Western 4W Driver #133 Autumn 2025

133rd EDITION Autumn 2025

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WESTERN 4W DRIVER 133rd EDITION Autumn 2025

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951.

CONTENTS ADVENTURES

Edition 133 | Autumn 2025

Autumn Adventures on the Ningaloo Coast

Jane Pelusey takes us to one of her favourite places in Western Australia ................................................................................................ 6

Mount Augustus

Colin Kerr goes on an adventure to the world's biggest rock ........................................................................................................................... 26

The Remarkable Kennedy Range

Colin Kerr visits the spectacular cliffs and gorges in this amazing National Park ............................................................................ 34

Kalgan Pool

Journey down a rugged road to an outback retreat in the East Pilbara .................................................................................................... 78

6

16

142 98

62

78

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FEATURES Toyota Prado J250

Bright Idea

2025: The Perfect Year to Chase the Southern Lights

Colin Kerr checks out the Haulpak dump trucks

A new era of capability .................................................................... 16

Product Review ....................................................................................... 74

Big Things in the Pilbara

Donna Vanzetti tells us how to see one of

the most stunning natural wonders ................................... 44

Kanowna Heritage Trail Revives 'Australia's Largest Ghost Town'

on display in the Pilbara ............................................................... 84

Unearthing a Century of Kalgoorlie's History

Photo Essay by Brett Leigh Dicks .......................................... 88

A goldfields ghost town has been

brought back to life .......................................................................... 51

The Problems with Pug

Lake Ballard

Out of this world ................................................................................... 98

A Better Bush Welder

The story of Kanowna's rise and the

con artists who nearly stole its future .............................. 54

Coils Ain't Coils

What type of coils are needed if you want to successfully find gold? ................................................ 62

Reef of Dreams

Product Review .................................................................................. 104

Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks

Product Review .................................................................................. 106

Offroad Animal

Product Review .................................................................................. 112

Learn about Indigenous culture on the

Ningaloo Coast with Baiyungu Dreaming ..................... 70

MSA Premium Cutlery Pack and Coffee Kit

Product Review .................................................................................. 116

REGULARS The Front Matter ................................................................... 4

Clewed Up .................................................................................. 142

The Things You See! ................................................ 120

Smart Photography ................................................ 144

Bush Mechanics .............................................................. 122

Now We're TAWKing! ............................................ 148

Country Stargazing .................................................. 126

Goings On ................................................................................... 152

Outback Survival .......................................................... 128

Crossword Puzzle ......................................................... 154

Fishy Business .................................................................... 132

Subscriptions ....................................................................... 158

Gear to Go Camping ............................................... 136

Supplier Directory ...................................................... 159

Capture the Moment ............................................ 140

Silly Snaps .................................................................................. 160

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Vanguard Publishing ABN 70 616 133 870 26 John Street, Northbridge WA 6003 PO Box 50, Northbridge WA 6865 Phone: (08) 9422 4330 admin@western4wdriver.com.au www.western4wdriver.com.au EDITION 133: Editor Brayden Edwards Graphic Design Karen Morton Content Brayden Edwards Michael Collins Advertising Brayden Edwards brayden@western4wdriver.com.au Matt Clarke matt@western4wdriver.com.au Natalie Du Preez natalie@vanguardpublishing.com.au Administration Steve Larcombe Sally van Heemst Printing Vanguard Print

Cover image: Kalgan Pool

by Ronny Dahl

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Vanguard Publishing or the editors but those of the authors who accept sole responsibility and liability for them. While every care is taken with images and photographs, and all other material submitted, Vanguard Publishing accepts no liability for loss or damage.

Vanguard Publishing reserves the right to amend publication schedules and frequencies.

Edition 133 Autumn 2025

A

s we move into autumn, there’s a welcome change in the air. The relentless summer heat has finally loosened its grip—though the Bureau of Meteorology assures us we only had nine days over 40 degrees in Perth, it certainly felt like more than nine!

Now, in the southern part of the state, the cooler weather is settling in and the winds are easing, with the promise of crisp mornings and golden sunsets, while the north is about to enjoy a beautiful dry that attracts an abundance of visitors! It really is the perfect time to hit the open road and explore the beauty of Western Australia.

In this edition of Western 4W Driver, we celebrate the best of the season—cooler days, open tracks, and inspiring destinations. Whether you’re looking to uncover history, sharpen your off-road skills, or just cook up something special over the campfire, we’ve got you covered.

Jane Pelusey takes us on an incredible journey along the Ningaloo Coast, one of WA’s most breathtaking regions. Known for its turquoise waters, dramatic cliffs, and diverse marine life, this World Heritage-listed coastline is a haven for travellers looking to experience the best of land and sea.

With the peak tourist season still a few months away, autumn is an ideal time to visit, offering quieter campgrounds, calmer conditions, and an unforgettable sense of remoteness.

For those considering a new touring vehicle, Matt Payne puts the highly anticipated Toyota Prado J250 through its paces. With a new design, upgraded features, and some notable changes from its predecessor, this latest model has been the subject of much discussion.

Good lighting is essential for safe outback travel, especially when wildlife can appear on the road without warning. Ron and Viv Moon review the latest Lazer Lamps Driving Lights, assessing their performance in some of Australia’s most remote and rugged conditions. Ron and Viv also put the Trail MIG

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THE FRONT MATTER with Michael (Spike) Collins

Welder to the test. When you’re travelling in remote areas like these two, having the right tools can mean the difference between a quick fix and a long tow.

When people think of Australia’s most iconic rock formations, Uluru often comes to mind. But did you know that Mount Augustus in WA is more than twice its size? Colin Kerr takes us to this incredible outback destination, sharing its geological significance, its deep cultural heritage, and the incredible views that reward those who make the climb. If you’re looking for a truly unique road trip destination, this one should be high on your list. If dramatic gorges, towering cliffs, and ancient landscapes are more your style, Colin also explores the Kennedy Range National Park. This hidden gem offers some of WA’s most striking scenery, with well-marked trails leading to breathtaking viewpoints, fascinating rock formations, and even evidence of ancient marine fossils.

Recently, I had the chance to catch up with Grant and Linda Hanan at the Let’s Go Caravan, Camping & Outdoor Show in Adelaide. Events like these remind me why the touring community is so special—there’s a shared enthusiasm for exploration, a willingness to exchange stories and advice, and always something new to learn.

Western Australia’s goldfields hold stories of hardship, fortune, and resilience, and 'rephotographer' Brett Leigh Dicks takes us deep into the past with Unearthing a Century of Kalgoorlie’s History. From the early days of the gold rush to the evolving town that still thrives today, Brett explores the iconic locations and moments that have shaped this region. For those with a keen eye for treasure, have you ever heard of Kanowna’s

Pug? Luke Clatworthy explains all in this intriguing feature that mixes history with adventure, diving into the lesser-known quirks of the goldfields and their unique place in WA’s rich history.

One of the joys of travelling in WA is discovering hidden gems, and in this edition, we dive into Kalgan’s Pool. Nestled in the rugged Pilbara landscape, this serene waterhole offers a peaceful retreat for those willing to venture off the beaten path. If you haven’t been, this article will have you adding it to your travel list.

No great camping trip is complete without good food, and this edition delivers on that front too. Jo Clews, our resident camp oven cook extraordinaire, whips up a fabulous NoBake Chocolate Gateau—though, sadly for me, it’s not gluten-free! (But don’t let that stop you from enjoying every bite.)

Meanwhile, the ever-truthful Phil Bianchi shares his classic damper recipe, just in time for Easter. There’s nothing quite like pulling a freshly baked damper from the coals, slathering it with butter and some strawberry jam, and enjoying it under the stars. Whether you’re a seasoned camp cook or a first-time baker, Phil’s got the perfect recipe to try.

With so much to explore and enjoy, there’s no better time to get out there. The weather is perfect, the landscapes are waiting, and the stories and a whole lot more in this edition are sure to inspire your next great journey.

So, grab a cuppa or crack a coldie and dive into this edition, and start planning your next adventure.

See you out there!

Spike

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AUTUMN ADVENTURES ON THE

NINGALOO COAST

By Jane Pelusey

 Quobba Road

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Autumn is our favourite season in WA. The winds have died off, the ocean is calm, and the edge of the summer heat has gone. One of our favourite places on the Western Australian coast is Ningaloo, so what if we combined the two? Last April and May, that is exactly what we did.

Ningaloo in Autumn.

hot but not too hot, and just maybe, less flies.

e have nearly always headed up to the Ningaloo coast in the cooler months from June to October.

Although a great time to go, it can be exceptionally busy with holidaymakers and grey nomads chasing the sun.

Campsites are at a premium and must be booked well in advance. And there is the wind. Springtime up these parts is also wind time. Raging southerlies often blow their guts out, causing flapping tents, rocking vans, and sandblasting not-sohappy campers. If the wind drops, which does happen, battalions of pesky flies strike after sunrise.

Quobba Station

W

So, we, along with our regular camping companions, are giving April and May, the autumn months, a try. It should be far less busy, not so much wind, calmer seas,

Early one mid-April morning in 2024, we hit the road for the 1,037 km drive to Red Bluff, our first campsite on the Ningaloo coast. It’s a big drive in one go, so we stop for a night at Galena Bridge, a free campsite on the Murchison River.

The next day, we fuel up in Carnarvon and grab our traditional banana smoothie at Bumbaks before we drive the 75 km sealed road to the Quobba Blowholes, where huge plumes of spray surge into the air with an incredible roar. The 'King Waves Kill' sign is not just there for an Instagram photo-worthy opportunity.

Red Bluff Leaving the blowholes behind, it's time to hit the corrugated, potholed Gnaraloo Road for 64 km to Red Bluff. The road in is best suited to 4WD and off-road caravans with beefed-up suspension. The drive largely hugs the rocky coastline where  Quobba waves

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 Red Bluff

 Red Bluff

jag a prime waterside spot. Although the office has some supplies, the sites are unpowered, and you must have your own water. You can book in busy times, but they always save some spots for walk-ins. quobba.com.au

massive waves crash. It’s awe-inspiring seeing the power of the sea in action from your car.

After an hour or so, a turn left sign shows the way to Red Bluff at the southern part of Ningaloo Marine Park. It’s a rough and sandy track requiring slower speeds. The views towards the massive bluff jutting out into blue seas are jaw-dropping. In season, humpback whales pass by in happily big numbers.

Parking at the office, we check in. We arrive early in the day, and being that it's not peak season or school holidays, we

Words fail me when describing our campsite view of Red Bluff as it fires up as the sun rises and sets. The ocean, warmed up by the Leeuwin Current, teems with marine life. From our campsite, we could see mackerel, tuna, and trevally smashing into hapless schools of baitfish. There is a stunning white beach that stands out against the red dunes and blue water.

The day we were there, a big shore break made swimming hazardous.

Surf's Up For experienced and brave surfers, Red Bluff is the stuff of legend. Left-hand waves peeling off the point can be monstrous. The walk to the point is a great spot to view surfers smashing it or being smashed. Along the way, there are impressive limestone cliffs, rock formations, and reef platforms to fish off

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 Red Bluff pizza

 Friendly local

at low tide. You can escape from the sun in a shallow cave with a patch of white sand. It is a good spot for a cooling dip when the wind is offshore and the waves are smaller.

Did I mention pizza?

Red Bluff Café is a real surprise packet.

It has a chilled-out, surfy vibe with a world-class view and equally world-class woodfired pizzas. The café is open during the day and sometimes in the evenings.

One day we sat eating pizza and watching a humpback whale mother and her baby play in the shallower water.

Phone 9948 5001 for times.

The other thing you wouldn’t expect here in the middle of nowhere is a day spa, so if a facial is your thing, the Totoko Day Spa is available.

Gnaraloo Station, Three Mile Camp After a couple of nights soaking up nature at Red Bluff, it’s time to move on to Three Mile Camp, Gnaraloo Station. It may be

 Three Mile Camp, Gnaraloo Station

a short 20 km drive from Red Bluff to Three Mile Camp, but it takes longer than the distance might suggest. The road is corrugated and rough, better suited to 4WDs or at least AWDs. At the entrance, we pull into the small, well-stocked shop/booking office. Even though there are around 65 unpowered campsites here, you must book them up to 12 months in advance, especially during peak times. Our site has fabulous ocean views, the perfect spot for sunset beverages. Our party spent several days here chilling out, going for swims, and

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 Three Mile Camp, Gnaraloo Station

walking the dogs. Yes, well-behaved dogs on leashes are welcome here. It is easy to see why your dog needs to be controlled.

Our campsite had almost daily visits from a curious, overly friendly perentie, a kind of giant goanna.

Within a short walking distance is a beach to stroll along and swim. There is also a little cove amongst the rocks that is ideal for snorkelling at low tide when it's less choppy. Coral and tropical fish abound.

You can also fish off the rocks, but not in the sanctuary zone right in front of Three Mile Camp. Walk just south a bit to the end of the no fishing zone, where there is a 'fish here' sign.

For experienced surfers, there’s the ominously named Tombstones, about a 2 km drive south of Three Mile Camp. In the right conditions, the waves are up there with the best.

For non-surfers, there are exceptional  Three Mile Camp, Gnaraloo Station

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 Three Mile Bay

watery alternatives. Collapsing our rooftop tent, we bump along 18 km to Gnaraloo Bay. We park near the sweeping bay partially protected by southerly winds. Walking along the pristine white sand lapped by aqua ocean, there is hardly a soul in sight. It’s like Coral Bay without the buildings. Luxuriant coral thrives just off the beach. Tides and wind can create strong currents, so take care when snorkelling. You can launch small trailer boats off the beach for some

awesome fishing, but stay clear of the marine sanctuary zone, which is clearly marked. Camping is not allowed in Gnaraloo Bay. Facilities at Three Mile Camp are pretty good. Flushing toilets, warm showers, and a shop where you can buy some groceries. We suggest being self-sufficient as the shop is no supermarket. To book, fill in the booking form online or ring the station. gnaraloostation.com

 Three Mile Sand Dunes

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 Winderabandi Sunset

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Winderabandi Our next destination is Winderabandi Campground, located between Coral Bay and Exmouth in Nyinggulara National Park. Getting from Three Mile Camp to Winderabandi Coastal Camp was a lengthy process for us. The shorter but probably rougher way is to turn off Exmouth Road, taking the rough 30 km drive on Ningaloo Road to the coast. From there, then 20 km to Winderabandi. That option wasn’t open to us due to sand drifts closing the road until further notice.

Instead, we headed north to Exmouth and spent a night in civilisation before driving 87 km south to Yardie Creek.

After lowering tyre pressures at the Yardie Creek car park, we cross the sandbar.

The 4WD and off-road van before us didn’t drop their tyres and went down in the sand. Always embarrassing when someone asks if you have let your tyres down when bogged. On the Cape Range National Park border, there are signs and gates about the RAAF Air Firing Range.

Winderabandi is a part of the old Ningaloo Station, which was reclaimed by Parks and Wildlife when the lease expired.

There are absolutely no amenities, just 49 soft sand camping sites, requiring An excerpt from Hema's WA State Map

 Winderabandi Camp western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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booking well in advance. On arrival, the friendly campsite host checks our three-night booking. He guides us to our allocated beachside spot, and before long we are sipping cocktails, watching the sinking sun over the calm tropical sea.

Pure bliss and dog-friendly as well.

If you are out of luck nabbing a campsite at Winderabandi, other good ones we have stayed at are South and North Lefroy, about 11 km to the south. Both have excellent beachside camping amongst the dunes.

There are absolutely no facilities, so BYO porta potty and freshwater are essential.

The camp hosts will check on your arrival.

Self-sufficiency is the key here.

For us, did autumn live up to expectations as the best time to visit the Gascoyne coast? In short, yes and no. On average, light winds early, stronger in the afternoon, calm and wonderful around sunset. Well over 35°C most days, hot for camping. It did seem a bit hotter than we thought. Perfect water temperature for aquatic activities and cooling off.

Flies didn’t let us down—they were thick. Would we come back here again in autumn? The answer: a resounding yes.

INFORMATION BAY When to Travel April to June: Best for weather July to October: Busiest time November to March: Mostly unpleasantly hot for camping, cyclone season.

Difficulty Mostly high-clearance 4WDs are required as tracks are rough and sandy.

If desperate, you could get away with an AWD or 2WD at Three Mile and Red Bluff.

Fuel Supplies Fill up Carnarvon or Exmouth.

Long-range tanks are a big advantage.

Things to do Fishing, snorkelling, walking, swimming, communing with nature, techno detox, relaxing.

Booking tips for Park Stay parkstay.dbca.wa.gov.au/searchavailability/information National Park campsites open for bookings 180 days before the available date. In peak times, people will get up at midnight on the appropriate day to join the booking race. Make sure you know which sites you like or don’t like, and that you have an account before you start.

Here’s the rub.

You log in 180 days before, and the best sites are gone already. People can book two weeks before (covering the dates you wanted), and then they cancel later. Not the best system, but that’s what we have. So, if you miss out, keep checking in for a cancellation.

 South Lefroy Camp

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Yawuru marine and conservation parks Gala bagu warrgarnda jimbin Yawurungan buru.

Warranyangany warrajala buru jayida.

Welcome to Yawuru country.

Help look after our country.

T

urquoise waters, sandy beaches, pindan plains, rugged red cliffs, biodiverse mudflats, extensive mangrove systems, wetlands and tidal creeks are what you'll find here. These parks protect the rich cultural heritage and incredible environment around Broome. There are four Yawuru Parks covering approximately 100,000 hectares of land and sea, including many well-known local visitor sites and much of beautiful Roebuck Bay. The marine and conservation parks are managed in an integrated way by the Yawuru Parks team at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions together with joint management partners the Yawuru Traditional Owners and the Shire of Broome.

J AB ARR AG UN , R EDDELL B EAC H

PHO TO S. T OURIS M WA

W A L M A NY J UN , C A B L E BE A C H

Help conserve and protect the Yawuru Parks to keep them beautiful for years to come.

For more information and to view the visitor guide scan the QR code

M A N -G A L AG U N , C R A B C RE E K

TOYOTA PRADO J250 A NEW ERA OF CAPABILITY The long-awaited arrival of the J250 Prado signals a new chapter for Toyota's iconic 4x4. With a bold new design, refined interior, and advanced technology, the J250 aims to reclaim its position at the top of the mid-size 4WD segment.

By Matt Payne

The new Prado is slightly larger than the J150 and features sharper lines in the panelling, giving it a more aggressive look.

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ne of the most anticipated new vehicle releases in the past year would have to be the Toyota Prado J250. The Prado series has been Toyota’s signature mid-size 4x4 since its original release as the J70 in 1990 and has undergone three major model upgrades over the past thirty years, powered by both petrol and diesel engine options.

Although the J150 received a minor update in 2020, the model itself actually launched in 2009, so it was certainly due for a major overhaul to keep the model competitive in what has become a highly dynamic market thanks to the entry of multiple new brands from China, all offering high-end cabin and driver aid technology at increasingly affordable prices.

Stylistically, the J250 looks completely different from its predecessor. Smooth panel contours have been replaced with more modern, sharper lines that give the car a nice, aggressive look. The front end features LED headlights, and the bonnet appears to share some of the stylings found on the new 79 series.

Overall, to me, the J250 looks like a larger, modern-day variant of the FJ Cruiser.

It’s available in five grades: GX, GXL, VX, Altitude, and Kakadu, all featuring double-wishbone front and four-link solid axle rear suspension setups, with a newly upgraded electric power steering rack. VX and Kakadu grades also feature adaptive variable suspension (AVS), which is supposed to provide a more comfortable ride and better handling on rough roads.

In my opinion, the Prado range occupies a niche in the 4WD market that no other manufacturer really competes well against. The vehicle is slightly larger than its main competitors, Ford Everest and Isuzu MUX, but not nearly as large as its former relative, the 200 series LandCruiser, making it an obvious choice for many who don’t want a full-size 4WD wagon, but still want to be able to carry plenty of gear and make navigating city streets easy at the same time.

I was given the base model GX and offroad-oriented Altitude models to test, but the focus of this review will be on the latter, which, in my opinion, is far more suited to anyone purchasing with 4WD touring in mind. The Altitude model is Toyota’s flagship off-road variant, with off-road-specific features including a rear diff lock, electronic sway bar disconnects,

The J250 Prado, however, sees the range get a slight increase in size, with the wheelbase extended by 60mm and front and rear tracks widened by 79mm and 83mm, respectively. This sees the overall length of the vehicle increase by 165mm and width by 95mm compared to the J150. With this in mind, in terms of overall size, the J250 is actually not that far off its larger family member, the 300 series LandCruiser, and actually shares the same chassis frame. Pricing is also much closer to the 300 series, with the range-topping Kakadu J250 costing more than the base model GX 300 series. western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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and 32.6-inch Toyo Open Country III allterrain tyres (albeit with about half the tread depth of standard Toyos).

The Altitude also features a multi-terrain system that adjusts the vehicle's stability and traction control systems according to the terrain you are driving on, with dirt, mud, snow, and sand options. One thing the Altitude surprisingly doesn’t feature, though, is a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), unlike the luxury VX and Kakadu variants; you would have to argue that a TPMS has far more use on an off-road spec vehicle than a luxury city cruiser.

Stepping up into the cabin, the Altitude has a high-end, premium feel, with upholstered soft-touch surfaces throughout. The seats are incredibly comfortable, and the driving position is fantastic, giving you a commanding view of what’s ahead. Both offer heating and cooling functions, and although the latter was good, I felt it wasn’t up to the same standard as that offered

by other manufacturers such as BYD; my legs seemed to block the vents in the seat, preventing adequate flow. The infotainment and drivers’ information screens are large and highly functional and integrate seamlessly into the dashboard.

The Altitude also comes standard with an adjustable head-up display; however, like many of these systems, my polarised sunglasses impaired my ability to see it clearly. The centre storage compartment in the Altitude doubles as a selectable cooling box, which worked really well and would be great for keeping a few drinks cold and within easy reach of passengers on a trip. My only real gripe with the interior was the lack of storage.

Drink bottle holders are quite small, and inserts for these in the doors would struggle to accept anything more than a 600 mL water bottle—they certainly would not cope with the increasingly popular range of Yeti-style drink bottles many use nowadays.

The interior of the new Prado is luxurious throughout with very comfortable heated and ventilated front seats.

