, mostly 61% pure iron ore. However, it wasn’t until the early 1960s that BHP and Western Mining Corporation began mining these deposits. A government townsite was declared there in 1965 and the railway, being upgraded to standard gauge at the time, was re-routed to pass close to the iron ore mines. Railing of the forest ore from Koolyanobbing to Australian Iron and Steel Pty Ltd’s steel plant at Kwinana occurred in 1967.

A pleasant bush drive follows the mining activity at Koolyanobbing until your first views of the picturesque  Helena and Aurora Range.

100 years to decide a name

There is a story attached to the naming of this range of rocky hills. C.E Dempster named the westernmost hill “Mount Kennedy” in 1861, yet another of the names he bestowed that wasn’t adopted for mapping because of duplications.  Surveyor E.H Abalone recorded the traditional Aboriginal name of this hill as Bungalbin in 1895, but the main range remained without an identifier until 1976.  In that year, examination of an old plan by Lands Department staff revealed the plotted route of a little-known exploratory trip by Alexander Forrest out north of Hunt’s perambulations.  This trip had been undertaken in August 1876 and the surveyor recorded an extensive high range he had named Helena and Aurora Range.  Almost a century after Forrest’s visit, the Geographic Names Committee approved the name for use on maps.

The Helena and Aurora Range

Rising more than 200m above the surrounding plain, the track up onto the rugged spine of the range provides fantastic panoramic views of the country for miles around.  Care should be taken on the steep descents but tracks through the surrounding bush do not present problems other than thick billowing bull dust in the dry and heavy gluey red mud when wet.

Pittosporum Rock

About 20km of excellent sand plain track separates the eastern extremity of the Helena and Aurora Range from Pittosporum Rock which is located on the western approach to the Hunt Range. The rock is named after Pittosporum phylliraeoides, a tree of the arid regions otherwise known s as “native willow”, “bitter orange” or “cheese wood”. An impressive specimen  is growing directly opposite the rockhole at this granite outcrop.

The orange fruit, while not poisonous, is extremely bitter and will dry out your mouth for hours.

Pittosporum Rock affords views of the Helena and Aurora Range and the rockhole is visited by many bird species. Dingoes also frequent the area and have been seen drinking from the rockhole.

The Hunt Range and Kurrajong Rocks

Through the low, stony hills of the Hunt Range, named after the explorer C.C Hunt, bush fires have left their mark on the vegetation, bring down trees across tracks, which can make travelling through difficult. There is no danger of taking the wrong track when working your way around these obstacles as there is only one route through to Kurrajong Rocks.

These series of granite outcrops are also named after an arid region tree. Brachychiton gregorii. In the early days of the colony, this species was knowns as the “government tree” because the shape of their leaves resembled the broad arrow that denoted government ownership.

Unfortunately, fire has destroyed most of the larger specimens around Kurrajong Rocks.

The main rockhole is adorned with the names of several members of the Dimer family. Roly Dimer worked this region as a government dogger from 1957 and was responsible for putting through most of the tracks you have been following.

Ives Rock and Wallangine Soak

South of Kurrajong Rock, you are travelling through country more typical of our dramatic red soil regions. 67km south t Ives Rock and Wallangie Soak is a great bush drive with the occasional crab hole plain and washaway just to keep it interesting.  The track passes to the west of the rock and soak in scrub thick enough to hide them from view, so pay attention to the trip notes.

The aboriginal name of the soak, sometimes referred to as “Dead Man’s” by doggers, sandalwood pullers and other locals, is Wallangie. This was shown on Mines Department lithographs as early as 1894 and was used as the starting point for gazzetal of water reserves in January 1896.  A shallow, stone-lined well, was put down on the soak as part of a road between Siberia and Yellowdine established by the Public Works Department.

Frank Hann, following the newly opened route, camped here on 16 July 1901 recording it as a “splendid well and camp”.  The rock itself is worth a walk around and has an interesting gamma hole on its lower slopes just south of the well.

A grave a few hundred metres west of the rock bears the following inscription:

“This unknown man died at this waterhole and was buried here by Albert Ives and son Len in year 1910”.

This seems to provide the origin of the rock’s name and the reason for it being known to many as “Dean Man’s”.

Jaurdi

After Ives Rock, the track improves a little, as you are  travelling through the former pastoral lease of Jaurdi.  This station has been taken over by the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPAW) which de-stocked it an retained improved the homestead to be used as a field study centre.

There are some superb tracts of typical goldfields forest country interspersed by picturesque plains now accessible to bird watchers and botanists.

Past Jaurdi Homestead, after re-crossing the standard gauge railway, sections of the track have succumbed to flooding and washaways are frequently encountered.  Just before reaching the Great Eastern Highway, a visit to the Boorabbin railway dams is recommended.

Boorabin Rock

Moorabbin Rock is another of the granite outcrops that provided vital water sources facilitating the early exploration of this inhospitable region.  The Aboriginal names was recorded by C.C Hunt on 20 May 1865, and this rock becomes part of the explorer’s line of wells, soaks and dams later followed by thousands of men who rushed the goldfields found way out east of Southern Cross in 1893.

When the railway line was extended to Coolgardie in 1895-96, Chief Engineer C.Y O’Connor ensured that it followed this line of granites. Reliable supplies of clean, fresh water were vital to the operation of steam locomotives and O’Connor followed the same strategy as he had on the Yilgarn line.

Water catchment

Typically, stone walls were constructed around the granite outcrops and the run-off directed to holding tanks excavated nearby. In 1984, the Public Works Department constructed a clay-lined earth tank at the foot of Moorabbin Rock for the use of those travelling by road between Southern Cross and Coolgardie. For railway purposes, this was later doubled in size by the construction of a second earth tank taking the flow of the old original one, with a steam pump to convey the water to an overhead tank alongside the line.

The stonework in the walls and aqueducts supplying these holding facilities is exceptional and the entire system is still working despite the collapses caused by occasional flooding.

North of the two dams is an extensive quarry that was worked for many years t supply blue-metal for the ballast and roadworks

Declaration of a town

Boorabbin. an important watering stop for railway traffic, was declared a townsite in July 1898 but was later abandoned when the standard gauge line was re-routed through Koolyanobbing in the 1960’s.

Nowadays, there are only sparse traces of railway infrastructure and few introduced trees such as Moreton Bay Figs to remind us of its heyday.

The 96km return to Southern Cross via Great Eastern Highway is broken by the tiny settlement of Yellowdine, now limited to a fuel stop and motel.