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The auto/stop start on the J250 is practically instantaneous; I would say it’s the best version of this usually inconvenient feature that I have experienced to date—although I will note that the brake pedal is very firm, and the auto/stop start feature only engages if you push hard on the pedal at a standstill.

I frequently had the display encouraging me to press harder to activate the system and then restarting the engine when adequate pressure was released, which makes me wonder how often smallerframed drivers would actually use it.

Rear seats are also incredibly comfy and offer ample leg room for an adult, with rear air conditioning and multiple charging ports incorporated into the rear of the centre console box. The Altitude spec also gets you a moon roof, which can be completely closed, open with glass only, or fully open, with an integrated wind fairing automatically popping up in this position to lower wind noise; a great feature for beach runs to give the cabin a nice open feel.

The Prado features the same ‘V-Active’ 48V battery system that was first introduced on the latest iteration of the Hilux; however, despite what many have claimed, this does not make the vehicle a ‘mild hybrid’ as there are no electric motors present in the drivetrain. The battery’s primary job is simply to power the auto stop/start feature, something it does exceptionally well thanks to the fourfold increase in voltage pushing current substantially faster than what is possible in a typical 12V system.

Regardless, V-Active does come at a cost, though—a 48V battery is heavy, at least 60 kg, and takes up real estate space in the rear of the vehicle. As a result, the storage area is smaller (by around 48L compared to the J150), and due to the battery enclosure sitting higher than the floor of the cargo area, Toyota have had to raise the back side of the floor to match and provide a level surface. While they have tried to maximise the usability of this space by including a removable cover to access the rear void where items such as recovery gear, etc., could be stored, you certainly would not want to stow any items that you need ready access to, as The cargo area in the J250 is slightly reduced due to the V-Active battery system, but there is still plenty of storage space on offer.

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the reality is you would need to remove all the gear stowed on top of that void to access them.

The other unknown relates to the installation of a rear drawer setup, something that most serious tourers would look to do after purchase. Although in factory format I’m unsure if this would be possible, the aftermarket sector already has this covered. You can order replacement false floors that simply bolt into factory anchoring points, giving you a seamless, single-piece level cargo area that is ready to accept drawer systems, fridge slides, etc., and still maintains adequate ventilation for the 48V battery.

Obviously, anything mounted on top of the V-Active system is going to prevent easy access if any maintenance is required; however, the system does not require servicing as per the logbook.

There has also been some recent media coverage on the V-Active system, which has brought into question exactly how capable the under-bonnet motor generator is at handling water exposure, with Toyota’s media department specifying that “the motor generator unit has been positioned high in the engine bay to allow for successful and safe water crossings.” I probed into this further, however, and can confirm that the generator is a fully sealed unit, so deep water crossings (coupled with a fully sealed snorkel) should not be an issue so long as you follow the usual appropriate technique of driving around at walking pace and generating a steady bow wave.

feature that sees the battery charged while applying brake force. They also cite improved performance, "with energy stored in the battery used to provide additional powertrain output when accelerating and helping reduce the load on the engine in areas of the rev range with lesser efficiency."

However, as there are no electric motors in the drivetrain, I am perplexed as to how this purported power increase is actually achieved. Personally, I would be more than happy to just disable an ordinary auto stop/start ‘feature’ each time I get in my car and get more cargo space, but the way emissions standards are going, if auto stop/start features become mandatory and unable to be turned off, then vehicles with V-Active are going to instantly have substantial sales appeal, especially for drivers who spend most of their time in stop/start city traffic.

Anyway, getting back on track, how does the J250 drive? Pulling out of Toyota HQ in Kewdale, a quick tap on the accelerator saw the J250 up to speed in no time. The 2.8L turbo-diesel engine is very responsive across the rev range and works seamlessly with the 8-speed transmission, which was incredibly smooth. The engine almost has a throatyThe J250 features the same 2.8L turbo diesel engine found in the HiLux and 79 series.

So with all this in mind, you may ask the question, is the extra effort Toyota have invested into V-Active worth it? In addition to the functional auto stop/start system, Toyota also claim a 10% increase in fuel economy (assuming this is only for stop/start driving) and improved braking performance due to the regeneration

20 | Western 4W Driver #133 | western4wdriver.com.au

like note, and although it’s the same engine as in the Hilux, mated to the 8-speed transmission, it feels completely different (in a good way).

You are also able to change up the shifting pattern and steering and throttle response with three selectable drive modes, ranging from the efficiencyoriented ECO mode to Sport for a more performance-enhancing experience, all making noticeable differences.

Suspension-wise, the J250 offers an incredibly comfortable ride on-road, effortlessly absorbing bumps and offering confidence in cornering at speed, with minimal body roll. The vehicle also features the usual swathe of driving aids we now expect as standard inclusions on higher-end vehicles, and in this case the blind spot assist is certainly necessary as the side mirrors, which are quite tall, lack depth, and this creates a substantial blind spot.

Fuel economy is claimed at 7.6 L/100 km, but after 121 km of metro driving, figures at the pump came in at 8.84 L/100 km, still pretty impressive, especially considering the larger tyres standard on the Altitude.

After 319 km of mixed city driving, including towing for 80 km, this increased to 13.5 L/100 km.

The J250 is rated to tow 3,500 kg, with 350 kg ball weight, but the reality is, if you were towing at this weight, you would only be able to carry an additional 230 kg (the weight of an average four-person family) in the cabin, including passengers and any other modifications you’ve added to the vehicle—certainly not very realistic for most 4W drivers and certainly a limitation of the vehicle. When I hitched my 2T boat to the back and headed off to the local ramp, the vehicle handled it with ease, although the engine was certainly working a lot harder to get up to speed.

The mirror issue I mentioned above was

amplified while towing. I think that most who tow regularly will want a set of wider aftermarket mirrors. The J250 has the same tow haul feature I first experienced on the new 79 series; however, on the J250, I found towing with it not engaged was better for my boat, as engaging tow haul had the transmission holding gears too low and too long—I would assume it’s been designed for towing larger loads. I did find the location of the tow haul button directly next to the engine stop/start quite odd as well—I actually hit the stop/start button by accident on one occasion while reaching for tow haul; fortunately, nothing happened, though.

One surprising feature that the J250 does not have is auto disengagement of rear cross traffic sensors when a trailer is plugged in. This had me scrambling to find a way to disengage this at the boat ramp as the vehicle stomped on the brakes as soon as I tried to reverse my boat down to the water. Fortunately, I quickly realised I didn’t need to scroll through dash menus for this, as Toyota provide a button near the steering wheel.

One other feature I had to disengage while towing was the auto-dip on the side mirrors. When you select reverse in the Altitude, the mirrors will angle down to give you a better view of the wheels.

While this is a great feature while not towing, once you have a boat on the back, it restricts the view of the sides of what is being towed—fortunately, you can turn the feature off by hitting the R or L mirror buttons while reverse is selected.

Given the off-road-oriented specs of the Altitude, I was eager to see how it fared off the blacktop, and my chosen test ground in this case was the sandy tracks and dune climbs at Wilbinga. Aired down to 18 psi, the suspension remained comfortable and responsive on highspeed dirt roads, eating up the moderate

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corrugations without too much intrusion into the cabin. On off-camber sections of track, the suspension travel was fantastic, and engaging the rear sway bar disconnect made a noticeable difference to this, helping to keep wheels on the ground where they may have otherwise lifted.

The J250 handled every challenge I threw at it in low range, from dune climbs to wombat-holed hills, with the traction control system really shining on the latter. Downhill control in D utilising the descent control feature was also fantastic.

Although I didn’t use the crawl control feature as the terrain didn’t really call for it, the videos I have seen of this in action are incredibly impressive, and I can see how effective this would be negotiating technical rocky sections of track with complete control.

smaller than the Prado. So even with the larger Toyo ATs, the J250 could certainly benefit from a mild lift and stepping up to a larger set of tyres—I think you would have no issues accommodating at least 34’s in the guards once lifted.

Off-road the J250 excels, with the electronic swaybar disconnects offering impressive wheel travel.

The only real limitation I found was ground clearance, which is surprising considering the larger tyres fitted to the Altitude. Looking at the specs on paper, though, the ground clearance of the J250 is only 221 mm; now compare that to the MV Triton GSR I reviewed last issue, which is 228 mm but sits on tyres 2 inches 32 inch Toyo Open Country AT3 all-terrain tyres come standard on the Altitude, and there is enough space in the guards for upsizing should you choose to do this.

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Shifting back and forth between high and low range was simple with the new paddle toggle shifter, and the rear diff lock engaged and disengaged without issue. The only real negatives I’ve got to add about the J250 off-road relate to the parking sensors and the paint.

Although low range sees the parking sensors turned off by default, high range does not, and there is no button to easily disable them; instead, you have to scroll through screen menus. Regarding paint, Wilbinga is a frequently accessed area, so the tracks are not overly tight, and even taking extreme care with the test vehicle, I still ended up with a number of pinstripes on the sides. I was able to polish these out with a power tool, but I was very surprised that such minor leaf contact would mark the paintwork; if I were purchasing, I would certainly opt for a clear vinyl wrap prior to off-road use.

So, will the J250 Prado be a winner for Toyota? Well, based on pre-sales numbers, you would have to say it already is. However, I really think the long game for the J250 is going to come down to what potential buyers want to use the vehicle for. Anyone who is looking to add a bullbar, winch, drawers, roof racks, etc., and then hitch the caravan/camper trailer is going to be well over GVM in no time thanks to the payload limitations. You could opt for a GVM upgrade, but that may void your factory warranty. However, for buyers looking for a highly refined and extremely comfortable mid-size 4WD to take on long trips with the family while still maintaining extremely good manners for city driving and remaining incredibly capable off-road, I think the vehicle is going to have a lot of appeal.

s t c a f fast Engine/transmission – 2.8 L turbo diesel (1GD-FTV)/8-speed automatic with manual mode Power/torque – 150 kW@3000-3400 RPM/500 nm @1600-2800 RPM Suspension – Front: Double wishbone with coil spring and stabiliser bar; Rear: 4-link rigid (with lateral control arm) Wheels/tyres – 18-inch alloy/265 70 R18 (32.61 inches) Towing capacity – 3,500 kg braked, 750 kg unbraked GVM – 3,100 kg Payload – 580 kg

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Western Australia’s

Reef to

Onslow — Gateway to Mackerel & Montebello Islands

In the mighty Shire of Ashburton, you are truly navigating through a world of natural and ancient wonder that stretches across the expanse of the beating heart of the Pilbara. From the pristine Mackerel and Montebello Islands set amongst sparkling blue waters and clear skies, along roads that weave through the ancient ranges set amongst the red dirt, taking you to the serene waterfalls and billabongs of Karijini.

Experience Western Australia’s ultimate Reef to Range adventure.

Ultimate Road Trip

Range

Tom Price — Gateway to Karijini Country

For more information: Tom Price Visitor Centre P: (08) 9188 5488 E: info@visitashburton.au W: visitashburton.au

MOUNT AUGUSTUS An Adventure to the World's Biggest Rock

By Colin Kerr

26 | Western 4W Driver #133 | western4wdriver.com.au

If you’ve been to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and you thought that rock was big—well, Western Australia’s Mount Augustus is recognised as the biggest rock in the world at more than twice the size, making its Uluru cousin look quite small by comparison.

W

ith Mount Augustus geologically known as an unfaulted monoclinal gritty conglomerate and Uluru as a monolith (a simple block of stone of uniform quality), they are without a doubt both mighty big rocks, and outback travellers can be assured that a visit to both is truly worthwhile.

Towering 715 metres above the surrounding plain (Uluru is 348 metres high), Mount Augustus measures some 16 km wide and up to 5 km across (and is on the traditional land of the Warjarri Aboriginal people). Quite unlike Uluru, which is bald and virtually without any growth, Mount Augustus is covered with small shrubby trees, grasses and spinifex.

It therefore perhaps doesn’t look as dramatic as its cousin, but the sheer size

of Augustus, including some vertical cliff faces on its northern side, the Aboriginal legends that relate to its Dreamtime creation as Burringurrah, the rock paintings and engravings (petroglyphs) still to be found there, the history that tells that it was once the hide-out for a notorious cattle rustler, a natural pound at the base of the rock used to hold cattle, not to mention the mountain’s challenging walk and climb trails to the top … all add up to making Mount Augustus one of Australia’s greatest natural wonders.

 Petroglyphs on the rock walls at Ooramboo (Edney's)

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There is also a well-thought-out 49 km drive trail around the mountain with various side roads leading to art sites, lookouts, and freshwater pools, including a lovely picnic area at Cattle Pool (good for a swim on a warm day) and other attractions to be found in and around this dominant landmark. And don’t miss a visit to Emu Lookout, a great sunset vantage point a couple of kilometres away to the north-west of the rock. An added bonus here around August-September is the abundance of wildflowers seen around the rock.  Cattle Pool, on the Lyons River

 Cooling off at Cattle Pool

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Climb to the Top 12 km return (grade 4).

Allow 5-6 hours.

When explorer Francis Thomas Gregory came through here in 1858, his diary records he spent two hours of heavy toil climbing to the mountain summit from where, in the clear air at the top of this dominant landmark, he was able to take bearings on other hills more than 160 km away. He named his discovery after his brother, Augustus.

Today, like Gregory well over 100 years ago, one of the main attractions at Mount Augustus is the climb to the top. Be warned, however, this quite difficult, strenuous climb with plenty  Colin Kerr enjoying the view from the north face of the mountain

of rock scrambling is for only the fit and healthy. It is some 6 km each way, and rangers advise allowing 5 to 6 hours for the return trek and to always carry drinking water. A PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) should also be considered—in an emergency, it could save your life. Whilst there are now two clearly marked summit trails, neither are easy and should not be tackled if you are in any doubt about your ability to make the climb.

Notify the resort or National Park Rangers before climbing. There have been recorded deaths on this mountain climb—so take extreme care and prepare well. Do not climb in hot weather.

Scenically, the mountain has some quite dramatic faces, particularly the cliff section on its northern face, and photographically there are some quite moody images to record as the rock continues to change colour during the day, particularly in the early morning and towards sunset.

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 Camping at the Mount Augustus Outback Tourist Park

Located in Western Australia’s Upper Gascoyne Region a little over 1,000 km north of Perth, access to Mount Augustus is via gravel roads some 345 km north-west of Meekatharra or again, via the gravel 465 km east-northeast of Carnarvon. All are suitable for conventional vehicles and off-road caravans and camper trailers, except after heavy rain, which can sometimes close roads out here for several weeks at a time.

Located nearby to this mighty outcrop is the Mount Augustus Outback Resort, just a few kilometres outside the Mount Augustus National Park, which was established here in 1989.

The resort here offers a variety of accommodation options, including single, twin, and family units, all with air conditioning, as well as powered and unpowered caravan and camping sites (some with grass and shade), toilets, showers, gas barbeques, laundry facilities, an air-conditioned licensed bar, and a

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 Powered campsites are available in the campground at the Mount Augustus Outback Tourist Park

 Enjoying Happy Hour while watching sunset on the mountain

dining room that has a reputation for high-quality home-style cooked meals and take-away snacks. Fuel, water, basic food, and other supplies are also available at the resort.

With the rock standing dominantly out front and plenty of dry, dusty kilometres of outback landscape all around, the resort is, indeed, like a welcoming oasis and a great place to be based whilst you take in the attractions in and around this mighty mountain.

 Petroglyphs on the rock walls at Ooramboo (Edney's)

Other Walk/Climb Trails Avoid hiking in hot weather. Always carry water and wear sturdy footwear.

Mundee Petroglyph Trail 300 metres return walk.

Allow 10-20 minutes.

Quite an easy walk to an engraved wall.  Prue Kerr at Mundee rock art site  Colourful rock wall at Ooramboo (Edney's)

Ooramboo Trail 500 metres return.

Allow 15-30 minutes.

Quite an easy walk to engravings along the escarpment.

Edney’s Trail 6 km return.

Allow 2-4 hours.

This climb trail leads to Edney’s Lookout where the cattle rustler kept an eye out for anyone (including the law) coming.

Gum Grove Trail – Warrarla 1 km return.

Allow 20-40 minutes.

An easy trail through a shady grove of river red gums.

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Kotka Gorge Trail 2 km return.

Allow 1-1.5 hours.

This trail, which includes the Gum Grove Trail, is a more energetic trail along a rocky creek bed up to the opening of Kotka Gorge.

Goordgeela Lookout Trail  White gum trees in the creek - Ooramboo (Edney's)

3 km return.

Allow 1-3 hours.

A rocky creek/climb trail to the lookout.

INFORMATION BAY

Saddle Trail 1 km return.

Allow 30-60 minutes.

When to Travel The best time to visit Mount Augustus is from May to September.

It can be very hot in summer.

A quite easy trail with views of the pound used by early drovers to contain herds of cattle.

Where to stay

Flintstone Rock Trail

Mount Augustus Outback Resort Phone 08 9943 0527 mtaugustustouristpark.com

500 metres return.

Allow 15-30 minutes.

This quite easy trail goes to Flintstone Rock where visitors can crawl under the rock to view Aboriginal engravings

Pets are allowed, but not in the National Park.  Campground at Mount Augustus Outback Tourist Park

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THE REMARKABLE

KENNEDY RANGE

By Colin Kerr

34 | Western 4W Driver #133 | western4wdriver.com.au

With its elaborately branched gorges and sandstone cliffs rising like battlements up to 100 metres high on its eastern side, the Kennedy Range is indeed quite a formidable sight. As an increasing number of visitors to this quite remote National Park are finding, the majestic eroded landscape here is a mixture of spectacular cliffs and gorges, eerie canyons, ancient marine fossils, strange honeycomb formations, an array of colourful gemstones, and an extensive Aboriginal history.

P

ushed up from an ancient seabed in the remote interior of Western Australia's north-west, the Kennedy Range has been dominating the flat surrounding plains out here for thousands of years. The stark beauty of this rugged, eroded plateau, some 800 kilometres north of Perth and 160 kilometres east of Carnarvon, runs in a north/south direction from near the small outback community of Gascoyne Junction.

Access to the quite well-developed eastern side of the park is via a wellmaintained gravel road north from the

small township of Gascoyne Junction, which has now splendidly recovered from the devastating floods of 2010 when parts of the town were totally destroyed. With some of it moved to higher ground, the town now has a beaut new roadhouse and a modern caravan park with ensuite options, a splendid campers’ kitchen, and cabin accommodation available.

On the northern outskirts of the town, the road crosses the formidable Gascoyne River, and if you are looking for a nice picnic spot around here, there are a couple of quite good options available.

Just a few hundred metres from town, there is a signposted picnic area (level and partly shaded with the curious name of Hackers Hectare—no camping here) on the southern banks of the river. A much nicer spot, however, is another signposted picnic area on the north side of the river just 3 km from town. Here there is a beautiful, large, permanent waterhole in the Gascoyne River. This is a lovely spot to stop for a cuppa, and camping is allowed further along this splendid riverbank—all quite delightful, but be aware, there are no facilities provided here apart from an information shelter.

Within the National Park there are pit toilets provided at several car parks and at the Temple Gorge camping area, but there are no barbeque or other facilities available.

Campfires are not permitted in the eastern section of the park (with the exception of one communal campfire and barbeque plate controlled by the camp host at the Temple Gorge campsite). No bins are provided— take all rubbish away with you. western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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Forty-three kilometres north of the Gascoyne River, the road crosses the causeway of the quite picturesque Lyons River, and the turnoff to the Kennedy Range is another 3.5 km further on.

The road north from Gascoyne Junction travels parallel to the Kennedy Range, whose flat top and eroded outline can be seen in the distance away to the west.

Other small pillar-like breakaways are a feature of the landscape to the east, just south of the Lyons River.

On reaching the signposted turn into the Kennedy Range, the track, which is generally quite well maintained, heads west for approximately 12 km before reaching the base of the range. As you approach the mesa, its rough, somewhat eerie forms begin to stand out and take shape. The mass of craggy white-orange through to dark brown cliffs and gorges eating into the range are seen stark and tall above the flat surrounding plain— impressive indeed, especially in the early morning light.

There are four main parking areas lying at the base of the cliffs—the first (Temple Gorge day visitors’ car park) lies at the end of the main track leading into the range. Other tracks lead north and south along the eastern face of the range.

At several parking areas, there are pit toilets provided. There is, however, only one designated camping area—Temple Gorge Campground (camp hosts are located here during the peak season, June to September) with toilets and a few tables/chairs scattered around, but no other facilities provided. Campfires are not permitted within the park (except a communal campfire and barbeque plate controlled by the camp host), so it is recommended that you bring a gas/fuel stove with you for cooking. All other camping equipment and supplies, including sufficient water for your stay, must also be brought in with you.

The quite well-spaced-out campsites here (some with part shade), set beneath the towering cliffs of the range, are really

Fuel, basic mechanical assistance, accommodation, and food supplies are available at the small township of Gascoyne Junction, which has a population of around 40 people.

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 Near Honeycomb Gorge

something quite special. The facilities are basic, but the experience of being curled up at the foot of these towering sandstone battlements is one not to be missed. During the peak winter season, the camp hosts here at the campground will often light up the communal fire late in the day, with campers encouraged to join a friendly daily happy hour to discuss aspects of the park with your hosts and exchange travel stories and experiences with fellow campers.

Visitors should not be in a rush when they visit the Kennedy Range, as there is much to see and keep you occupied for at least a few days. If you have a reasonable level of fitness, along this eastern section of the range, there are a number of canyons and gorges, including Honeycomb, Temple, and Drapers Gorges, which are all well worth exploring. Extensive views from the top of the range of the gorges and surrounding countryside accessed via an escarpment walk trail are well worth the effort you will put into getting

 Petroglyphs at Drapers Gorge

 Honeycomb Gorge  Temple Gorge

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not appeal to everyone, but rest assured those who make the effort are well rewarded with a truly wonderful and very colourful vista right along this eastern escarpment.

 Happy hour with camp hosts

to the top. The camp hosts, at the daily happy hour gathering, present certificates to those successfully conquering the demanding escarpment trail climb.

Remember, however, the slopes of these ranges are quite unstable, and extreme care is needed to climb the slippery inclines. There is also a great viewing spot north of the main gorge areas shown on the park map as ‘sunrise view’—a drive trail leads to the car park, and there is then a 150-metre walk/climb trail to this beaut elevated lookout spot. The thought of dragging yourself out of your sleeping bag to take in the sunrise, however, may

Huge marine fossils left over from the area's seabed beginnings, as well as sections of what appears to be extruded lava, can be found in several gorges.

Also quite remarkable are the strange lacy patterns, sometimes shaped into honeycomb formations, worn into the sandstone cliffs. Some of these strange forms have even been referred to as 'Egyptian writing,' but this is more the result of a creative imagination than having any real Egyptian background. In some spots, local birds find them ideal as ‘nesting boxes.’

Walk trails within the park are classified as class 3 and class 4 (including rough, crumbly, and unstable rock-hopping surfaces) requiring moderate to high levels of fitness.

 Along the escarpment trail

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 Honeycomb Gorge

On top of the range is a vast plateau of ancient dune fields. Here, seemingly endless rows of dry, waterless red sand dunes dominated by spinifex and some small shrubs are an eerie sight high up on top of this ancient escarpment. It is estimated that these dunes, measuring up to 18 metres high and 100 metres or more apart, may have been formed about 15,000 years ago during the last major arid period over this part of the continent.

Today they support a variety of plants, including wattles, grevilleas, bottlebrush, and an occasional banksia.

Hidden away deep within the gorges, pools of water and evidence of seasonal waterfalls gouged into the rock faces can be found. Out here it doesn't rain very often—an annual average of only 210 mm (8½ inches)—but when it does rain (especially from cyclonic depressions), the vertical cliffs and steep valleys must be a real sight to behold. Huge volumes of water pour down from the mountain's catchment areas, are funnelled into

narrow, raging torrents, and race to the bottom, where it is dispersed over the surrounding countryside.

For walking and climbing here, particularly over the crumbly sandstone and ironstone rocks, a good pair of walking boots and plenty of time is required—also remember to take drinking water. Drive trails lead to the three main gorges, or you can walk to each of them from the campground. There are trail markers along each of the gorge walks, which help to pick the easiest path.

By the way, for those visitors who may be uneasy about all the walk trail options here and would prefer a more relaxed visit, then don’t worry, as the scenic vista from your campsite or from the various short drive trails are enough by themselves to make a visit to the Kennedy Range most worthwhile. Just sit, put your feet up, and take it all in during the day, and at night enjoy the wonderful clear starry sky and perhaps even see a satellite or two pass overhead—just wonderful!

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 Sturt Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa)

 Fossil at Honeycomb Gorge

As well as marine fossils, archaeologists as recently as the 1970s collected fossilised plant specimens, two of which were fruiting bodies thought to be members of the Proteaceae family. They, in fact, were found to be banksias.

Further specimens were subsequently collected, with the result that two new banksia species have now been recorded. The existence of these fossils in the Kennedys represents the earliest known occurrence of banksias in Australia.

Apart from its scenic attractions, however, the Kennedy Range is also becoming well known for its semi-precious gemstones and petrified wood that can be seen as you explore the valleys and slopes of the range. Gemstones such as chalcedony and opalite can be quite readily seen, but fossicking and collecting rocks, gemstones, or fossils is not permitted.

On the western side of the range, mining operations over many years have extracted mookaite (a type of jasper and used in jewellery) at the base of the Kennedy outcrop. This is the only known place in the world where mookaite can be found.

Large varieties of flora and fauna are also unexpected bonuses in an area that, on first glance, you would think would have little of either. Like many arid areas of

Australia that can have highly variable rainfall, the flora and fauna patterns also vary depending on seasonal conditions.

In some seasons without sufficient rain, seeds will not germinate, wildflowers are quite sparse, and in poor years, birds, needing ready access to water, will migrate out of the range only to return in large numbers when conditions are more favourable to them.

In and around the park, there have been over 100 species of birds (including wedge-tailed eagles and spinifex pigeons) identified, also 20 species of mammals (including euros, rock wallabies, bats and dunnarts), and 33 species of reptiles.

Adding further colour to this outback landscape are around 400 different plants, including 82 blooming wildflowers, which are usually at their peak in August and September and can be found in and around the range. The best springtime floral displays are those that follow good rains in late summer and early to mid-autumn.

The Kennedy Range extends around 75 km in a north-south direction and is between 12 km and 25 km wide. The National Park, gazetted on 8th January 1993, originally covered an area of 141,660 hectares. This has increased to almost 320,000 hectares with the recent purchase of additional areas from local station properties surrounding the existing park boundaries. Whilst the development of facilities at the Kennedy Range is still in a

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 Sunrise on the Kennedy Range from Temple Gorge Campsite

quite early stage, this fascinating place in WA's outback is now being discovered by an increasing number of travellers each year. As time goes on, its reputation as a place of real wilderness value is certain to attract even more visitors as they learn of the many quite unique attractions that the Kennedy Range has to offer. The Kennedy Range—a truly remarkable spot hidden away in the remote WA outback!

Aboriginal and Early European Occupation Aboriginal history at the Kennedy Range is largely unrecorded, but occupation sites have been found both within and around the range. It is, however, known that this formidable geological structure seems to have separated the traditional lands of two Aboriginal tribes—the Maia people to the west and the Malgaru to the east.

In particular, the freshwater springs on the western slopes of the mesa support abundant wildlife and would have been a good source of food and water.

A number of artefacts that have been found in the area provide additional evidence of occupation as far back as 20,000 years ago. The Aboriginal name for the range is Mandatharra.

Remember, out here around the Kennedy Range, it is a semi-arid desert region. Take plenty of water, and when camping out, be prepared for cold nights and hot days. Daytime winter temperatures are usually in the high 20s and early 30s. In summer the average maximum is 40°C with many days of 45°C plus. It is estimated that around 250 million years ago this area was a shallow ocean basin off the edge of the ancient Australian continent.

The Kennedy Range is a remnant of the land surface that elsewhere has, with the forces of nature over many years, been heavily eroded away to reveal the quite dramatic landscape seen today.

The surveys that have been carried out in and around the Kennedy Range have revealed almost 100 ancient Aboriginal sites in the area. Most are archaeological sites, but it is believed that a number of them are of ceremonial or mythological importance. Some very old rock art engravings (petroglyphs) can still be found by walkers with a keen eye in Drapers Gorge. These, however, are not good examples of this ancient art form, as they have been heavily weathered over the years, and it is quite difficult to decipher them.

Early European involvement here did not take place until 1858, when an expedition led by Francis Thomas Gregory

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discovered the Kennedy Range on 12 May 1858. It was subsequently named in honour of the then Governor of W.A., Arthur Edward Kennedy. Within 20 years of this expedition, pastoralists were also discovering this area of outback W.A. and, like the Aborigines before them, were taking advantage of the local springs

and waterholes, as well as the nearby erratically flowing Lyons and Gascoyne Rivers, to establish their properties. The region in the late 1800s and early 1900s went on to become a prosperous woolproducing area, and today both sheep and cattle properties are seen right throughout the district.

INFORMATION BAY Best time to visit Late July to October (after the winter rains), when the usually dusty red landscape is covered in greenery, and carpets of wildflowers can often be seen across the plains.

Where to stay There is a new, modern caravan park located at Gascoyne Junction (Ph: 08 9943 0940) as well as overnight accommodation available at the Junction Hotel (Ph: 08 9943 0504) just an hour's drive away from the main eastern Kennedy Range car parks and walk trails.

Fees There are no entry fees to Kennedy Range National Park.

Camping is $15.00 per adult ($10.00 concession) and $5.00 per child at the Temple Gorge Campground. The use of generators is allowed (within restricted hours). Drinking water is not available within the park.

Getting there A sealed road leads from Carnarvon to Gascoyne Junction. Other gravel roads out here are subject to corrugations. Campervans driven with care are quite ok, but only off-road (or sturdily built) caravans and camper trailers are recommended. Except after rain, the main eastern side of the Kennedy Range is accessible to all reasonably high clearance 2WD vehicles, including campervans and smaller mobile homes. A high clearance 4WD vehicle is required to explore the undeveloped and even more remote western side of the range.

Access to the western side of the Kennedy Range is either through Mt Sandiman property (on the north/east section of the range) and across the top of the range or from the Carnarvon to Gascoyne Junction Road—turn off to the north approximately 30 km west of Gascoyne Junction. The track across the top of the range is sandy and quite rough in sections—it is subject to windblown sand and closure.

Phone (08) 9941 3754 for track conditions before attempting this section of the park.

Flights and safari tours to the Kennedy Range are available.

Enquire through local tourist centres in Exmouth and Carnarvon.

For more information Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Carnarvon: Phone 08 9941 3754 | Denham: Phone 08 9948 2226 parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/kennedy-range Shire of Upper Gascoyne: Phone 08 9943 0988.

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Arm yourself against fatigue.

Regularly get 7.5 hours sleep a night.

On long drives take a break every two hours and swap drivers if you can.

Make every journey safe

2025: The Perfect Year to Chase the

SOUTHERN LIGHTS

By Donna Vanzetti, Star Tracks Astro Events facebook.com/StarTracksAstroEvents

Images by Roger Groom

 Lake Leschenaultia

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For thousands of years, the ethereal, dancing lights of the aurora have captivated humankind. Whether seen as the aurora australis (southern lights) in the Southern Hemisphere or the aurora borealis (northern lights) in the Northern Hemisphere, this breathtaking display is one of Earth's most stunning natural wonders.

A

releases massive solar flares that can extend out to 300,000 kilometres. Large sunspots often indicate solar storms, which can eject huge bursts of electrified gas called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) towards Earth. When these charged particles interact with our atmosphere, they excite atmospheric gases, causing them to emit light in vibrant colours.

uroras are a direct result of solar activity: the more active the Sun, the greater the likelihood of vibrant auroral displays.

During solar maximum, the Sun reaches its peak activity, leading to an increase in sunspots and CMEs, and these powerful bursts of solar wind and magnetic fields amplify auroral displays.

The Science Behind the Southern Lights

NASA confirms that 2025 will be a prime year for aurora viewing, as it marks the peak of the Sun's approximately 11year solar cycle—the solar maximum.

The Sun's activity has been steadily increasing since the last solar minimum, building towards this peak and promising an exceptional "aurora season." This increased solar activity means more frequent, intense, and widespread auroras, providing stargazers with greater opportunities to witness these breathtaking displays.

These displays are triggered when energised particles from the Sun, travelling at speeds of up to 72 million kph, collide with Earth's atmosphere. Our planet's magnetic field directs these particles towards the poles, creating the colourful curtains of light we see in the sky.

The Sun constantly emits energy and charged particles as solar wind. It also

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How Best to See an Aurora

Apps for Aurora Alerts

The last solar maximum occurred around 2014. Since then, technological advancements have significantly improved our ability to forecast and track solar activity, with better forecasts, dedicated apps, and real-time information available through social media. Additionally, advancements in smartphone camera technology now allow for stunning aurora photography, a significant improvement from the lowerresolution cameras over a decade ago.

• Aurora Australis Western Australia Facebook Group: This is an excellent resource for knowing when the best times might be to hunt auroras from Western Australia.

• Visibility: Auroras are more likely to be visible at lower latitudes during a solar maximum.

• Dark Skies: Clear, dark skies are crucial for optimal aurora viewing. To maximise your viewing experience, choose locations with minimal light pollution, such as dark-sky reserves, remote areas, or national parks.

• How to Predict Auroras: Auroras can be predicted hours or days in advance using solar observations, satellite measurements, and geomagnetic activity models.

• SpaceWeather.com: Receive regular alerts on unusual happenings in the sky, plus all the new info about the SunEarth environment, from sunspots to auroras, sprites and sun dogs.

• Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre: Alerts come to you from the Bureau of Meteorology.

The forecasting centre taps into a network of sensors in Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica, bringing you the latest space weather and aurora alerts.

• My Aurora Forecast & Alerts App: It’s your go-to app, providing specific info for seeing the Aurora Australis, tailored to your location. The app provides aurora alerts, including how likely you are to see the aurora, with details including solar winds and highresolution sun imagery.  Lake Leschenaultia

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 Perth Observatory

Roger Groom

Even with promising forecasts, patience is essential, as seeing an aurora is never guaranteed, even under seemingly perfect conditions. However, witnessing these dazzling ribbons of colour illuminating the night sky is an unforgettable and truly incredible experience, well worth the wait.

To gain more insights from a seasoned aurora hunter, we caught up with Roger Groom of Astro Photography Australia, who shared his valuable tips and advice.

How long have you been hunting auroras, and how did you get into it in the first place?

The first time I remember learning of aurora was in 2003 when I was at an Astro Camp run by the Astronomical Society

of Western Australia down at Dryandra.

There was this shriek of excitement and yelling from the observing field, and when I went down, I could see pink on the southern horizon. That was an awesome experience, with fellow astronomers on a dark observing field, before the days of digital cameras and laptop screens being everywhere.

What has been a highlight or memorable experience during that time?

One highlight for me was later in 2003 when I was doing astrophotography in my backyard observatory, in the hills of Perth.

All night I was complaining to myself about kangaroo shooter spotlights in the bush to the south, thinking how they were likely ruining my astrophotography (slide film at that stage).

It turned out that only after putting an early Olympus 2020Z digital camera piggyback on my telescope and facing it south did I realise it was a pink and green aurora! So incredibly bright, the beams looked like spotlights moving behind the trees. My film photographs of Orion, high up in the northern sky, were awash with pink from the aurora. This 2003 event was the strongest in recent times. The aurora continued all night.

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Where are your favourite spots to view the auroras?

Needing only a southern horizon, ideally clear of large obstructions and light pollution, there are many possibilities in WA, and everyone will have their own. For me, I live near Lake Leschenaultia, so that is my convenient go-to location where I have been doing nightscapes since the early 2000s.

Other locations include many in the central wheatbelt. Reserves and lookouts, roads oriented approximately northsouth. I’m fortunate to have my own private dark sky property in the wheatbelt where many of my photographs are taken and on occasion one of my nightscape workshop groups is graced with an aurora!

Dryandra, near Narrogin in the wheatbelt, remains a good location for aurora and other astrophotography, particularly as facing south for aurora you will be less impacted by the Boddington Goldmine to

the west. Dryandra has accommodation and other attractions, making the trip more worthwhile even if no aurora is seen.

What advice would you give to someone who also wants to experience the auroras themselves?

Perhaps the biggest thing is to make what you can of the opportunity, being prepared for nothing to eventuate. For me, this means taking nightscapes and other astrophotography and hopefully capturing aurora in the meantime.

Compose your exposures for a generally pleasing nightscape or timelapse, and the aurora becomes a bonus.

If you’re new to aurora chasing, taking friends or family with you is almost a must. Having company, you’re less likely to get spooked and leave or have the time go slowly, meaning you leave before the aurora action starts. It’s much easier to pass the time and have fun with some company.

 Orion through an Aurora

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AN INSPIRATIONAL SELF-DRIVE ADVENTURE IN WA’S GOLDFIELDS Explore woodlands and the goldrush past on the Golden Quest Discovery Trail.

A guidebook is available from Visitor Centres along the trail and select bookstores, with audio available to download via the website.

Complementing the guidebook and audio is a free companion app that provides additional interpretive and regional information.

FREE APP!

GOLDENQUESTTRAIL .COM

KANOWNA HERITAGE TRAIL REVIVES 'AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST GHOST TOWN'

By Brayden Edwards

One of the Goldfields' forgotten ghost towns was brought back to life this summer with the long-awaited opening of the Kanowna Heritage Trail.

T

he story of the abandoned gold mining town just 20 km north-east of Kalgoorlie is relatively unknown to most, yet Kanowna once boasted 12,000 inhabitants in and around the townsite— staking its claim to being Australia's largest ghost town.

The new heritage trail, developed by the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, brings the town’s rich past to life. Self-guided visitors can explore interpretive signs sharing the stories of early prospectors and families who shaped the community in the face of hardship.

Gold was first found at Kanowna in 1893 by Pierce (Percy) Larkins, Jerry McAuliffe and Tassie O'Connor. It was said that McAuliffe found the gold; however, the most western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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common belief is that an Aboriginal boy, Jedda-Warra, first spotted the rich outcrop and reported it to the others in the party.

Despite being registered as "McAuliffe's Reward," the claim didn't qualify as a reward claim, which required a 20-mile distance from existing gold claims.

Amazingly, the discovery yielded approximately 300 ounces of gold on the first day. According to a Kalgoorlie Miner article from 1897, McAuliffe's group initially called the site 'Day Dawn,' but the lease was later sold to the West Australian Goldfields Company, who renamed it 'White Feather.'

By mid-1894, the White Feather mining area was dotted with tents and bough sheds. Though a few shops had opened, most traders delivered goods by horse and cart. Hundreds of men arrived, some claiming land randomly, others

methodically. A few, like Captain F.X. Bissenberger, possessed geological and engineering expertise. Bissenberger successfully secured four 12-acre leases.

These leases were later combined to form The White Feather Main Reef Co., registered in 1894.

Today the Heritage Trail sheds light on some of the most important locations, people, and stories of Kanowna. These include the Main Reefs Line, The Old Knowna Cemetery, The Kanowna Railway Station, the Locomotive Turntable, and The Criterion Hotel.

A collaboration between the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, the Shire of Coolgardie, and local residents, the Kanowna Heritage Trail is more than a historical attraction—it’s a tribute to the town’s pioneering past, ensuring its stories endure for generations to come.

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Kanowna Heritage Trail Visit Australia’s largest ghost town right here in the WA Goldfields.

Located only 22 km from Kalgoorlie, Kanowna offers a unique and quiet experience of an abandoned gold rush town.

kanownaheritagetrail.au An Eastern Goldfields Historical Society initiative

Old Boulder Power Station, Hamilton St, Boulder Phone: 08 9093 3360

kalgoorliehistory.org.au Open Monday to Friday 9am - 2pm, or by appointment

THE PROBLEMS WITH PUG Once a bustling hub of 12,500 residents, Kanowna, near Kalgoorlie, boomed during the 1890s gold rushes.

But its unique "pug" – a gold-bearing clay – proved both a blessing and a curse. This is the story of Kanowna's rise, the challenges of its "pug," and the con artists who nearly stole its future.

By Luke Clatworthy

 Gold Prospectors' Camp, Kanowna, near South Lead, 1898

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T

he historic gold mining town of Kanowna is one of the most famous of all settlements situated in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Abandoned since 1952, Kanowna is located 18 kilometres east of KalgoorlieBoulder and for a short period of time threatened to become the premier gold mining town during the Western Australian gold rushes of the 1890s.

Visiting the townsite today, it is hard to envisage that at its height of prosperity, Kanowna boasted a population of 12,500 living within the town boundaries with thousands more residing within a sixkilometre radius. 16 hotels serviced the thirsty miners, and the town was well serviced with several general stores, a post and telegraph office, a courthouse, a police station, a large store, a warden’s quarters, two banks, a well-equipped hospital, cycle agencies, two schools, two newspapers, an electric lighting plant, two breweries, an aerated waters factory operated by Long and Seebeck, a racecourse, and a myriad of other businesses essential for a growing and vibrant community of this size.

Long and Seebeck Codd Bottle with distinctive white feather embossed emblem

Sports of all types were popular, including the establishment of tennis, cricket, rugby, Australian Rules football, hurling, rifle, athletics, cycling, quoits, chess, bridge, bowls, and tug of war clubs. Kanowna became the unofficial “capital” of the North-East Coolgardie Goldfield. The town

 Early Gordon Townsite, 1897

was connected to Kalgoorlie and Perth by rail in late 1897, at one stage enjoying an hourly schedule to Kalgoorlie.

For tourists and visitors travelling to the Eastern Goldfields, Kanowna has always been one of the “must visit” locations of their proposed holiday itineraries.

Kanowna is also an ideal starting point for well-equipped 4WD enthusiasts to explore a range of other long-forgotten and interesting mining settlements such as Kurnalpi, Gordon, Bulong, Gindalbie, Mulgarrie, Lindsay, Jubilee, and Mulgabbie. My first gold nugget found with a metal detector was found at Jubilee many years ago, with many other pieces of gold detected. Kanowna is also the starting point for a fascinating alternative journey through to Mount Margaret and Laverton in the north-eastern Goldfields.

Kanowna was officially declared a town in 1894 and became a municipality in 1896.

Originally known as White Feather, the first gold was discovered in 1893 by Jerry McAuliffe, Percy Larkins, Tassie O’Connor, and Jim Hilder. On the first day of the new find, the four men collected three hundred ounces of gold. Larkin rode into Coolgardie in early November 1893 and registered their claim as “McAuliffe’s Reward.” This was an odd choice for two distinct reasons; the first was that the discoverers had christened their new find,

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“Day Dawn.” Secondly, the find was never granted Reward status, as any reward claim granted needed to be twenty miles from the closest registered mining lease.

The new find did not comply with this requirement. The four men tried to keep their find a secret but to no avail. An experienced prospector named Jack Allen, also known as “Sailor Jack,” was curious why McAuliffe and party remained out in the bush for so long. He suspected that McAuliffe was onto something substantial and was determined to find out. When McAuliffe was next in Coolgardie, Sailor Jack and his mates (including William Watt, James Reid, James Pavency, and Charles Hayden) followed McAuliffe’s tracks east.

The party quickly found gold and registered five claims in a short gully they had christened “Sailors Gully.” This spot yielded extremely rich gold at a shallow depth and was later declared by some experts to be the richest gully in Western Australia’s history. Naturally when news of this sensational new gold find became known, hundreds of prospectors flocked to the area eager to also make their fortune. An area known as Red Hill in proximity to McAuliffe and parties’ find was quickly pegged, and it was also found to be wonderfully rich.

The lucky trio of gold seekers who first pegged this site (Tom Doyle, J. Mason, and William Birks) also did extremely well from their “Kanowna” mine. The name of their mine became the official name of the soon-to-be-developed town. The men pegged three leases and discovered a large gold-bearing reef, as well as two smaller reefs and four very rich leaders that yielded over 3.5 ounces per ton. After obtaining a large amount of gold, the three men sold their find to an English company for four thousand pounds and sixteen thousand shares in the company

 White Feather Main Reef

that was floated in London to develop the mine. Doyle went on to become a major player in the growth and prosperity of Kanowna but also suffered when it declined, as we will see a little further into this narrative.

In the meantime, McAuliffe’s party was sold to the same company for six thousand five hundred pounds. This became the famous White Feather Reward Mine. News of these two rich mines as well as the other numerous claims producing wonderful gold returns ensured the continued growth of Kanowna. Several other gold-bearing gullies were discovered, all yielding fabulously rich rewards to the lucky prospectors who found them. This location quickly became known as the Golden Cement and within six months had produced over twenty thousand ounces of gold from a total area of only 50 metres by 270 metres. Adjoining gullies also were found to be riddled with gold.

These included Wilson’s, Bissenberger’s and Uruguay Gullies.

The cement mentioned above was truly unique and only found in the Kanowna area. By September 1897, the initial, fabulously rich claims were beginning to be depleted, and miners began to leave the area, causing concern amongst the townspeople and business owners alike. Two prospectors named Simms

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Whoever pegged a claim and Gresson had a cement above one of these deep claim called the Fitzroy leads, they were rewarded Cement. They had been quite with extremely rich gold. successful extracting gold Those whose claims fell off from their shallow workings. the gutter of these leads Once the gold began to peter were destined to find little out, they made the fateful or no gold. The quantities decision to dig beneath of gold recovered from the the layer of bedrock to more successful deep claims see if any gold continued Thomas Doyle were breathtaking, and this below. To their surprise and new discovery was hoped to excitement, the two men assure Kanowna of a long and successful discovered a second, far richer alluvial future with the population of the town layer of gold. reaching its peak around 1900.

The first dish of concentrate yielded approximately eighteen ounces of gold. Immediately news of this latest development spread like wildfire, and the other claim holders remaining nearby also delved deeper and found that they too were on the same new fabulous lead.

Worked-out and abandoned claims were quickly repegged, and a flood of eager gold seekers returned to Kanowna to try and stake a claim on this latest bonanza.

The lead followed a westerly direction, and thus any unpegged ground in this vicinity was quickly taken up, and mining commenced. Other leads were found with the richest including the Q.E.D., Wilson’s Gully, Moonlight, and the North Lead. It was found that these new leads located beneath the initial alluvial workings lay in an old watercourse that was part of a series of old stream deposits. It was discovered that these deposits filling the old watercourse varied in different proportions of variable thicknesses of surface loam, followed by ironstone-laden gravels partly cemented in places by kaolin and oxide of iron into solid rock.

Beneath this was a bed, or in some cases beds, of pure kaolin commonly called pug and a differing thickness of pebbly quartz wash. The North Lead gold came from quartz veins and lodes at further depth.

Simms and Gresson by now had taken gold valued at over ten thousand pounds with their neighbours Morris, Long and party having recovered over 500 ounces of gold from the cement and a further 200 ounces from panning. Two men who, in partnership, had made their initial fortune at their Red Hill workings, Tassie O’Connor and Tom Doyle, continued to have lady luck smile upon them with their new claim, the Arctic Circle, bringing them additional wealth. Tom Doyle by now had invested his money made from gold in Kanowna into a series of business ventures, including the very successful Kanowna Hotel and the White Feather Brewing Company. In addition, he was quick to back any prospector who had pegged a potentially rich claim for a percentage of the gold won that initially  Doyle's Hotel, Kanowna

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boosted his financial position but later saw him lose most of his accumulated and hard-earned wealth.

For a while, the town celebrated its second phase of prosperity. However, as with all stories involving mining for gold, there was often a sting in the tail.

This proved the case with the North Lead in particular. Several changes in the geological formation categorised the lead. Central to this was the local substance referred to as pug. Initially this pug was not an issue to those mining the rich deep leads. As these new mine workings continued at depth, the percentage of pug grew, and with this came the uncertainty of how to extract the gold contained within economically as well as determining how much gold this sticky clay substance contained.

Indeed, pug became a major issue because of the complexity of separating the gold. It was also beginning to become a major headache to the larger reef operations. It is recorded that as the levels of pug impregnated gold rose, some local battery operators refused to process parcels of ore made up of substance. For a while, Kanowna carried the nickname of Pug Town. The problems associated with the pug and how it could be successfully treated became the main topic of conversation within Kanowna, with its two newspapers regularly reporting upon it and any new methods

devised to properly treat it to ensure that mining continued profitably.

By 1900, it was estimated that twentyeight different gold extraction processes had been suggested on how to treat the pug; not one of these methods proved successful. It is recorded that the two most common processes utilising normal battery treatment with large amounts of water and combining battery treatment and puddling worked to a limited extent but allowed in a high percentage of fine gold escaping in the waste tailings. How much was being lost was unable to be properly calculated.

As already mentioned, the amount of gold contained in pug could also not be accurately ascertained, leading to much speculation on how rich this ore actually was. Throughout the workings, the pug ranged from two feet in thickness to thirty feet. Naturally, when a new method of extracting the gold from the pug was announced, the hopes of an entire community rose in unison, only to be dashed when it was found that the latest method either did not work at all or that it operated with only limited success.

Amongst the many processes and schemes that came to light regarding the treatment of pug, the most interesting occurred in February 1898. Alighting from the train from Perth, two brothers, Angus and James McQueen, made their way to Tom Doyle’s Kanowna Hotel.

 Deep Lead Claim, Kanowna

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 Kanowna Deep Leads

They immediately made it known that they were trained mining engineers and experts in the successful treatment of all types of gold-bearing ore, including the dreaded Kanowna Pug. At the bar, they quickly informed all and sundry that they had developed specifically a foolproof method of treating the pug.

The two brothers announced that they had in Fremantle a small processing plant that they would utilise to show that their method of extraction was assured.

They refused to reveal much more about their wonderful treatment plant but were confident that a demonstration would prove any doubters wrong. Those listening to the McQueen brothers were suitably impressed, and hopes rose.

Tom Doyle, whose mining operations contained greater amounts of pug, approached the brothers, asking if a syndicate could be formed to buy the plant. James McQueen became angry, stating that he had no intention of sharing the secrets of the treatment plant they had invented. His brother Angus calmed him down and apologised for his brother’s temperament and behaviour.

Over the next three days, Kanowna buzzed with the news concerning the McQueen brothers and their amazing invention. During this time, the brothers kept a very low profile and began to arrange for their small demonstration treatment plant to be railed to the town from Fremantle. Tom Doyle and other leading citizens of the town were convinced that the brothers were onto  Kanowna Railway Station and Reserve

a winner and were determined to again approach the McQueens to broach the subject of a syndicate.

The portable processing plant, shrouded in security, arrived from Fremantle. The brothers transported it to a suitable lease and during the night installed the plant and announced that it was operational. At ten o’clock the next morning, approximately one hundred town dignitaries and miners arrived at the lease to hear the brothers explain how the plant operated. The processing machine was hidden from prying eyes in a fourteen-square-foot shed made from corrugated iron. At one end of the shed was a small chute for the ore to be treated to be fed into, and from the opposite end a pipe was seen complete with a copper cup. Greeting the assembled throng was a sign made from calico attached to the shed. It read, McQueen’s Patent Electric Pug Treatment.

Angus and James McQueen appeared dressed in overalls and were greeted with loud cheering. They proceeded to explain to the crowd that the treatment plant could treat up to two tons of ore per hour. It would dissolve the material surrounding the gold, and the gold itself would emerge as a solid block from the other end. They then stated that their fullsized treatment plant could successfully treat 5,000 tons of ore per day, was valued at twenty thousand pounds, and was due to arrive in Fremantle shortly. Buoyed by this news, the small crowd returned to Kanowna, and the news quickly spread.

Tom Doyle met with the brothers again that evening. He was successful in convincing the previously reluctant brothers to accept his revised offer to purchase an interest in their invention for five thousand pounds. Four men, including Tom Doyle, each put up one thousand pounds. The fifth share of a

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 Prospectors at Lake Gordon

thousand pounds was paid by Doyle’s wife, Kate. A local lawyer was quickly engaged to draw up the contract and organise receipts for all those involved.

As a part owner in the process that would guarantee the future of Kanowna, the Doyles and their three partners eagerly anticipated the demonstration scheduled for the next day.

The next day saw approximately three thousand people on the lease to watch about three tons of pug processed. The ore assayed as having approximately two ounces of gold per ton. Quickly a block of gold exited the shed that contained seven ounces per ton. The assembled crowd was left in shock by the amount of gold retrieved by the process and the speed at which it had been treated. After the demonstration, James McQueen left on the next train to travel to Fremantle to take delivery of the full-sized treatment plant and organise its transportation to Kanowna. On hearing the news, the town exploded in celebrations that lasted well into the night. Success at long last seemed assured. Or was it?

Later the next morning, Tom Doyle was sitting with Angus McQueen in the Kanowna Hotel Bar. Their conversation stopped by the delivery of a telegram.

The telegram was from the Perth Public Hospital and read that a man thought to be James McQueen had been run over

by a carriage in Barrack Street in Perth after exiting the train and had suffered two broken legs and internal injuries. The House Surgeon of the hospital also wrote that he was unsure if James would survive his injuries and that Angus should travel to Perth immediately if he wished to see his younger brother alive. The men at the bar were horrified at the news and were genuinely concerned for the health and welfare of James.

Angus, overcome with grief and emotion, was inconsolable, and the sympathetic townspeople quickly arranged a ticket on the next available train, ensuring that Angus was in a first-class carriage. Money, liquor, cigars, and other gifts were quickly organised, and these were sent with Angus to help sustain him on the long journey back to Perth and to help with the hopeful recovery of James. Loaded with expensive gifts and comforts and with the five thousand pounds purchase money from Tom Doyle’s Syndicate safely in his keep, Angus McQueen bid the huge crowd of well-wishers assembled at the Kanowna Railway Station farewell. The townspeople could now only sit and wait for an update on the condition of James McQueen. Unfortunately, this was the last they saw and heard of the McQueen brothers, but this was not known at the time.

After a few days had transpired and with no news of James or Angus, attempts were made to find and contact the brothers but to no avail. The Perth Public Hospital confirmed that no man called James McQueen was admitted, nor did anyone meet with an accident involving being run over by a carriage.

Finally, someone entered the corrugated iron shed where the treatment plant was installed. To the shock of everyone in Kanowna, no trace of any form of machinery had ever been inside of the

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 Cement Diggings, Kanowna

shed. All that remained inside was the three-ton pile of pug that had been loaded through the chute to the shed during the demonstration. The pug was still in its original state. It quickly dawned upon the Syndicate members and the remainder of the Kanowna population that two expert con artists had totally deceived them.

Tom Doyle, in particular, took this cleverly organised con hard; his reputation was severely damaged, and in addition, he had to deal with his very angry wife, who had needed some convincing in the first place to provide the fifth share of a thousand pounds. It is not known for sure if this incident had any bearing on the later marital troubles Tom Doyle faced years later. Tom Doyle committed suicide by drinking cyanide in 1905 immediately after his wife Kate had officially filed for separation. At this stage, Kanowna was in decline, and Doyle had lost most of the money he had made from his successful mining and business ventures. It was a sad end for a man who had been so involved in Kanowna from the very beginning.

The pug-laden ore continued to cause consternation to the miners of Kanowna, with many of them having to eventually walk away from their leases.

This is one of many fascinating and quite unique stories about Kanowna. The next time you are in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, include in your travel itinerary a visit to this fascinating location. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, an updated and improved Kanowna Heritage Trail has just been launched, offering a wonderful glimpse of the town in its heyday. Hopefully I can share with you in the future another remarkable event that took place in the late 1890s at Kanowna and how that too is connected to the story of its unique deep leads and its ambiguous pug.

 Kanowna Fire Brigade, 1900

1899 WA Fire Brigade Button detected by the author

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COILS AIN'T COILS What type of coils are needed if you want to successfully find gold?

By Luke Clatworthy

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I

n an earlier article written for Western 4W Driver, I provided some information regarding the types of metal detectors available and the best choices for either detecting for gold or finding coins, jewellery and other metallic artefacts. With the current price of gold at an all-time high, people from all walks of life are keen to give metal detecting for the precious yellow metal a try.

Whether a novice or an experienced metal detectorist, taking the necessary steps to maximise your chances of detecting gold nuggets is vital to you achieving consistent success.

One of these is to ensure you have the correct metal detector. Another is to ensure that you have the necessary quality detecting coils for your detector that covers all situations when out in the field, including the type of ground you will be searching in, the depth you wish to achieve to find those elusive gold nuggets, and being able to minimise interference from mineralised ground, the dreaded highly mineralised “hot rocks” that usually give such a promising signal, and, at times, atmospheric and manmade forms of detector interference.

As you know, a quality pulse induction metal detector is a very expensive investment to begin with. Ensuring that you have a selection of quality search coils will initially require further and at times significant additional cost to your hip pocket, but the right set of coils will only enhance your chances of success, and potentially the gold you find will begin to mount up and begin to cover this initial and quite substantial outlay. Before I go into more detail about the types of coils you may wish to consider purchasing, let me provide a quick refresher on pulse induction detectors and how they work.

Gold found using Pulse Induction Metal Detector.

Pulse Induction: A Reminder Pulse Induction (PI) metal detectors were designed to provide greater depth and to operate more efficiently, especially in Western Australia’s highly mineralised soils found throughout our numerous declared Goldfields. They are also vastly superior in finding gold ranging in size from the smallest of pieces weighing from 0.1 grams up to proper nuggets and specimens weighing in the hundreds of grams.

Naturally, the chance of finding large nuggets today is diminishing, but they can still be found. Often detectorists who find a patch will detect any number of small pieces of gold, each weighing between 0.5 grams and 2–3 grams.

Although time-consuming and workintensive, finding these small pieces of gold begin to quickly add up. Everyone who detects for gold naturally aspires to find that perfect 10–20-ounce-plus nugget (and hopefully larger still!) but detecting and unearthing numerous small pieces of gold is more common and can make your prospecting trip a most memorable and financially rewarding one for all of the right reasons!

Pulse Induction metal detectors operate by generating short and extremely powerful pulses of current through a coil

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of wire. This is based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. The pulses generated only last for microseconds and, in turn, create a magnetic field that collapses quickly. As the magnetic field collapses, any nearby metallic objects, such as gold, will generate their own magnetic fields using eddy currents in response that oppose the original collapsing field. Your pulse induction metal detector will then measure the duration and intensity of the magnetic field generated by the metal object in the soil.

However, as experienced metal detectorists will attest to, other metallic objects besides gold will provide a similar signal, such as lead and a myriad of annoying tiny pieces of wire, bullets, metal shards, steel, and aluminium cans, and of course, the ambiguous hot rock.

Hey, if finding gold with a metal detector was that easy, all of the available gold beneath the surface would be exhausted.

Thankfully, there is still enough gold out there waiting to be unearthed, rewarding those hardy souls with the patience, expertise, determination, and the right detector who search in the best possible locations, increasing their overall chances of success. Still need to be convinced?

Numerous small gold nuggets before cleaning found with Minelab PI Metal Detector.

Let us delve a little deeper into the advantages of owning and operating a PI detector to find gold.

Advantage Number One: PI detectors are famous for their increased target depth in highly mineralised soils.

This allows for gold previously not discovered using older technology, Very Low Frequency (VLF) detectors, that is buried deeper and in ground where the detectors used in the past could not work due to the high iron content in the soil.

Advantage Number Two: PI metal detectors are usually more stable in highly mineralised soils, and false signals caused by this mineralisation will be reduced.

Advantage Number Three: VLF detectors are designed with advanced discrimination features that can distinguish between an array of different types of metals. Most PI detectors do not have this capability. Why is the lack of discrimination an advantage, you may well ask? Unlike detecting for coins, jewellery, and metallic artefacts, it is better to dig all signals when detecting for gold and not miss finding even the smallest piece of the precious metal.

Being able to use a discrimination mode on a detector also causes a reduction in depth, and in some cases, sensitivity also.

Advantage Number Four: Research and Development. With the huge success of Pulse Induction metal detectors, major detector companies such as Minelab and Garrett devote large amounts of time and capital to the further development of these very effective machines. As the number one location across the globe for alluvial gold, the majority of research and development on PI metal detectors is undertaken here in Australia.

Your PI metal detector is designed and constructed to operate at peak efficiency in our local conditions.

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Search Coils: An Introduction Now we will focus on a major component of your metal detector, the search coil.

When purchasing a metal detector, your machine will come with one or two coils designed, tested, and built by the manufacturer. These coils are a great starting point. To increase your chances of finding gold when out metal detecting, it is imperative that you have a range of different coils that will best suit the area and conditions you are detecting in. Choosing the right coil combination for your metal detector will significantly improve your chances of success.

The major manufacturers of Pulse Induction metal detectors, such as Minelab and Garrett, each regularly design, manufacture, and test a number of different coils that can be purchased.

The new Australian-designed Algo Force 1500 metal detector uses coils that are compatible with those used on Minelab machines. Nokta Detection Technologies are also close to releasing their own Pulse Induction range of metal detectors; one will be for gold prospecting, and a second will be unique as it will be designed for searching for metal artefacts buried at greater depths.

Here in Australia, we are indeed very fortunate that specialist coil manufacturers also operate to provide a selection of alternative, outstanding coil options, especially for Minelab Pulse Induction metal detectors. Coiltek, based in South Australia, and Nugget Finder, situated in Victoria, have had enormous success with their coil technology and development, and both brands have been in operation since the 1990s.

As touched upon earlier, your metal detector’s search coil allows for the transmitting and receiving of signals.

Selecting the right coil improves

your depth, sensitivity, and ability to successfully locate targets in varying types of terrains. Even the shape of your search coil is important to consider before finalising your selection.

Does the Shape of Your Search Coil Matter?

Metal Detector coils are mostly either round or elliptical in shape. Round coils allow for a broader search field being emitted, thus improving the chances of finding nuggets buried deeper in the ground. However, larger-sized round coils find it harder to accurately locate smaller pieces of gold that weigh below one gram in weight.

A further advantage of using round coils is that they have the capability to cover more ground area when detecting, but this can be offset somewhat when the terrain you are detecting in has a greater concentration of vegetation or is very rocky. Round coils also are easier to pinpoint targets with, but this can take some time for a detector operator to fully master for maximum success.

Elliptical coils have a narrower search field than round coils, but they are easier to use when detecting in relatively thick grass or undergrowth and in more

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rugged, rocky locations. Elliptical coils are also easier to pinpoint targets in the ground due to their unique shape and configuration. They also cover more ground again thanks to the fact that they are longer than a standard round search coil. Because they are also narrower than a round coil, an elliptical coil can be better when endeavouring to try to separate two targets that are close together, potentially meaning the chances of missing a gold target are reduced. The elliptical coil is an important coil to have due to its allround capabilities. As you gain experience detecting for gold and can properly assess an area before commencing your search, selecting the right-shaped coil will become second nature and increase your chances of success. This knowledge and understanding also equate to the different types of coils to use.

The Size of Your Coil Does Make a Difference Smaller coils are the best option for nuggets that weigh less than 0.5 of a gram and are just beneath the surface up to a depth of 10 centimetres. They are great for shallow ground below bedrock.

Smaller search coils are also more effective in detecting specimen stone that only contains a small amount of gold.

They are also the preferred option when detecting in overgrown and rocky areas.

Being lighter in weight also equates to less operator fatigue, meaning that you can detect each day for longer depending on your overall strength and conditioning.

They are not as sensitive to those tiny pieces of gold that the old-timers humorously referred to as flyspecks.

Again, having small and large coils as part of your detecting arsenal can make all the difference out in the field.

Let us finally look more specifically at the types of Pulse Induction metal detector coils and their unique features.

What are the Main Types of Search Coils for Detecting for Gold?

There are three types of coils to use for detecting gold. Their pros and cons are listed below: Mono-loop Coils: Mono-loop metal detector coils have one winding around the outside circumference of the actual coil, and this wire is used to transmit and receive signals. Its search pattern is

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Minelab GPZ7000 Metal Detector with Mono Loop Coil.

cone-shaped. This means When using this coil, the actual speed of the sweep the search pattern narrows is vital. If it is done too at depth, requiring the quickly, it will not pick operator to overlap your up small gold targets or search pattern when signals that are weak. detecting to reduce the Double D coils are also less chance of missing gold sensitive to ground noise targets buried deeper because the coil wirings than the edge of the cone. are smaller than those on Mono-loop coils are also the perimeter of a Mononoisier than similar-sized loop coil. This means that Double D metal detecting targets will usually provide coils in higher mineralised Nugget Finder Z Search a strong, consistent signal. soil but are also more Double D Coil.

Anti-Interference Coils sensitive. Having some (Coils for use in and around salt different-sized mono-loop coils will lakes): An anti-interference (A.I.) coil has be an essential part of your detecting several unique capabilities, making it an equipment. essential addition to your Pulse Induction Double D Coils: Double D Coils have two metal detector. These coils have been loops of wiring (these look like reversed designed to stop any type of external Ds that meet in the middle of the coil) that interference that can greatly affect the overlap in the centre of the coil. One coil overall performance and stability of your transmits signals, and the other receives detector. Interference can occur when signals. The main detection zone is where detecting on salt lakes, through solar the two coils overlap in the centre of activity, or if you are detecting close the search coil. Thus, its search pattern to man-made objects such as mobile telephone towers, electric fences and is more narrow, but deeper signals are powerlines. more consistent.

Coiltek Goldstalker 22" Double D Coil.

Coiltek 17x11" Anti-Interference Coil. western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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Naturally, if detecting on one of our more remote gold locations, the chance of man-made interference is reduced.

However, by operating a coil of this type, you can have greater confidence in your detector’s capabilities, as you will not experience as much interference noise as you potentially would get if using a Monoloop or Double D coil. Another fact to consider regarding A.I. coils is that it has been tabled that the overall performance of this type of coil is only approximately five percent less than that of a similarly sized Double D coil.

In Conclusion: There you have it in a nutshell. You have a wide range of different search coils for a Pulse Induction metal detector. Ultimately, it is up to each individual detectorist to carefully research and work out which coils you will need to improve your chances of finding gold when out in the field. The brand of metal detector you choose also plays a major part in which coils will be right for you.

This boils down to the type of ground you will be metal detecting in as well as the size and depth of the gold nuggets you will focus on trying to find.

local metal detecting dealer, who should be able to guide you in the right direction regarding the coils that best suit your needs. Look at all coil manufacturer websites and check all the online Western Australian detector forums and sites.

If possible, seek out experienced and successful metal detectorists and pick their brains for advice and tips.

If you have made the decision to purchase a quality Pulse Induction metal detector, learn how to operate it and go detecting as often as possible. Learn which areas will yield the best results. The monetary outlay to purchase a new, fully equipped PI metal detector is substantial.

Think seriously about hiring a detector and coils and try before you buy. You will either become hooked on detecting for gold or you will look to try another form of detecting, such as coin and relic hunting, that is kinder to your hip pocket, or perhaps some other type of hobby.

Happy detecting everyone!

The coils that come with your purchased detector will be a great start and allow you to minimise your initial budget as well as better understand how a Mono-loop or double-D coil works. However, having a wider range of search coils that target a larger choice of potential ground in which to detect is a key factor. Being able to purchase additional coils may simply come down to how successful your initial forays are and how much gold you find.

Once you have made your choice of what type of Pulse Induction metal detector you wish to operate, you will have a clearer idea of what additional search coils work best with your choice. As with anything to do with metal detecting, research is paramount. Speak with your

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 Coral Bay

REEF OF

DREAMS

By Tracey Laity The sparkling waters of the Ningaloo Coast are renowned as a haven for some of the world’s most iconic marine species, but its rugged coastline has also sheltered and sustained one of the world’s oldest continuing cultures for 50,000 years.

of these lands, biyardi was a time of bountiful food supply and a surge in movement and Hazel Walgar activity among its marine and land-based inhabitants.

s cooling winds and rains signal the onset of autumn around Noongar Country, further north, along the perpetually turquoise-hued waters of the Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) Coast, home of the Baiyungu, Yiniguurdira, and West Thanalyji people, the heat of summer still lingers in the season traditionally known as biyardi (the warm and dry time).

Baiyungu Elder Hazel Walgar, owner and operator of Baiyungu Dreaming at Cardabia Station, can read the landscape with her eyes, noting changes in the environment as small as the flowering of a plant or the migration of one of the world’s largest fish species, which, in turn, dictates the availability of certain food, medicine, and tools.

The balmy temperatures and cloudless skies are a natural drawcard for holidaymakers seeking to escape the relative cold of the more southerly regions of our state, but to the Traditional Owners

“Baiyungu people have known the changes through the season by understanding the movements and cycles of animals and how the flowering and fruiting of particular plant species signal

A

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 Ningaloo

the right time to hunt and gather as the seasons change,” Hazel explains. “This traditional knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. I am happy to be able to share this with the younger generation and with visitors on our tours.

“For instance, biyardi is the mating season for our sacred gajalbu (emu), so we don’t hunt them now. The male gajalbu is busy getting strong and fat. This is them preparing for fatherhood, for sitting on the nest, and taking care of the wimbiljarri (chicks). By the end of biyardi, we will also have seen the hatching of the emu eggs. We know that gajalbu always return to their Dreaming place with their little wimbiljarri in tow.”

Emus aren’t the only animals mating and birthing offspring; bardurra (bush turkeys) are laying their eggs, and so are some of the Nyinggulua Coast’s most iconic aquatic residents, the now endangered (majun) green turtle. The female turtle spends its whole life in the open ocean, except when it comes ashore in certain places to lay eggs. Female green turtles are known to migrate up to thousands of kilometres each way between foraging grounds and nesting beaches, and it seems just like the emu, the green turtle returns to the site of its own birth to dig a nest for its own young.

“It’s amazing to be able to watch the turtle hatchlings make their way from their nest on the beach back into the ocean,” says Hazel. “Not all the hatchlings make the journey—there are birds and other creatures who try to eat them. But no matter how much they get turned around, they always know which way the ocean is and head in that direction.

“Dugongs are also birthing at this time.

They are not as well known as the majun, but you’ll find them resting in the calm, protected waters of the Exmouth Gulf,

which is a safe nursery for them and their calves. Like the majun, the dugong is also an endangered species; it is now estimated that about 10,000 dugongs live in the waters of Shark Bay, which represents about 10 percent of the world's remaining population.

“The ocean is a place of nourishment and sanctuary during biyardi. There is plenty of food to sustain our gentle giant of the deep, the gujawari (whale shark).

Although the gujawari is the third biggest creature in the ocean (after blue whales and fin whales), it is not aggressive and is not a threat to humans. It is a filter feeder and is only interested in eating plankton (microscopic marine organisms).

You’ll find many male juveniles peacefully cruising past expectant dugongs and manjun around Nyinggulu at this time.”

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 Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth

Dip into indigenous culture with Hazel’s cultural snorkelling tour Hazel has been offering tagalong tours On-Country for many years, sharing Dreaming stories and cultural sites of significance on the coastal plain, but recently, in collaboration with Ningaloo Glass Bottom Tours, she has donned her flippers and snorkel mask to offer a truly “immersive” cultural experience— underwater.

“When we go on the boat to join a group, I am there to share the cultural stories of the area, and I take people way, way

back to a time when you used to be able to walk out to the reef because the land was still joined together. This is why it is still Nyinggulu, which means promontory, because the ocean levels have receded since those times.”

If you listen carefully to Hazel’s seamless weaving of the past into the present and the unravelling of the present into the past, you may hear the mysterious story behind the two turtles that were found sleeping on a coral ledge on a snorkelling expedition: “One time, I was out on the ocean; I heard women’s voices calling out to me. I looked around, but there was no one near me. My group told me they had found two turtles sleeping on the reef, and I knew the voices came from them.

That night, the women visited me in a dream. They came up to me; they spoke no English, but they spoke in language.

They asked me, ‘Who are you?’ They said, ‘Where are you from?’ And 'Where is everybody?' Then I knew that they had been left behind from a long, long time ago, like those two turtles sleeping; those ladies had been there for thousands and thousands of years.”

 Jamba Nyinayi, Cardabia Station

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Through her grandmother, Yingagurru, Hazel has a powerful connection to Baiyungu Country, a connection that resonates through her evocative storytelling. Even the manju (green turtle) knows when Hazel is in the water, and one, affectionately nicknamed Gwen, has made regular guest appearances during her cultural snorkelling tours.

“The manju is my totem, which means they have cultural significance for me,” explains Hazel. “So Gwen and I, we connect because we are two souls coming together.”

Hazel’s cultural snorkelling tours are available three times a week, on a firstcome, first-served basis. The tour is suitable for family groups, and seniors are also welcome.

Dive deeper with a station stay on Hazel’s country during Jamba Nyinayi No flippers are required for this immersive experience: a three-day celebration of indigenous culture and music at Cardabia Station, an Aboriginal-owned and operated cattle farm, across the Easter weekend, from Friday, April 18, to Sunday, April 20.

Visitors can purchase a day pass, or they can camp at the station for the duration of the festival (three days)—or even extend their booking for up to five nights if they want to take advantage of the opportunity to explore Coral Bay and beyond at their own leisure.

Jamba Nyinayi, which translates to “sit for a while,” is a unique, grassroots celebration of Baiyungu culture and community, spearheaded by none other than Hazel Walgar. As its cultural director for the past three years, Hazel is incredibly proud to see the festival mature and grow from its original conception as a

supporting act to the solar eclipse.

“This year’s theme is connection,” Hazel says. “It is about honouring the deep, timeless interconnectedness of the Baiyungu people, reflected in our relationship to Country, Nyinggulu, and our ongoing ancestral stories. The connection to the land, sea, and its creatures, regarded as the spirits of our ancestors, underscores our profound bond with this relatively untouched and incredibly biodiverse part of the natural world.”

A highlight of this year’s program is a special guest performance by Shane Howard, founding member of the Australian band Goanna and Black Arm Band. Shane has been working closely with Baiyungu Elders to translate one of his iconic songs, Solid Rock, Sacred Ground, into Baiyungu language. Festival-goers will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join Shane in the singing of this song while out on Baiyungu Country.

Festival tickets are $18 for adults (not including accommodation). For more information, go to jnfestival.com.au GLOSSARY Bardurra: bush turkeys Biyardi: the warm and dry time Gajalbu: emu Gujawari: whale shark Jamba nyinayi: sit for a while Majun: green turtle Ngarrari: land Nyinggulu: means promontory, but now refers to the Cape Range National Park and surrounding areas Thanardi: sea Wimbiljarri: chicks

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PRODUCT REVIEW

by Ron & Viv Moon

BRIGHT IDEA LAZER LAMPS DRIVING LIGHTS

Long distances and remote country with wandering flocks of emus and kangaroos, not to mention black cattle, make a good set of driving lights a worthwhile investment for any West Australian heading off on an adventure.

perform better for longer, while being stronger and much more reliable than the cheaper makes.

I

All Lazer lights, be they driving lamps, work lamps, or light bars, are designed, engineered, and manufactured in the UK with no compromise in regard to component parts or build processes.

They are impressive-looking straight out of the box and exude a high build quality, with the Sentinel range being available in 7” or 9” models in both Standard or Elite grades.

n the past we’ve fitted a number of different makes of driving lights to my vehicles and the vehicles my son uses on his Moon Tour trips. Today, there is a huge range of different brand lights on the Aussie market, ranging in price from a couple of hundred bucks for a pair to well over $1,500 for a set of high-performance lights. You get what you pay for, and we always go for the top-end brands as they

Hearing some good reports about Lazer Lamps (lazerlamps.com.au), we decided to fit a pair of Sentinel Elite 9” lights to my Troopy.

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We opted for the 9-inch Elite version with DRLs, and like all Elite models, they come with an anodised and top-coated body and an ‘Unbreakable’ polycarbonate lens.

An optimised heatsink offers improved thermal dynamics, while an electronic thermal management system optimises light output to preserve the longevity of the 32 high-output and quality LEDs. These LEDs give the lamps their illuminating power and penetration, while the life span of the LEDs is some 50,000 hours.

Each lamp features over-voltage protection as well as reverse polarity protection and comes with an IP68 waterproof rating, meaning they are good for being submerged to a depth of 1.5 m for up to 30 mins. That means you’ll be safe crossing the Pentecost in the Kimberley or one of those bog holes you get down on the remote south coast tracks between Duke of Orleans Bay and Israelite Bay.

Each lamp weighs in at an impressive 2.5 kg and comes with a ‘wide’ diecast aluminium mounting bracket that holds the lamp firmly and consistently in place.

An alternative ‘slim’ mounting bracket, along with a range of lens covers, a stay bar kit, and anti-theft fasteners, are available as optional accessories.

The colour temperature of the Lazer lamp is an easy-to-drive-by 5000K, and the total lumens output, for those who know and care about such things, is over 15,200, while sharpness and definition are rated as 80 CRI. Each lamp consumes 145 watts and draws just a tad over 10 amps.

The light beam these lamps produce may not be the longest you may have used or seen, with the 1-lux line being stated as being at the 740-metre mark.

What makes these lights so practical and great to drive behind, though, is not only that realistic 740 metres (which is plenty for the Troopy—and most people’s requirements), but the evenness of the

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With high beam

With Lazer Lamps driving lights — camera exposure the same

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light and the spread of the beam (rated at 52 degrees), so that the side of the road or track has a goodly amount of usable light to pick up those wayward animals lurking in the grass or scrub, waiting to leap out at you.

We had the crew at Outback 4WD, my favourite 4WD centre here in Victoria (outback4wd.com.au), fit the lights and wiring loom, but not before I had broken a tab off the supplied light covers while removing the said cover. I should have read the warning instruction, and since then the covers have been improved by all accounts.

The supplied wiring loom with its Superseal connectors, for some strange reason, didn’t come with a switch, but apart from that, the units were easy to fit and wire, making sure we used the three mounting holes to secure each light securely to the bullbar.

We’ve now had these lights fitted for the last 12 months and 20,000 km, which has included a run down the Canning Stock Route and a trip across Queensland’s Gulf Country and up onto the Cobourg Peninsula of the NT, plus a couple of shorter jaunts through the Victorian High Country. Needless to say, they have been subjected to more than their fair share of corrugations and rough roads and have stood up to the pounding without a sign of movement, the beam staying tried and true the whole time.

The 9-inch versions are a pretty large light, but they do fit within an ARB Deluxe bar, but many people will find the 7-inch model Lazer lamps preferable for their vehicle. Cooling-wise, they have had no detrimental effect on the Cruiser, but I’d hazard a guess that on my old TD42 Patrol they may have an undesirable outcome in the heating stakes.

I’ve now driven behind these lights at night for quite a few hours, and I’ve

found them to provide more than an ample amount of light, spread evenly with no obvious hotspots that cast a beam not only down the centre of the road or track but also illuminating the edges of the roadway where cattle and ‘roos often lurk. They offer far more illumination than standard headlights and have proven to be remarkably easy on the eyes, which makes those long night drives a lot easier and safer. My feeling too is that you wouldn’t need an additional light bar with these model Lazer lights.

While these lights are somewhat expensive, priced at $830 each (for the 9“Elite with DRL), that is a similar price to all high-performing driving lights on the Aussie market today. For that outlay, you get a great light and a five-year warranty.

For those who spend a lot of time behind the wheel at night, or who want the best illumination possible on those dark, winding bush tracks, or maybe those who just want a smart, great-looking driving light that’ll last a lifetime, these lights fit the bill!

Are they the best I’ve ever driven behind?

Possibly! If not, they are right up there with the best of them!

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 Sean Scott

KALGAN POOL

A RUGGED ROAD TO AN OUTBACK RETREAT Tucked away in Western Australia’s Pilbara East, Kalgan Pool is a unique outback retreat where shimmering water meets rugged red cliffs and weathered rock formations. Whether you’re chasing a thrilling off-road challenge or a peaceful escape, this remote destination offers the best of both worlds.

Article created in collaboration with the Shire of East Pilbara

J

ust 90-minutes’ drive from Newman, Kalgan Pool takes you on an amazing 4WD adventure through some of WA’s most dramatic landscapes. Towering ochre cliffs, golden spinifex plains, and multiple river crossings make for an exciting drive that tests skill, patience and a vehicle built for the extremes.

The adventure begins on a 1.8 km access road from Marble Bar Road to the Kalgan Creek track entrance. The first

few kilometres are a steady introduction to the track, but, before long, the real test starts: several river crossings of varying depth depending on the season.

Some are short and manageable, while others, deeper, require steady speed and caution. Maintaining momentum helps avoid creating a bow wave that could wash over the vehicle and make it unstable. Stopping mid-crossing is not recommended, so it is best to use a CB

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 Agnieszka Flakus-Makowski

the kind of track that high-clearance 4WD enthusiasts thrive on.

radio to check for oncoming vehicles before pushing forward. For some, the swaying and swinging beneath the water adds an extra thrill to the challenge.

Beyond the crossings, the track doesn’t let up. Rough gravel, steep climbs, and bouncy jump-ups that require low-range gearing and careful tyre placement in a test of both driver and vehicle. The terrain constantly shifts, keeping even experienced off-roaders on their toes. It’s

Even seasoned off-roaders who return to Kalgan Pool marvel that each adventure feels unlike the last. Seasonal rain can turn shallow crossings into deep challenges while dry spells expose rugged surfaces that add unexpected obstacles.

After tackling the final stretch, Kalgan Pool emerges as a stunning contrast to the dry surroundings. The waterhole, with its calm and glassy surface, is the perfect place to wash off the dust and take in the beauty of the Pilbara. Swimming is possible when the water level permits, and the area is also pet friendly, offering a great stop for those travelling with dogs.

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The pool is also home to a rich aquatic ecosystem, including a variety of fish, turtles, and even pythons, creating a fascinating and unexpected slice of paradise in one of Australia’s toughest landscapes.

Camping by the water’s edge is a popular choice for those wanting to make the most of the journey.

There are no formal campsites, just raw, uninterrupted nature with space to relax by the campfire and take in the night sky.

For those with energy left to burn, the climb to the Kalgan Pool lookout offers sweeping views over the landscape. From the top, the Ophthalmia Range stretches into the horizon, and as the sun sets, the cliffs glow in deep reds

 Ronny Dahl

THE GIBB CHALLENGE 16-23rd May 2025

700kms | 5 days Outback Team Relay Cycling Adventure

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REGISTER NOW !!

 Ronny Dahl

GENUINE OUTBACK HOSPITALITY YOU DESERVE IT

Plan a stay at the grand old Queen of the Murchison Guest House and soak in the history of Cue. Admire the preserved buildings, fossick for gold, photograph amazing sunsets.

Owner Joyce Penny has created a fresh and homely environment for travellers and workers.

Address: 53 Austin St, Cue 6640 | T: (08) 9963 1625

E: info@queenofthemurchison.com.au | W: www.queenofthemurchison.com.au

GUEST HOUSE

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and oranges against the fading light. It is no surprise Kalgan Pool’s natural beauty was featured in the 2003 Australian film The Japanese Story, starring Toni Collette.

For those looking to extend their adventure, Kalgan Pool is part of a 110 km 4WD circuit linking with Three Pools, Eagle Pool, and Eagle Rock Falls.

Exploring this wider area offers even more opportunities to immerse yourself in the Pilbara’s beauty.

Whether you’re drawn by the thrill of the track, the beauty of the waterhole, or the chance to camp under the stars, Kalgan Pool is a journey into the Pilbara that will stay with you. A must-do experience for any 4WD enthusiast, it delivers adventure, challenge and unforgettable moments. The road may be rough, but the memories are worth every bump.

An excerpt from Hema's Pilbara Map

INFORMATION BAY Kalgan Pool is a remote, unspoilt location meaning self-sufficiency is essential. There are no facilities so visitors must come prepared and take all rubbish with them.

No Caravans The track is unsuitable for towing, so leave your caravan in Newman.

Check Conditions Water levels vary, and heavy rainfall can impact accessibility.

Tyre Pressure Lower your tyre pressure to 25-30 PSI for better traction.

Be Prepared Bring recovery gear for unexpected challenges.

Communicate Use your CB radio before entering long crossings to avoid oncoming vehicles.

 Ronny Dahl

Permit Required Obtain a permit from the Newman Visitor Centre (gold coin donation) before travelling on BHP-controlled roads.

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BIG THINGS IN THE PILBARA

By Colin Kerr

 Colin beside a Caterpillar 793B Haulpak Truck, on display in Newman, in the Pilbara Region of WA

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Right around Australia, travellers are used to seeing big things almost wherever they go—from a Big Banana (Coffs Harbour, NSW), Big Lobster (Kingston SE, SA), Big Orange (Berri, SA), Big Merino (Wagin, WA), Big Galah (Kimba, SA), Big Prawn (Ballina, NSW), and many, many more.

I

n the Pilbara Region of WA, things are, however, a little different. This is iron ore country, and a big part of this massive mining industry is the use of huge Haulpak dump trucks.

With tyres measuring up to 3.7 metres in height and weighing 3.6 tonnes each and truck operating weights up to 376,000 kg, these 120- and 240-tonne class machines standing 6.4 metres high don’t need their size exaggerated (like bananas, lobsters, etc.) when they are put on display.

Located at the entrance to four of the Pilbara’s mining towns (Tom Price, Newman, Paraburdoo and Wickham), these giant Haulpaks (now decommissioned) are an eye-catching sight you just can’t miss as you drive into town.

Powered by a 16-cylinder four-stroke design, their Caterpillar diesel engines use long, effective power strokes for more complete fuel combustion and optimum efficiency.

The high-displacement EVI quad turbocharged and after-cooled diesel engine produces greater power with an enhanced power management capability for maximum hauling performance so important in mining operations.

The transmission is a mechanically driven Caterpillar six-speed electronically  Big yellow Haulpak at Tom Price

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controlled automatic power shift system with six forward speeds and one reverse.

A single lever gear stick control provides automatic shifting through all gears.

Whilst some of these huge trucks are these days being converted to be operated by remote control, the conventional haul truck operator’s cabin is ergonomically designed for total machine control in a comfortable, productive and safe environment. All controls, levers, switches, and gauges are positioned to maximise productivity and minimise operator fatigue.

There is also an onboard VIMS monitoring system that features an easy-to-read display and an easy-to-use operator input keypad for precise machine status information.

Indeed, big trucks doing a big job in the WA Pilbara.  Haulpak at Paraburdoo

With a sound-suppressed cabin, their ergonomically designed and fully adjustable air suspension seats have comfortable armrests providing optimal driving comfort with excellent all-around visibility and clear sight lines to the haul road, allowing the operator to manoeuvre with confidence and safety.  Truck on display at Wickham

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UNEARTHING A CENTURY OF

KALGOORLIE’S HISTORY

PHOTO ESSAY

Images by Brett Leigh Dicks

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Brett Leigh Dicks is a Fremantle-based American/Australian photographer who loves to capture the passage of time in his photos. His most recent exhibition, Time and Time Again, paired historic photos of Kalgoorlie and surrounding areas, sourced from the Western Australian Museum’s Dwyer and MacKay Collection, with contemporary images of the same locations a century later.

 Hannan Street

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A

s a 2023 Art on the Move Activating Collections Artist in Residence at the Museum of the Goldfields, Dicks spent a year researching and pinpointing the original sites of the photographs to recreate the scenes. His work presents a visual comparison between the Kalgoorlie of the early 20th century and today.

 Bank of Australia

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“Most of the photographs were created over a hundred years ago, and since they were created for commercial purposes, many of the images lacked precise locations,” Dicks explained. “This meant analysing as much identifying information as I could and then turning to

Google Street View to scour the area for recognisable landmarks. Once a location was identified, it was then a matter of determining the viewpoint and angle and when and how to best match the lighting parameters in the original photograph.”

 Clock Tower

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The project offers a unique glimpse into the evolving landscapes of the Goldfields, from iconic sites like The Palace Hotel and Boulder Town Hall to intimate street scenes, residential homes, and abandoned mining claims.

Sharing his time between Western Australia and California, Brett refined his skills in repeat photography—or rephotography as it's commonly called— with the support of a large community of accomplished rephotographers in the USA. But taking on such a large project half a world away came with its own opportunities and challenges.

 Kalgoorlie Town Hall

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His most important bit of kit down under?

His four-wheel drive, of course! “The most important piece of equipment for all the work I do is a reliable vehicle that can get me to some reasonably remote places and back again safely,” he said. “I'm an American, so of course I use a Jeep for that purpose!”

 McKenzies

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In terms of photography, the main focus was using gear that could recreate the images as closely as possible. “It was important to reproduce the original images identically from the exact same vantage point, so at times that meant

standing in the middle of Hannan Street at lunchtime so as to precisely match the light conditions. Having to work quickly at times, I used a Canon 5DSR, which offered about 50 megapixels worth of detail, which nicely matched the clarity

 Cremorne

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of those early 8 x 10 photographs. And pretty much everything was made with a standard lens, around 50 mm, as that was how the original images were photographs.”

For Dicks, the most eye-opening aspect of the project was seeing how deeply Kalgoorlie values its history. “Without question, the most revealing thing I learned through this was the degree to

 Lloyd George Mine

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which heritage is valued and supported in the Goldfields,” he said. “I have undertaken several of these projects in different parts of the US, and a lot of the time much of the original subject matter no longer exists. Buildings have been razed, and new developments stand in their place. Kalgoorlie-Boulder has truly done a remarkable job in protecting its heritage.”

 Boulder Town Hall

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LAKE BALLARD OUT OF THIS WORLD

By Brayden Edwards You've probably seen those haunting Lake Ballard sculptures, right? Maybe you've even been there yourself. In Western Australia's Goldfields, these ghost-like figures stretch across the vast salt lake, appearing and vanishing as you travel, their forms shifting with the light.

Considered the largest outdoor gallery in the world, it’s one of our state’s most iconic works of art and attracts many outback adventurers to its remote location in the Shire of Menzies every year. Even Sir Ian McKellen praised it as one of the greatest artistic installations he had ever seen.

But the sculptures are just one part of a bigger story, woven with tales of gun-wielding engineers, colossal bird mating events, and the ancient Dreamtime stories of the land's original inhabitants.

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The Gormley statues

They were commissioned by Perth Festival to celebrate the festival’s 50th anniversary in 2003, and Gormley was drawn to the location for its expansive flat landscape and sodium crust that made them stand out with stark clarity. The salt lake, situated on the ancient Yilgarn Craton, is on some of Earth's oldest terrain, dating back 2.9 to 3.5 billion years.

The work began with Antony Gormley setting up a body scanner in the Menzies Town Hall. It was a super fancy piece of tech, the kind Hollywood uses for animation, and it had just come from California and was on its way to Fox Studios in Sydney.

Even with the Menzies Hotel's relaxed "shirt, shorts & thongs" dress standard, its residents took some convincing to strip down for his "Tardis-like" scanning booth.

Ultimately, over 50 people, a mix of locals and some out-of-towners got on board with the idea, letting their naked bodies be scanned to create life-size moulds which were then cast them in stainlesssteel alloy.

Now the striking black steel figures, cast from the ‘Salt People’ of Menzies, stand in stark contrast to the blindingly white expanse of the saltpan. The installation, titled 'Inside Australia,' captures the remoteness and loneliness of the outback.

An Ever-Changing Landscape The appearance of Lake Ballard is constantly evolving, depending on the conditions. During the drier summer months, the salt lake becomes a vast,

 Tourism WA

The 51 life-size human figures, scattered across seven square kilometres of the salt lake, were created by renowned British sculptor Antony Gormley.

cracked expanse of white, offering a stark and mesmerising contrast against the blue sky.

However, the winter rains bring a dramatic transformation. The saltpan softens, turning into a sticky, muddy surface that shimmers under the sun or the moon. This means the lake's appearance, and any photographs taken, can vary drastically depending on the time of day or year.

Bobby and the birds Before the sculptures were even imagined, it was an event like this that first drew global attention to Lake Ballard. Back in 1995, Severe Tropical Cyclone Bobby made its way down from the Pilbara to dump 400 millimetres of rain across the Goldfields, filling the interconnected salt lake system comprising lakes Barlee, Marmion, and Ballard. Within days of the lakes filling, Lake Ballard became the destination for tens of thousands of coastal wading birds known as Banded Stilts.

What happened next had never before been recorded: a Banded Stilt breeding event, captured on film by ABC Television’s Natural History Unit.

Eyewitnesses were stunned by what they experienced.

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There was an unbelievable frenzy of activity. The colony had doubled to an estimated 4,500 nests within three days, and more birds were settling in every minute. Birds seemed to be bustling in every direction. Aggression associated with mates and nesting selection was widespread.

Up to 20 copulations were visible at any time—on the water, on land, in the colony, standing, sitting, walking, and swimming (and each lasting an average of 45 seconds!). Incubating birds were leaving the nest and running down to the water to dunk their breast feathers in the water and have a quick drink before returning to the nest (it was a hot day).

It was like a cross between the main street of Tokyo and the ‘red light’ district of Kalgoorlie.

In the previous 207 years of European settlement, the Banded Stilts were known to have nested just twenty times, with six of these occasions being at Lake Ballard.

The seventh nesting at the lake became a landmark event, documented in the ABC documentary Bobby and the Banded Stilts, which aired nationally and internationally.

them, trying to catch the youngest sister, and they got scared and had to hide.

If you think this story sounds familiar, you may be right! Similar stories about the Sisters exist right across Australia, and vary in details and locations among different Indigenous groups.

In 2002, Wangkatha elder Paddy Walker stood at the south-western edge of what we now call Lake Ballard, explaining, “That island right in front of us, the largest of the islands, that is the oldest of the sisters. The other islands, heading out there, up the lake, are the other sisters, the younger ones…”

Snake Hill While climbing islands like Big Sister provide scenic views for those with moderate fitness, Snake Hill, a few kilometres west of Lake Ballard's entrance, offers a sweeping panorama.

Best accessed by 4WD, this Golden Quest Discovery Trail highlight, predating the "Inside Australia" installation, features a shaded bench and an unrivalled view of the lake.

A spiritual connection Although we no longer know the Aboriginal name for Lake Ballard, we know that the land’s traditional custodians have been living near it or visiting it for over 10,000 years.

Spiritually, Lake Ballard is intimately associated with a ‘Seven Sisters’ dreaming story. The ‘Sisters’ are among the nearest star clusters to Earth, being most obvious to the naked eye during the winter months in both hemispheres.

The Seven Sisters Dreaming is about these sisters who were flying around at night and saw a lake, so they went down to play. But then a man started chasing

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The man behind the name Lake Ballard’s European name is believed to honour Robert Ballard, a railway engineer who spent time in the region in the late 19th century.

According to a friend, who penned a letter to the Kalgoorlie Miner shortly after his death in London in 1912, Ballard was “for some years Engineer-in-Chief of the Queensland Central Railways and came to West Australia in the early nineties to take the general management of leases at Menzies in the North Coolgardie Goldfield.”

Regarded as an exceptionally skilful railway engineer, Ballard arrived in Australia in 1859 to work on the Maitland to Singleton railway in New South Wales before going on to engineer Queensland’s first railway from Ipswich to Toowoomba.

During the time Ballard was engaged at Menzies (c. 1896-1901), the Warden for the region was William Lambden Owen.

Fortunately for us, Owen kept a journal, and hence we have this colourful account of our Mr Ballard: [He was] a well-read classical scholar, extremely irritable and with a raucous voice [who kept a revolver by his side at all times, whether in the office or in bed].

His brother Johnnie had a very effeminate voice and was the exact opposite in every way. Whenever Ballard called for Johnnie, if he did not appear promptly enough, off would go one of the revolvers aimed above door level. Johnnie would rush in, holding his arms in a protective manner across his head, exclaiming, ‘Yes, brother! Yes, brother!’ . . . [The] hessian office walls were simply riddled with bullet holes.

After returning to London, Ballard spent his later years on literary pursuits.

Believed to be a Freemason, he published several books about the

Egyptian pyramids, arguing that the pyramids were the ‘theodolites of the Egyptians,’ while his 1906 book Man’s Blood-Guilt speculated on the history of the human soul.

Camping and facilities Camping at Lake Ballard offers more opportunities for visitors to take in the landscape both at sunset and under the starry night sky. There is a free campground right on the shores of the lake, offering views of the salt lake and the surrounding sculptures. It's petfriendly and has basic amenities like toilets and picnic tables, but you’ll need to bring your own firewood.

The best time to visit Lake Ballard is during the cooler months, typically from March to November, as summer temperatures can be very hot. For the most comfortable experience, aim for spring or autumn.

During school holidays and long weekends, camping space is at a premium, and it can be difficult to get a spot due to its popularity. There are no drinking water facilities at the lake, so do ensure you are packed and prepared.

While you don't need a 4WD to get to Lake Ballard, drivers should be mindful of the conditions, especially after it has rained.

Lake Ballard is a popular stopover on the Golden Quest Discovery Trail, a 965 km drive loop through WA uncovering the rich history of the Goldfields.

For more information, go to goldenquesttrail.com For up-to-date information contact the Shire of Menzies on 08 9024 2702.

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PRODUCT REVIEW

by Ron & Viv Moon

A BETTER BUSH WELDER When you are travelling the Canning, the remote backblocks of the Kimberley (somewhere off the Gibb River Road!), or out on the Beadell Roads, you have to be prepared for any eventuality, and that includes when something breaks on your vehicle or on the camper trailer you are towing. And things do break out there— sometimes it’s just a simple bracket, and at other times it is a spring hanger or suspension tower. I’ve even had a steering rod break and, at another time, a chassis break, which were all welded up in the scrub. Sure, you can do that with a welding handpiece, a couple of batteries, and some welding rods, but there is a far better solution.

T

he TrailMig (trailmig.com.au), which is Aussie-designed and developed, gives you near-professional welding gear anywhere you go, including back home, while the TrailMig Packout Series, which was the kit we got, comes in a handy Milwaukee Packout case. There are a couple more kits on offer, but all are much the same.

The welder comes standard with all you need to start welding including a roll of 0.8mm fluxcore welding wire, five different tips, good gloves and a set of pliers. And while the unit comes with a good standard welding mask, we opted for their ultimate auto-darkening compact mask for just $40 extra.

Complete TrailMig kit

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Optional mask was well worth it!

The system requires two car batteries for efficient welding, although we did try with just one 12-volt battery. The welder worked, but it was much more effective with two batteries connected in series to give you 24 volts. To ensure you have the power you need, the kit includes 6-metre long 4-gauge power cables that can also be easily converted into jumper leads to jump-start another vehicle.

The TrailMig is simple enough to operate.

Connect up the batteries, select the wire speed—we just set it to halfway—and away you go. If you have never welded before, a bit of practice with some scrap metal before you leave home will see you improve your welding while the unit welds quickly and effectively.

What we particularly liked was the unit’s ability to get into hard-to-reach places with its small handpiece that a normal stick welder would find impossible to reach. The quality of the weld was also much better with long, unbroken runs than what a stick welder can produce in the scrub.

Priced at $790 for the Packout Series kit, the recently released Series 11 kit will set you back $1,050, and you get a 12-month warranty on parts and workmanship. While the unit may be too expensive for the single traveller to justify, those handy people who build things at home or travel in groups, or those leading a club trip or a commercial tag-along 4WD adventure, will find this unit handy and often invaluable. We love it! western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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PRODUCT REVIEW

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TIDAL TREKKER INSULATED COOLER BACKPACKS

by Luke Clatworthy During the warmer months of the year, having a quality-made, reliable, and simple-to-carry backpack-style insulated cooler bag as part of your 4W driving/offroading equipment is a must. It is even better if such an item can alternatively act as a functional and effective dry bag or traditional backpack to carry your more sensitive gear, such as your mobile telephone, car keys, or laptop, and you need to keep them dry and protected when inclement weather sets in or if you are at the beach or relaxing besides one of our fantastic south-west waterways.

I

have been looking for such an item to use when I am metal detecting, either for coins and relics or searching for gold.

Having a lightweight, durable, and versatile cooler bag that allows you to carry sufficient water that remains cold as well as keeping foodstuffs fresh and edible makes a real difference out in the field. It is even more valuable when the said cooler bag can also safely carry some of your metal detecting accessories or a small first-aid kit. My research led me to the Australian-owned and operated Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks.

to keep properly hydrated even on the hottest of our balmy summer days. I was fortunate that where I live, I experienced a hotter than normal summer heatwave, allowing me to put the Tidal Trekker through its paces and to see just how efficiently it would keep drinks stored in glass, aluminium cans, or plastic cold.

The Tidal Trekker backpack-style insulated cooler bag comes in a wide variety of stylish or functional colours. Being of a more conservative nature, the two bags I tested were coloured army green and dark grey.

All three types of bags are waterproof, leakproof, and extremely lightweight. I was surprised at how light the two larger bags were when empty to carry. Even fully loaded with ice and drinks, the bag was reasonably comfortable to carry on your back or carry via the very sturdy grab handle. Naturally, a full load of drinks and ice is relatively heavy, but this too can be altered to make transporting the Tidal Trekker an easier and less strenuous proposition for people of all ages, strengths, and fitness levels.

I have had the opportunity to test and review two of the three sizes of Tidal Trekker backpack-style insulated cooler bags. These were the two larger types available—the 25-litre and 35-litre units, respectively. The third is a smaller 15-litre unit.

The Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpack has been designed for beach days, picnics, BBQs, hiking, cycling, or water activities such as canoeing, fishing and boating. These extremely versatile bags are rated to keep drinks ice cold for up to 24 hours. These quality backpacks will ensure that you and your family or friends have sufficient drinks western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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As an individual, I would not likely need to carry the maximum load of drinks and ice and thus carry a sufficient supply of liquid refreshments that best met my needs as well as make the insulated cooler backpack easier to lift and carry in comfort. The Tidal Trekker 25-litre insulated cooler backpack has been designed to carry 20 cans with ice. This size backpack is recommended for couples or small groups. The largest backpack in the range, the 35-litre Tidal Trekker insulated cooler backpack, holds 30 cans with ice and would be best for larger gatherings or for when you are staying overnight somewhere in our great outdoors.

I can honestly state that both the 25-litre and 35-litre backpacks do indeed easily hold the maximum number of cans as outlined with sufficient space for enough ice to indeed keep your drinks cold. I was very impressed by how little ice was needed to keep my drinks cold on both units when tested. A little more about this shortly. The smaller 15-litre unit will hold 12 cans of drink with ice—this certainly is the recommended insulated cooler backpack to purchase if you travel solo. For those excursions or trips where you do not have access to a car fridge or require a quality cold storage backup, the Tidal Trekker is a fantastic alternative. Let us now look at the Tidal Trekker in more detail.

The Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpack has a strong and easy-to-grip grab handle, making the task of lifting off the ground a fully loaded unit and transferring it to your back a much easier operation. The fitted shoulder straps/harness are very durable and are soft to the touch. Once on your back, they are very easy to adjust and very comfortable and are not prone to twisting.

As a rather portly gent, I had no issues comfortably wearing the backpack. For all of you more svelte individuals, I am sure that you would not have any issues regarding the size and comfort of the shoulder straps.

Each backpack is fitted with well-made and sturdy waist and chest straps for additional support and comfort. They have an external dry zip pocket that has been designed to keep your phone, keys, and any other smaller sensitive item dry and safely secured. This allows for effective hands-free operation of the three sizes of backpacks.

Situated at the front of the Tidal Trekker are front bungee cords. These can be used to conveniently carry a towel or a picnic blanket. In addition, each backpack has two side pockets to allow for additional storage.

They can be utilised to carry a water bottle or stubby holder. The backpacks also come with a nifty integrated bottle opener that is well designed and works efficiently.

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One of two side pockets is ideal for carrying your car keys.

Handy and sturdy bottle opener.

One of the other features that worked especially well was the insulation air valve located on the left-hand side of the unit.

The air valve enhances insulation when you add extra air to the cooler after filling it with ice and beverages, keeping your drinks colder for longer. To operate, open the air valve and gently blow air into the cooler bag. It is important to remember to avoid blowing too much air to maintain maximum storage capacity. If you purchase a Tidal Trekker, simply practice using the air valve. It does not take too long for you to find your own perfect balance with the air valve. Next, close the air valve. It is vital that you indeed close it, as any water entering the valve can damage the insulation. Also remember to avoid splashing or immersing the bag in water when the valve is open. It is recommended by Tidal Trekker that when not in use, to open the air valve to ensure more efficient storage.

After testing both the 25-litre and 35-litre Tidal Trekker, I can confidently confirm that they are waterproof and leakproof. When arriving at your destination, position the Tidal Trekker on any level surface, and it will stand upright due to its round base and sturdy construction. If for any reason the unit does fall over, if you have properly

The air valve conveniently located towards the top of the backpack.

secured the top, you will not lose any ice or water once the ice stored within begins to melt.

To ensure you properly lock in the cold for your drinks or perishable foodstuffs, I would recommend placing a small layer of ice in the base of the Tidal Trekker. Add your drinks, cans, or bottles, placing more ice and so on until you have filled the backpack.

Once filled, I could not feel the ice through the surface of the backpack. The backpack still felt smooth to the touch. When you have filled the bag to your needs, hold the bag with the front facing you. To properly secure the top of the bag and to ensure you prolong the efficiency of the ice and prevent any spillages, fold it towards the back of the bag two to three times. Clip the cooler upwards or towards the back. For the backpacks with side straps, there’s also the option to clip in each side individually to the clips below. The contents of the Tidal Trekker are now secure and ready to be safely transported.

To thoroughly test the 25-litre and 35-litre Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks, I first used a combination of glass drink bottles and 600 mL plastic water bottles similar to what you would carry if going on a family picnic or spending a day relaxing at

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the beach. I placed all of the drink containers into the Tidal Trekkers at room temperature.

Loose ice was placed as a thin layer inside the base of the backpacks and to cover each layer of bottles when packed. I only used about 70 percent of a standard bag of ice purchased from my local petrol station. The Tidal Trekker backpacks were filled at 2pm on a day where the temperature was close to the expected maximum of forty degrees Celsius. The backpacks were positioned in direct sunlight with some shade occurring later in the afternoon.

Two hours later, I checked inside the backpack coolers. The bottles situated at the top were beginning to get cold, and there was no melting of the ice at that stage.

Another check of the two insulated cooler backpacks just after 6pm with the outside temperature indicating 35 degrees Celsius showed that the bottles were now colder to the touch and that the ice remained intact.

This was a very encouraging start. The actual minimum temperature reached that night was 28 degrees Celsius.

The Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks were placed inside for the night, where the room temperature did not fall below 28 degrees Celsius.

At 7am the next morning, a third check of the Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks was undertaken. The bottles were very cold with only a small amount of melting of the ice inside. Placing them back into their original position, I decided against opening them again until 24 hours had elapsed.

There was no outside condensation on either of the backpacks. The temperature reached a maximum of 38 degrees Celsius on the second day of the test just after 25 hours had elapsed since I had packed the two Tidal Trekkers. At 4.15pm, just over 26 hours from when the two backpacks had first been filled with drinks and ice,

I reopened them. By now, the ice had completely melted. The bottles were still relatively cold to the touch, as was the water from the melted ice.

I opened one bottle of water and a glass bottle of ginger beer. Their contents were still cold. I was extremely impressed with how the 25-litre and 35-litre Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks had worked.

Naturally, there would be more ice melting at a faster rate if you were continuing to open the Tidal Trekker to retrieve a cold drink at regular intervals, such as at the beach or at a family picnic when in use, but this would not be an issue since you would use the drinks you packed much sooner.

I removed the unopened bottles. The bottles at the base of the backpacks were only slightly colder than those on top. You can expect similar results when using aluminium cans.

Draining the melted ice was a simple operation. The water was tipped out onto the ground from the top of the backpacks. They were next wiped inside with a clean pair of tea towels to remove any water residue and then left upside down for a period to ensure that all moisture was gone. It is important to note that the cooler bags need to be completely dry prior to rolling or folding for storage. To also ensure that your Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks continue to work at optimum efficiency, do not at any stage pull the inside liner out of the backpack.

Although loose ice worked effectively, a similar result will be achieved if you use frozen containers of ice or ice bricks that can be purchased from your local supermarket or camping supply store. The ice bricks are the preferred option if using the Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Bag to keep food cold when out and about on land or on the water.

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I highly recommend this fantastic new product. I would gladly own and use each of the three different sized Tidal Trekkers. As mentioned previously, they are also a terrific backup to keep drinks and foods cold when caravanning, camping, or 4W driving where you do not have access to a car or caravan fridge. This also includes when there is a power blackout to keep essential foodstuffs and drinks cold when at home. I know eskies or insulated ice storage-style containers can also do this, but they are relatively bulky and can take up valuable space in your four-wheel drive vehicle, caravan, or house, where the Tidal Trekker range can be rolled or folded, requiring less storage space.

As a retired school principal, I can also see these units being a very handy accessory for schools to own and employ when on excursions, school camps, or at sports carnivals. After spending time testing and comparing the larger of the three Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks, I immediately ordered one of the 15-litre units. This size is ideal for carrying drinks and snacks when I am out in the bush

detecting. The storage pockets allow my essential detecting accessories, such as my pin-pointer, cleaning tools, first aid kit, and mobile or satellite phone, to be carried securely and with the minimum of fuss, meaning that I only need to hold my metal detector and preferred detecting shovel or pick to retrieve targets found. Should it start to rain, I can use the Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpack as a waterproof storage bag to protect smaller sensitive electronic equipment. In the future, I will also look to purchase either the 25-litre or 35-litre unit for longer trips away in the bush.

Finally, the Tidal Trekker Insulated Cooler Backpacks are very well designed and constructed, look the goods, and are very stylish. There is a range of colours to choose from that suits all tastes. They make an ideal backpack for those who enjoy cycling, bushwalking, canoeing, or motorbike riding in our great outdoors and are competitively priced for such a quality piece of kit.

To learn more about the Tidal Trekker range, visit their website tidaltrekker.com

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PRODUCT REVIEW

by Matt Payne

OFFROAD ANIMAL

P

robably one of the first touring modifications 4W drivers will make to their vehicles is a front bar. Most will choose a steel variant that serves two purposes: offering protection from the ever-present risk of animal strikes on Australian regional and outback roads and allowing fitment of a winch for vehicle recovery. Although many years ago the main offerings came from the three major 4WD accessory brands—ARB, TJM and Opposite Lock—over the past 5-10 years there have been numerous new brands coming to market, and one that caught my eye when it launched back in 2019 was Offroad Animal.

The company is based in Mornington, Victoria, with all products designed in Australia for manufacture in either Australia or Vietnam, depending on the product. What really caught my eye with Offroad Animal’s bar work was the aggressive styling that still maintained functionality, and this is certainly mirrored in the company’s core ethos “to develop products that really make your 4WD stand out and look cool whilst serving a purpose.”

So, after recently moving on my old faithful GU Patrol and purchasing a new MV Triton GSR, the first stop on the new build was a front bar, and I thought it was time to give

All finished and bolted up; a great-looking bar that retains much of the Triton’s front-end styling!

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Offroad Animal a go. As I’ve always been a fan of single hoop bars, the obvious choice for me was the Predator bar, optioned out with the Predator round top hoop. Ordering via the website was a simple affair, and the product was shipped via Team Global Express and arrived in around a week, which, considering it was Christmas, was very impressive!

Offroad Animal offer comprehensive fitting instructions for all of the products on their website, so I was determined to have a crack at fitting this at home. The product arrived on a pallet and was incredibly well packaged; all major parts were individually wrapped in foam padding and cling wrap, and all were identifiable by a code that linked up with a parts guide in the fitting instructions.

▲ The entire bar kit was incredibly well packaged, with all parts supplied foam- and cling-wrapped with clear labelling.

The MV Triton instructions were 109 pages long, and the detail contained within was very impressive, with visual and written instructions provided for each step. I worked on the install on my own for around four hours on the first day and was able to remove the front bumper and install the front bar mounting brackets. A second full day on the tools for me with the help of a mate for around four hours saw the job completed, and I was incredibly happy with the finished product.

Bumper removal took 2-3 hours and was reasonably straightforward thanks to the detailed instructions provided. ▼

After four hours I had the front recovery points and bar mounting plates installed. ▼

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I should note here that although I am reasonably mechanically minded, I am certainly not a mechanic or engineer and would think that most DIY 4WD enthusiasts would be able to complete the job with the help of another person. For the MV Triton model, there was some cutting of the bumper required, but this wasn’t as hard as I anticipated, with the old ‘measure twice, cut once’ principle and choosing a tool that you are comfortable working with (for me it was an angle grinder and a Dremel) being key.

Everything about the bar exudes quality.

From the powder coat finish to the individual welds to the additional gusseting for strength, you can see that a lot of thought and care have gone into the design and manufacture of the product. It integrates seamlessly into the front end of the Triton, complementing its aggressive lines while providing substantially increased clearance in the front guards and only a relatively mild weight increase of 37.5 kg over the factory bumper and impact protection plate.

I also opted to include a 32-inch slimline LED light bar, which integrates into a slot directly below the bar top, looks great, and means that airflow across the radiator remains unobstructed. The bar also comes with solid front bash plates, rated recovery points, and is ready to fit most 12,000 lb winches in feet-down position (how winches are actually designed to be mounted), and there is a huge amount of access to the clutch handle afforded by the void to the right of the number plate. The number plate bracket supplied is also a flick-up/down design, so there is nothing else you need to purchase for winching apart from the winch itself (many other bars on the market today claim to be winch-compatible but require an additional expensive cradle that mounts to the chassis to allow fitment of a winch).

The only issue I had with the bar was that the Predator round top tube I chose (you have the option of no top tube, a top tube containing an integrated LED lightbar with an aerial mount, or a rally hoop designed to fit driving lights) came pre-drilled with 9mm channels that I assume are designed

The fitment retains the top half of the bumper.

I used an angle grinder and a Dremel for the bumper cuts, which weren’t as hard as I had anticipated.

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for driving lights, whereas the UHF aerial I planned on mounting there had a 12mm bolt base. Unfortunately, even after drilling the channel out to suit the antenna, I still couldn’t mount it as the bracket on top of the tube did not extend far enough back towards the bonnet to allow fitment of the nut that secures the antenna base.

▲ I used a hydraulic jack to help position the bar into place before securing it with bolts.

▲ The quality of the bar is incredibly high and clearly evident in the welds.

I called Offroad Animal to see if they had a solution for this, but the aerial mounting brackets they had would not work in this instance. They did, however, thank me for my feedback and are going to change the bracket/channels on the round top tube to accommodate aerial fitment in future iterations; for now I guess if you want to fit an aerial, the best option is the lightbar hoop that comes with a pre-drilled aerial mount.

Overall, I’m incredibly impressed with the Predator bar. It’s a quality product from an Australian company that clearly put a lot of thought into its design and construction. If you are in the market for a new front bar, then I would highly recommend giving the Offroad Animal offerings a look. You won’t be disappointed!

The bar comes supplied with a very sturdy bash plate and rated recovery points.

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PRODUCT REVIEW

By Matt Payne

MSA PREMIUM CUTLERY PACK AND COFFEE KIT MSA 4x4 accessories has been on the Australian 4x4 scene for over 20 years now. Founded in 2003, they specialise in manufacturing high-quality 4WD accessories for all popular makes and models in Australia, with their range spanning everything from drawer systems to fridge slides. The latest additions to their range, however, are the premium cutlery pack and deluxe coffee kit, both designed to make your camping setup more functional.

T

he premium cutlery pack comes in a hard-wearing 12oz canvas storage case, which unzips and folds open to reveal a comprehensive utensil set. All items fit neatly into their own storage compartments within the case and include a bamboo cutting board, nylon spatula and serving spoon, tongs, two knives and a cleaver, and a full cutlery set including knives, spoons, forks and teaspoons. The spatula, serving spoon, and tong ends are all coated with silicone, and all metal utilised in the kit is

The premium cutlery pack is housed within a high-quality canvas case that stows easily into tight spaces.

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either 410 or 430 stainless steel, meaning that washing up in saltwater is not going to be an issue, something that a lot of us do while camping off-grid by the coast to save fresh water supplies. The cutlery set also features a black PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating, and the knives and cleaver have a black Teflon coat.

I tested out the kit recently while on a boat camping trip on the Nornalup Inlet and found the product to be super functional, with the pouch fitting neatly into the tight storage spaces that are common on boats, yet providing the convenience of a full cutlery drawer during meal times by simply removing the pouch and opening it up on the dashboard. In a 4WD, I think the kit would negate the need for a cutlery drawer altogether, as it would fit easily into any canopy system and offer all the benefits of a cutlery drawer, combined with the flexibility of being able to easily carry it away from the vehicle during hikes/picnics, etc. I will

▲ The included utensils all tuck neatly into their pockets inside the bag.

▲ All cutlery is high-quality stainless steel, meaning that cleaning with saltwater while off-grid is a non-issue.

certainly be incorporating it into my new 4WD build!

Another recent addition to the MSA range, and one that complements the premium cutlery pack, is the deluxe coffee kit. This comes in a black MSA-branded waterresistant Hypalon storage bag, which opens to reveal foam cutouts housing a full suite of

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coffee equipment, including a 600mL French press-style Thermo coffee plunger, two 240mL Thermo cups with spill-resistant clear lids, two 500mL storage canisters, a 30mL coffee measuring spoon, two teaspoons, and a microfibre cleaning cloth.

The interior of the bag is vinyl-coated, meaning that if there were ever any spills, cleaning would be uneventful, and the Thermo cups are made from powder-coated stainless steel with double-wall insulation.

The storage canisters also feature a silicone seal under the lid, meaning that coffee grinds can be stored airtight, preserving freshness. The whole kit would fit easily into any 4WD canopy/drawer setup, and similar to the premium cutlery pack, the design allows for easy removal for use on day trips away from the vehicle.

All in all, I think MSA is onto a winner with both of these new products, which stow easily into 4WD canopy and drawer setups, as well as on boats, and embrace the fact

▲ Foam cutouts ensure all pieces of equipment are held in place while in transit.

▲ The deluxe coffee kit comes encased in a quality Hypalon bag.

that many 4W drivers do venture away from their vehicles while on trips, meaning that packing for that day hike is as simple as lifting two bags out of the canopy instead of sifting through the drawers for cutlery and coffee equipment to stash in your backpack.

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THE THINGS YOU SEE! with (Truthful) Phil Bianchi

HAVE A CRACKING EASTER ADVENTURE ON THE ROAD

W

ith Easter around the corner, many of us will be thinking of getting away for a break. Plan ahead, get your vehicle checked and serviced now; don’t leave it until the last minute. Ensure your tyres, wheel bearings, batteries, radiator, and air conditioner are checked and are in good order. If you're towing, don’t forget to have your trailer tyres, wheel bearings, and lights checked as well.

Don’t be one of those people who you see by the roadside with the bonnet up or with their vehicle sitting on a jack while they are getting the repair parts. It’s cheaper to get vehicle repairs done back home rather than out in the bush, so you don’t spoil your holiday chasing around for parts.

Where could you go at Easter? For many of us, Easter gives us a longer break and an opportunity to travel further than usual.

Some will go to beachside accommodation and relax with some fishing, swimming, and local 4W driving. For others, it’s the opportunity for a trip out to the back blocks.

Don’t forget that Easter isn’t just about you; if you have kids, engage them as well. I’ve been a member of a 4WD club for years and have seen many kids come along with their parents or grandparents. In many cases, the kids' body language showed they didn’t want to be there; they had phones with plugs in their ears and just sat in the vehicle.

Engage with them and have them join activities. Yes, I know it won’t be easy, but persist. This is how we get new 4W drivers and people interested in camping.

For younger kids, bring their bikes and some toys. If you can have a campfire, why not have them help cook something simple such as a jaffle or damper? If you can’t have a campfire, these can be cooked on a gas stove; in the case of a damper, put the mix in a cake tin inside a camp oven.

Jaffles are very straightforward. Butter the bread on the outside; I also use spray-can olive oil. The fillings can be almost anything, from baked beans to stew or eggs. My favourite would have to be veggies left over from the night before, mashed up with a raw egg stirred through it. You’ll have them lining up for seconds.

Damper sounds difficult but is very simple to make. I mix all of the ingredients dry, at home, then pack them into plastic bags and on the chosen night mix with water and then cook. Here is a recipe my wife put together years ago. It’s known as Mrs B’s Bung in Damper.

The recipe 3 cups of self-raising flour 3 tablespoons of milk powder 3 tablespoons of sultanas 1 tablespoon of sugar 1 teaspoon of salt Mix all of the dry ingredients thoroughly, slowly add room temperature water, and keep stirring the mix until gluggy. Make sure the mix is stiff and not runny.

Preheat your camp oven. I prefer to use a cake tin inside the camp oven; this allows easier control of the heat and reduces the

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risk of burning. Spray the cake tin with cooking oil, add the mixture, and place the cake tin in the camp oven on a trivet, and then put the lid on top.

If using coals, place a shovel full of coals in a depression in the ground away from the heat of the main fire and another on the camp oven lid. You then wait until the damper is cooked.

Inspect the damper to ensure it is not getting too much; otherwise, it will burn on the outside but still be gooey in the middle.

It’s better to slowly cook the damper than to rush it.

Pierce the damper with a knife; if the knife comes out dry, it is cooked. After you remove the damper from the oven and cake tin, place it on a trivet to cool; otherwise, the bottom of the damper will get wet from condensation. If you don’t have a trivet, place two or three knives on a breadboard and sit the damper on top.

This damper could be eaten hot with butter, peanut butter, jam and cream or just plain.

We’ve served it whilst it’s still hot with custard over the top as sweets or toasted it in the morning for breakfast.

▲ Jaffles are easy to cook

▲ Keep the mixture thick

You can vary the above recipe by replacing the sultanas with blueberries, cooked chopped onion and bacon, dried apple, dried apricots, cheese, and so on. Packet scone mix can also be cooked in a camp oven, as well as cake mixes.

Engaging your kids in bush camping activities will make them less reluctant to go on future trips.

▲ Scones almost ready

If travelling the back blocks, you will find the country extra dry at this time of the year and the bushfire risk very high. If fires are permitted, take extra care and keep them small; this not only saves wood but also reduces the risk.

See you in the bush.

▲ A double treat: fresh scones and damper western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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BUSH MECHANICS with Geoff Lewis

TIME FOR A BRAKE No matter what vehicle you drive, rough terrain takes its toll over the years. The relentless corrugations, fatigue, and wear can eventually bring us to a standstill when we least expect it. What we choose to do next can make all the difference.

C

arrying a well-equipped basic tool kit is essential, but understanding the principles of how a vehicle functions is just as important. This lesson came into play on a 2,500 km trip across the Goldfields,

Murchison, and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia.

After covering nearly 1,000 km on dirt roads, the sun was sitting low on the horizon. I prepared to make a turn onto the Mt. Clare Road. As I applied the brakes to downshift, the pedal suddenly hit the floor hard. The turnoff whizzed past before I could react.

Quickly, I grabbed the handbrake and brought the Land Rover and No. 5 trailer to a stop. What had happened?

I pumped the brake pedal a few times, and while some pressure returned, it soon faded

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again. There was no doubt—I had a brake fluid leak somewhere in the system.

With nightfall approaching and camp still 100 km away, I decided to top up the brake fluid reservoir and proceed cautiously. The next day, I inspected the issue more closely.

A steel brake line had corroded slightly and had been rubbing against the air intake hose underneath it. Over time, this friction had worn a small pinhole in the brake line. Now, the challenge was how to fix it.

The leak had to be stopped so that enough pressure could be maintained in the hydraulic brake system, allowing the slave cylinders (which apply the brakes at each wheel) to function when the pedal was pressed. Without a replacement brake line on hand, I had to improvise.

Using my Victorinox multitool, I cut the brake line before the damaged section.

Then, I removed the line and crimped the end shut by flattening it with a steel punch

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on a rock, using a club hammer to deliver solid blows. Once flattened, I folded the end over itself and hammered it again, creating a completely sealed closure.

However, there was another issue—my supply of brake fluid had been exhausted, and I didn’t have the right ingredients to make my own. Fortunately, a nearby drill rig had hydraulic fluid, which I was able to borrow. While hydraulic fluid has a slightly thicker consistency than brake fluid, it would be sufficient to get me the 1,200 km home.

A few test runs confirmed that the fix worked, though I had lost braking ability in my front left wheel. This meant that whenever I applied the brakes, the Land Rover would pull hard to the right. The only option was to take it easy and drive cautiously.

With 1,200 km of dirt roads and tracks ahead, I pressed on towards Kalgoorlie. I didn’t set any speed records—then again, you rarely do in a Land Rover—but by driving to the conditions and being mindful of corners and turn-offs, I made it back safely without needing a tow truck.

The lesson? Take the time to understand how your vehicle functions. You don’t have to be a mechanic—you just need to know how to solve a problem when it arises.

NORWELD.COM.AU

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If you own a 4Wdrive vehicle of any type, you’re welcome to join us. It’s where ‘experience and adventure meet’

www.tlccwa.org.au

COUNTRY STARGAZING with Donna Vanzetti & Carol Redford Star Tracks Astro Events & Astrotourism WA

AUTUMN STARGAZING!

A

utumn brings a ‘cosmic treasure trove’ of stunning astro events! We can look forward to a special line-up of planets, an awesome meteor shower, and more!

MOON AND MARS On 9th March, there’s a beautiful view of the Moon and Mars appearing very close to one another in the constellation of Gemini. Mars is the red star-like object above the Moon.

Jupiter joins the party, being the very bright star you can see off to the north-west.

WHEN AND WHERE TO LOOK 7.30pm, 9th March, above the northern horizon.

AUTUMN EQUINOX This year the March Equinox falls on 20th March. Also known as the Autumn Equinox, it marks the transition from summer to autumn in the southern hemisphere and has almost the equal number of hours of daylight as darkness!

Equinoxes happen twice a year, and on the dates of the equinox, the Sun is exactly above the Earth’s equator, causing the equal length of night and day.

Did you know the equinox is central to the changing date of Easter each year? The date of Easter changes because it is based on the lunar calendar. Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the March Equinox, ensuring it occurs between 22nd March and 25th April.

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WHEN IS EASTER IN 2025?

It’s a bit of a calculation, and here it is for the Easter date this year: In 2025, the March Equinox is on 20th March.

The full Moon after this date is on 13th April, and therefore Easter Sunday is the following Sunday, which is the 20th of April!

PLANET PARADE ON ANZAC DAY DAWN | 25TH APRIL

ETA AQUARIDS METEOR SHOWER | 6TH MAY This year, the conditions are perfect for viewing the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower.

There will be a first quarter moon, which means it will be lovely and dark to see bright and faint meteors in the early hours of the morning. It’s predicted that there will be up to 40 meteors per hour at the peak of activity. It’s also worth trying to see this meteor shower on the nights either side.

If you regularly attend Anzac Day dawn services, this year will be extra special.

There are three naked-eye planets visible in a conjunction with a beautiful waning crescent Moon. A conjunction is where two astronomical objects, like planets, appear close together in the sky. Venus is the brightest to the left of the moon, Saturn is to the right, and further towards the horizon is Mercury. Neptune is also there but not visible as a naked-eye object.

Active from 19th April to 28th May. The peak is from 3am on 6th May. Look in the east for the radiant point of this meteor shower. Make sure you escape city light pollution and find a spot in country WA to view this one.

WHEN AND WHERE TO LOOK

Pop these dates into your cosmic diary and have a star-filled 4WD adventure!

Look towards the eastern horizon from 5am. The view will add to the poignancy of this very special morning.

WHEN AND WHERE TO LOOK

For more information on these stargazing forecasts, visit astrotourismwa.com.au For stargazing events to attend, visit startracksastroevents.com.au To find a dark sky location, visit one of WA’s Astrotourism Towns astrotourismwa.com.au western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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OUTBACK SURVIVAL with Bob Cooper

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG Many years ago I was asked to survey a section of the Great Sandy Desert with my good friend, Kim Akerman.

The survey required a helicopter—a Jet Ranger—and a pilot hired from Alice Springs.

M

y first flight in a helicopter was nearly my last. We had just flown over one of the new seismic lines Mobil Oil was working on. I was in the front passenger seat when suddenly every warning light on the dashboard turned red and some started flashing. The pilot immediately put the machine into a nosedive from 150 metres, and we hurtled towards earth.

No need to ask a stupid question; the pilot’s concentrated face told it all: the chopper was in trouble, and so were we. I can’t remember what I thought about, if anything, but my heart was racing, and I knew death was a possibility. Just before impact, we pulled up, flared out, and landed with a thud. The rotors stopped, and we all scrambled out, grateful for the pilot’s coolness and courage.

After an examination of the stricken beast, it appeared that the battery had overheated and cooked itself. We would not be able to start the machine again, and we had no emergency signalling devices or radio power (EPIRBs and satellite phones had not yet been invented).

 Great Sandy Desert

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 Kim Akerman, Great Sandy Desert

We were now in a real survival situation in the Great Sandy Desert. The pilot, Kim, Peter, Joe (a very old traditional elder), and I sat in a circle and discussed our options.

It boiled down to two choices: stay and wait an unknown length of time because no one knew our location, or walk out.

Considerations: • The battery was completely dead; therefore, no communication was possible.

• My survival kit had two soup stock cubes, a tea bag, and a coffee sachet.

• Emergency signals: make an SOS on the ground, smoke, and my signal mirror.

• No one at Balgo knew exactly what direction we were going on that day, but they did know it was only a one-day trip, so we’d be missed at mealtime that night—then what?

• Daytime temperatures averaged 34°C; nighttime could be as low as -3°C. • No rescue blankets—only fire to keep us warm at night.

• Balgo was about 100 kilometres away, and there were no roads from it in our direction.

• We had limited water—6 litres—and some cans of soft drink.

• The nearest track, the seismic line, was 8–12 kilometres away.

• We had sandwiches for lunch: one meal.

• There was a good chance of a manned camp on the northern end of the line.

• No other food rations on board, but enough bush-tucker plants available to kerb hunger.

• Kim and I had the fitness and ability to walk to the track and return.

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The nighttime freezing temperature was a big factor in the decision for Kim and me to walk back to the seismic line for help since we had with us the very old and very fragile Joe. I spread out my survival kit. We added everything from our pockets and from the chopper that might be useful. Kim and I took two litres of water each, a cigarette lighter, notepaper and pen, a mirror, a compass, and some first-aid supplies (for walking injuries).

We consulted the aeronautical large-scale map one more time for main features and then headed off on a north-east bearing, aiming high so as not to miss the southern end of the track—which was a possibility if we walked straight east. We left around noon, walking at about three kilometres an hour. We decided to set fire to large dead trees as markers to get back to the chopper on foot or (optimistically) as markers to return with a rescue party. We also made tripods of sticks where 4WD vehicles could easily cross the dry creek beds. I am still proud of those ideas.

At about 4 p.m. we saw a grader moving north, obviously on the seismic line. We desperately ran after it but couldn’t catch up. We now knew that the line was still being worked on and that the grader was probably heading to a base camp, so rescue was just a matter of time. Kim removed his leather sandals as we started walking on the soft sand, but I called him back to look at a large desert scorpion, tail up ready to strike. Kim had straddled the venomous creature with bare feet. Just one more reason for keeping up your safety standards in such situations.

We then led a rescue party of 4WD vehicles to our colleagues. Our burning trees and tripods paid off, and we returned to a very welcoming committee of three. Eight days later, accompanied by a new chopper battery, the pilot, Kim, and I flew back to the seismic camp in a fixed-wing charter plane, borrowed a vehicle, and drove back to the chopper. It started, and Peter and the pilot bravely took off.

Left on the ground, I turned back to the lonely borrowed 4WD and noticed that it had two flat tyres. There was only one spare.

And they call me ‘Lucky Bob’! I pulled off the inside rear vision mirror and signalled to the chopper. They saw the flashes and me indicating to them to return, which they did. I explained my predicament and jumped into the chopper. It was a nerveracking experience to clamber back inside that so-called flying machine, but we flew effortlessly back to Balgo Mission.

Kim wrote a letter to Mobil Oil in Perth thanking them and gave them a grid reference for their stranded vehicle. We headed back to Perth. When I was asked what I had learnt, I said, “I learnt how much I didn’t know.”

Bob Cooper

With footwear on this time, we had walked for about half an hour when a droning noise drew nearer from the south and a 4WD ute pulled up next to us. The driver asked, “Where in the bloody hell did you two come from?” I couldn’t resist: I pointed skywards and said, “Up there, mate.” He drove us to the base camp, which was about 50 kilometres north.

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With over 40 years experience teaching Outback Survival, Bob Cooper has produced what he calls the ‘Trilogy for Survival’.

Along with enough water, Bob believes every time you go bush, no matter what form of transport, these three items should accompany you in case something doesn’t go to plan and you’re in an emergency situation – anywhere.

A quality Three stretch elastic bandages. Quality survival blanket. emergency/survival kit. Multiple uses and first aid.

This one spells HELP.

$89.95

$29.95

$19.99

Check out these items and more at

www.bobcoopersurvival.com Also available

Playing cards with a survival hint on each card.

$10.00

Bob’s best selling book

$24.95

FISHY BUSINESS with John Bormolini

THE ESSENTIAL KIT For some, angling can be a fleeting, couple-of-times-a-year thing, and for others, almost an obsession. If you’re in the former category you probably own some of the basics whereas if you are one of the more passionate, the collection of fishing gear will be more like a small tackle store.

W

ith plenty of time and opportunity, tackle and outfits become more specialised to suit each purpose, but there are times when just an essential all-round piece of kit that can cover most situations becomes useful for shore-based fishing. If it can be carried or stowed easily and take up little room, it can almost remain

permanently in the vehicle or even be carried on a plane flight to somewhere fishy if the need arose.

I’ll admit that I’m someone who fits into the way-too-much gear category (I need all of it, of course), but I do keep a simple “allround essential transportable kit” that can be snatched up easily. A small backpack and a multipiece rod and reel make up the two main parts. Now, this kit will never squeeze out the proper stuff when I’m specifically targeting a species in a particular spot, and I can take everything I want, but the essential kit is trying to have some basic gear handy for covering different options.

A single reel, lures, and terminal tackle obviously tend to be easier to package, but

A simple backpack with the basics is a great way to fish

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rods can be cumbersome and pretty fragile.

It’s a challenge that’s long been recognised, and multi-section (two-piece or three-piece) rods help enormously. These days most recreational anglers will have at least one or maybe two rods in the collection that can be split and transported more easily.

Lots of years back I had the good fortune of seeing what could be done with an 8-foot Guts Butt Ugly Stik to make it more transportable and still retain what was then one of the best all-round spinning rods for big fish. Noddy Radford and Mike Roennfeldt had made a couple for themselves many years back, and I quickly became a fan when I saw how this brilliant all-round rod split down to less than 1.3 metres as a twopiece outfit.

It’s caught everything from herring to big mackerel and even a sailfish, and although I’ve rebound it with new guides and colours a couple of times, it’s still a very versatile and reliable outfit coupled with a medium spinning reel.

In more recent times, a T Curve Revolution three-piece light spin rod has pushed that

portability boundary even further. This 6-kilo, 2.13-metre spin stick breaks down into three equal sections that pack neatly into a tube a bit over 70 centimetres long.

Hitched to a small but quality spinning reel of choice, and it’s a compact package to take anywhere. Like most high-quality fishing rods these days, the material and construction make them lighter, stronger, and easier to use.

The only negative with multi-piece rods is the slight trade-off in casting distance due to the slight extra stiffness from ferrules or joins. Going lighter again and with a two-piece will improve that, but hook into something very serious, and there’s a danger of snapping this lighter setup.

The choice of reel to put with this type of essential outfit hinges on being well matched. A tiny spinning reel has its limitations in line capacity and casting distance, and reels that are too heavy and suited to heavy sports fishing are overkill. A small to medium, quality brand spinning reel that is well balanced for the rod in question is what’s needed, not a twenty-dollar A simple tray with a selection of basic tackle will cover most shore-bound needs

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cheapie. There are plenty in the size range, but my outfit is rigged with an original US-made Fin Nor Ahab 12, and it’s a perfect match. Bulletproof and versatile, it is strong enough to handle the unexpected big fish but works perfectly with small fare.

An all round fishing outfit covers different fishing prospects

With rod and reel sorted, it’s a case of what goes into a pre-prepared small backpack with the essentials for a cast from shore.

The best approach is to make use of a single tackle tray with six or eight compartments big enough to take what’s needed. The very small terminal gear, such as hooks, swivels, clip swivels, and sinkers, are best stored in a small screw lid or clip seal container and limited to what is likely to be used for one or two trips. Don’t pack hundreds of these small items that will only take space and add weight.

A plastic float or blob is always handy if there’s a need to work near the surface or alternatively the polystyrene berley cage, particularly if there are garfish about. It’s hard to pass up catching a few gardies when there’s not much else about, when they are such great bait for big pelagics.

Likewise with lures. One or, at best, two surface poppers, three or four favourite soft plastic jigs, and a few different-sized metal slices, such as gold or silver Halco Twistys.

One or two squid jigs are worthy as well— you never know when a succulent squid will appear.

In any case, having enough basic options to cover the most likely scenario wherever you’re fishing will usually get you a fish.

Along much of our West Australian coastline, there have always been plenty of options for wetting a line, and with a bit of research and know-how, having success.

3-piece T Curve rod — easily stowed or transported

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GEAR TO GO CAMPING All featured products available from Go Camping & Overlanding 9/58 Erindale Road, Balcatta. Visit campingoverlanding.com.au

BUSHMAN DF30 DRAWER FRIDGE/FREEZER Just arrived in the shop, Bushman's first ever Heavy Duty Drawer Fridge. The perfect 12V drawer freezer for a 4WD canopy, 4X4 drawer system, or as a dedicated drinks fridge.

Australia's first and only company to utilise the unique Secop Danfoss Heavy Duty Series 12V compressor and to offer Australia's first and only 7-Year 12V compressor warranty.

Designed to operate 365 days a year on Australia's harsh corrugated roads, the Bushman DF30-HD drawer fridge is the most robust and capable 12V fridge freezer Bushman has ever built. Stainless steel runners and a slam-shut handle should add to its durability. It's reported to freeze down as far as minus 18 in 45-degree heat. Coming in at 24 kg weight, with a 310 mm height and 440 mm width, you'll need a cavity 880 mm deep to house it.

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ESPETOSUL PORTABLE ROTISSERIE KIT Barbeque lovers rejoice! Here is a take-anywhere rotisserie unit that can be used with a wide manner of cooking products. Have your preferred meat spinning over a nice and hot charcoal base or on a super hot gas grill and cook to perfection! Designed and made in Brazil to be portable, quiet and versatile. Powered by 4 AA batteries, giving a runtime of up to 50 hours if you use alkaline batteries and can handle rechargeable batteries too!

The maximum length of 60 cm should get you sorted with most meats (just maybe think twice about that whole goat!). And it's made with 304 stainless steel, making it light but strong and should take up to 5 kg of food. You can mix and match various types of food such as chicken, pork, ribs, and fish, and additionally, you can add vegetables (gasp—shock horror!).

It will fit most kettles and is definitely a great match to the Red Roads Blaze-n-BBQ portable Fire Pit for sure, which is what we've been playing with.

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GEAR TO GO CAMPING

AUSSIE COOKWARE The return of a classic into Go Camping & Overlanding! Engineered in Melbourne, the Aussie Cookware brand is made from black carbon steel for durability and heat retention and is very versatile for hightemperature cooking and induction. The folding handle is riveted with heavy-duty fittings for easy storage and transportation.

After some seasoning, the surface becomes non-stick.

Available in Flat, Rounded and Wok shapes, in a variety of classic sizes from 9" to 16", the range isn't limited to frypans, with a Fire Pit and Grill Plate also on offer. Perfect for the upcoming camping season, the Aussie Cookware is in stock at Go Camping & Overlanding, 58 Erindale Road, Balcatta.

FIRECHEF CARVING BUNDLE This beautiful 29 cm Carving Set consists of a masterfully crafted slicer and fork duo designed for those who take their carving seriously. Made from premium carbon steel 1095, this full-tang slicer offers exceptional strength, durability and balance. The blade glides effortlessly through large roasts, BBQ meats, and braai favourites, delivering surgical precision every time.

For the ultimate in style and convenience, the set includes a custom Crazy Horse leather sheath. Handcrafted to house both the slicer and fork in one compact unit, this rich, dark leather sheath adds a touch of rugged elegance. It ensures your tools are protected and ready to go wherever your culinary adventures take you (steak and chopping board not included).

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CA P TU R E TH E M O M E NT with U NCLE DICK STE I N

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onsequences.

There’s always consequences. Nothing happens in isolation—but sometimes you get a good thing from a bad one. A few years ago, bushfires burned near Toodyay— and no one in Australia needs to be told how serious that was.

Graeme Pauline was spending time at Lancelin with his 1991 TD42 Maverick when the offshore winds blew some of the results of that fire out to sea. The awesome colours of a Western Australian maritime sunset got even more spectacular. The location shown is near the Nilgen Reserve sign.

His camera looked at the bright sky and dark land and just decided to expose for the compromise—a decision that was perfect for the scene. His framing—horizontal horizon, magic composition using the rule of thirds, and the artistic balance of the dark dune masses and bright reflection on the bonnet—was either a masterly stroke of artistic genius or he just lucked it.

Hint: when someone praises your art, accept it for the generous and sophisticated judgement it is. Bask. Do not tell them you just pressed the button and let Kodak do the rest. There is a time and place for modesty…

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On the technical side, if you get a superb chance like this and your camera has the ability to change settings, put it on a tripod and run through several shots in sequence.

You’re likely shooting digital, so there is little cost, and you can turn the camera’s compensation dial a couple of stops down and a couple of stops up as well as dead-on.

If your camera can switch from a neutral rendition to a more vivid one, use that as well.

You never can tell when a setting will make the whole thing come alive.

I hope the editor has space to show another picture that Graeme sent along when we asked for more information. Apparently the fishing was slow on the night but picked up in the morning. I don’t know whether that’s a tailor or a mullaway, but I’m pretty certain it’s a Graeme.

And the sky has cleared up…

Follow us on Facebook and watch for our request for entries for your chance to win! facebook.com/western4wdriver

Holiday in in WA WA Holiday Holiday in WA

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When you holiday in WA, book with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses and you’ll get abook quality assured you go.

When you holiday in WA, with Qualityoperator Tourism wherever Accredited Businesses and you’ll get a quality assured operator wherever you go.

Frominhotels and guided tours toTourism shops and services,Businesses you can expect When you holiday WA, book with Quality Accredited andquality, reliability great customer service.

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Holiday in WA

When you holiday in WA, book with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses and reliability and great customer service. you’ll get a quality assured operator wherever you go.

From hotels and guided tours to shops and services, you can expect quality, When you holiday in WA, book with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses and and great customer service.

From hotels andreliability guided tours to shops and services, youyou can you’ll get a quality assured operator wherever go.expect quality, reliability and great customer service.

From hotels and guided tours to shops and services, you can expect quality, reliability and great customer service.

To book your holiday with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses, visit To book your holiday with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses, visit www.holidayinwa.com.au www.holidayinwa.com.au

To book your holiday with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses, visit To book your holiday with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses, visit To book your holiday with Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses, visit www.holidayinwa.com.au www.holidayinwa.com.au www.holidayinwa.com.au western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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NO BAKE CHOCOLATE GATEAU

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hat do you do when your camp oven cooking skills are just not quite up to scratch just yet, you can’t use a camp oven because it's summer, there are fire restrictions, and you don’t have the time to do the prep and baking to make an impressive dessert or cake for a special person or event?

Luckily, I have the answer for you.

The no-bake Chocolate Gateau is the answer to your dilemma, and without question, all who partake in this gastronomic delight will sing your praises as a genius in the kitchen for many long years.

The only skill you will need, to have everyone lining up and begging for more, is to be able to make pancakes and stack them on top of each other. Easy peasy.

You will need: For the pancakes: 1 cup of self-raising flour ½ cup of white or raw sugar 1 ½ cups of milk ½ cup of cocoa powder 2 eggs 3 tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter 2 teaspoons of vanilla For the filling: 600ml whipping cream 1 tablespoon of sugar 1 punnet of fresh strawberries ½ cup of grated chocolate

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CLEWED UP with JO CLEWS fruit on top of the cream, then lay another pancake over the top. Repeat this process until all ingredients have been used, but make sure you still have enough to put a layer of cream and fruit on the very top.

Place all of your ingredients together into a large mixing bowl and beat together with an egg whisk until the batter is smooth and glossy with no lumps.

Preheat a skillet or frying pan with low sides for about five minutes on medium heat, then turn down to low for the cooking process.

Sprinkle the top layer with grated chocolate and place it into the fridge for a minimum of 5-6 hours to allow the cream to set and be easy to cut; otherwise, the cream will ooze out the sides and make a big mess.

This cake has the wow factor and is a real show stopper that will lift your cooking credibility to the next level without the need to be an accomplished baker or camp oven expert. Enjoy.

Melt half a teaspoon of butter in the pan, then add ½ a cup of the chocolate batter to the pan and allow it to gently spread out to form an approximately 18 cm pancake.

Allow pancake to slowly cook until bubbles form and burst on the top approximately 3-4 minutes, then turn the pancake over and cook for a further minute or two. Repeat this process with the remaining batter, which should make you 5-6 reasonably evenly sized chocolate pancakes. Stack the pancakes onto a plate and refrigerate until they are really cold.

Whilst the pancakes are cooling down, whip the cream and sugar together in a large bowl until the cream is fluffy and stands up on its own but not nearly butter.

Drain any canned fruit or slice fresh fruit in preparation to commence the construction.

Once the pancakes are cold, then place one pancake in the middle of a nice serving plate and spread a layer of cream approximately ½-1 cm thick over the pancake, arrange the

This cake is well suited to being made the day before serving to allow enough time for the cream to set.

Well-drained canned or fresh cherries, fresh or frozen blueberries, and other sliced seasonal fruit can also be used.

A light drizzle with your favourite liqueur on each layer can really give it a zing.

Vanilla pancakes can be used with peach liqueur and sliced fresh or well-drained canned peaches.

A couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder can be added to the cream at whipping for a light chocolate cream.

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SMART PHOTOGRAPHY with Karl Fehlauer

DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY IMAGE PLANNING Christmas has come and gone, and we are into a new year, and I hope that everyone had a great festive season and spent quality time with family and friends. Hopefully this year will be a good one, and I already have a few trips planned, including a trip over to the east coast, and I am planning on doing plenty of photography while I am away.

I

n my last couple of articles, I have written about the basics of operating a drone, including the rules, some of the apps to use, and ND filters. In this article, I am going to explain my approach to taking images with my drone. I will be concentrating on still images, and in a future article I will write about video images.

Trip Planning One of the first things I do when I plan a trip is to plan what the subjects are going to be and the images that I want to capture, whether they will be taken with my DSLR, smartphone, or drone. Often, it will be a

combination of all three, or sometimes I will plan a specific trip on a single style of photography. Once I have decided this, then I will look at where I want to go, and I will start researching my route, the best time to go, things I want to see and photograph, how long I intend to be away for, etc.

For example, for my trip over to the east coast, I have to go to Canberra for a reunion with one of my old Army units, so I have decided to drive across and be away for about four weeks. The initial plan is to drive straight to Canberra, have the reunion, and then come back via Victoria and South Australia doing the painted silo trails. So, the main subjects will be the painted silos and other artwork along the way.

I won’t be able to get to all of the painted silos; therefore, I have begun to research and plan all of my images so that I get to see as much as I can and capture the images that I want. I have been planning this for about three months now and still have more to do, but that is the fun of going on a trip.

 Image 1 - Penguin Island

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I will be taking all of my cameras with me on this trip, and I know that all of these silos have been photographed hundreds, if not a thousand times before, but that doesn’t concern me. However, I will try and capture each image in a somewhat unique way, and that is what a drone is good for, as it allows you to look at each subject from a different perspective, as not everyone has a drone (yet!). For example, I am planning on doing a number of horizontal panoramas of some of the silos, and the drone will be the best tool for this.

All drone camera systems have automatic and manual modes to take images. For example, my DJI Air 2S allows me to take a panorama photo by simply going into the menu and selecting ‘Panorama,’ pushing the button, and away it goes, and in most cases the results are acceptable.

However, I prefer to have control over my images, and I always prefer to shoot in manual and make my own settings or compositions.

When planning and taking the images, I like to look at the subject and see what it ‘offers’ to me. Some subjects make great panoramas, others make great macro images, some are better taken early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and others look good taken in the middle of the day, so all of this comes into my planning.

One thing, though, is that you have to be very flexible, as not every plan will go perfectly, and things beyond your control, such as the weather, will play a big part in how your images turn out. You may need to adapt, improvise and overcome, but this is all the fun of travel and photography.

day. Many photographers will tell you to only shoot during the ‘Golden Hours,’ that is, just before or just after sunrise, and that you need clouds to add ‘drama.’ However, I was flying my drone without any intentions of taking any images that day until I put the drone up, and the view of Penguin Island was just stunning, so the best way I thought of capturing it was to do a five-image panorama.

I decided what my start and end points were going to be; I set the exposure manually and took all five images, moving the drone left to right so that I overlapped each image by 1/3rd, as this makes it easier to stitch together in Lightroom. For the composition, I put the horizon at the top 1/3 of the sky and placed Penguin Island to the right of the image. I used the shallower/lighter-coloured water as a leading line diagonally from the bottom left-hand corner to Penguin Island, which I think worked well.

Image 2 is of the water reservoir at Berringbooding Rock in the north-eastern Wheatbelt. One of my other images of this rock appeared in Edition 132. Both of these images were taken on the same day. One thing I like about drone photography is that you can get very unique compositions that are normally too hard to get with other cameras, and one of these is the ‘straight down’ shot; however, they can become very ‘cliché.

I will now explain my approach to the planning and capturing of images for this article so that you will understand what my approach was.

Image Planning Image 1 is of Penguin Island. This image was taken mid-morning on a bright summer's

 Image 2 - Berringbooding Rock

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 Image 3 - Lake Brown

Initially, I hadn’t intended to take this image, but as I was setting up to take another image, I pointed my lens down, and in doing so, I noticed the composition and really liked it. I adjusted my composition slightly to place the reservoir in the centre and the rock with the channel walls to the top left, using the channel to act as a leading line. I think that the water birds on the water really help show the scale of the dam.

 Image 4 - Lake Brown Patterns

Images 3 and 4 are of Lake Brown in the Eastern Wheatbelt. Another thing that

 Image 5 - Kwinana Bulk Terminal

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 Image 6 - Bird Island

drones are good for is picking out patterns in the scene. I took Image 3 as I was flying the drone, and I noticed on the screen of my tablet the patterns in the lake, and I thought that they looked really cool, so I flew over the area in the lake and pointed the lens downward. I then flew the drone around slowly looking for compositions, and I found this one. When I first saw this image, I thought that it looked like a face. I also like all the ripple patterns in the salt.

Image 5 is of an old terminal/jetty in the Kwinana Industrial Area. I have scuba dived under here a couple of times, and I always wondered what it would look like from above, so one day I headed down there and took a number of images, and this is the one I liked the best. I placed the horizon in the top 1/3rd of the image, but I placed the terminal in the centre, and what catches my eye is the colours of the water.

Images 6 & 7 are of Bird Island. Image 6 is a three-image panorama, and it is an okay image, but nothing outstanding. Sometimes when a composition doesn’t quite work, then you need to look for a different perspective. In this case I decided to do a close-up composition of the eastern end of the island, so I repositioned the drone and flew in a lot closer and captured this image, which I think shows a bit more drama with the waves crashing on the rocks.

Now none of these images will ever win

 Image 7 - Bird Island Close Up

any awards, but I don’t care as I like them, and that is all that matters. I am also trying to show you that using a drone for photography can offer some great opportunities for different compositions that you wouldn’t normally get, and the more planning that you put in, the more likely you are to get great results.

I also hope that by showing you my insight into my planning for taking photos as well as my thought process when taking those images and how I access the scene to capture the image, it will go some way to helping you take better images.

For me, the most important thing is to have fun and get out there and shoot lots of photos and enjoy yourselves. The more you plan, the better it will be.

Anyway, that is it for now. Keep the shiny side up, and if not, take lots of photos.

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NOW WE'RE TAWKING! Travelling Australia With Kids with Lucas Hay

SCHOOLING WHILE TRAVELLING AROUND AUSTRALIA : A ROADSCHOOLING ADVENTURE Education doesn’t have to happen inside four walls. For families travelling around Australia, the world becomes their classroom—history is found in ancient landscapes, science is discovered in the Great Barrier Reef, and math is calculated when planning fuel stops and budgets. Roadschooling, or educating while travelling, is a growing trend among Australian families who have traded traditional schooling for a more immersive, hands-on approach.

W

hile it may seem overwhelming at first, countless families have successfully taken the leap, and with the right resources, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Whether you're a first-time traveller or a seasoned roadschooler, this guide will help you navigate the world of education on the road, featuring insights into the best resources, support communities, and innovative platforms like Travelling Kids Academy to make the journey smooth and enriching.

WHY CHOOSE ROADSCHOOLING? Families hit the road for many reasons— seeking adventure, escaping the daily grind, or simply wanting to spend more time together. But one concern many parents have is how to ensure their children continue receiving a quality education. The good news? Learning while travelling can be just as effective—if not more so—than traditional schooling.

By experiencing the world firsthand, children absorb lessons in a way that textbooks can’t provide. From visiting Indigenous cultural sites to exploring geological wonders, the lessons are real, tangible, and unforgettable. Roadschooling fosters curiosity, adaptability, and a love for learning that can last a lifetime.

TAWK: YOUR FIRST STOP FOR EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Before diving into roadschooling, it’s important to connect with a support network, and Travelling Australia With Kids (TAWK) is the perfect place to start. TAWK is an incredible resource hub for families

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planning to travel Australia with kids, offering advice, community support, and a wealth of information on roadschooling.

TAWK provides: ✔ Tips on homeschooling registration and requirements in different states ✔ Links to online learning resources and curriculum options ✔ Information on family-friendly camping spots ✔ A supportive community of like-minded parents For those just starting their journey, TAWK is an essential tool to help navigate the world of roadschooling while connecting with other families on the same path.

✔ Access to structured group learning sessions ✔ Playdates and social opportunities for kids ✔ Shared resources and learning materials ✔ Parent support for navigating homeschooling laws and requirements Many roadschooling families plan their routes around known homeschooling hotspots, ensuring their children have regular opportunities to interact and learn with others.

TRAVELLING KIDS ACADEMY: WHERE EDUCATION INTERTWINES WITH ADVENTURE While roadschooling offers unique learning opportunities, having a structured educational foundation can be incredibly helpful. This is where Travelling Kids Academy shines—an innovative online platform designed specifically for travelling families.

What is Travelling Kids Academy?

CONNECTING WITH HOMESCHOOLING COMMUNITIES One of the greatest fears parents have when choosing to roadschool is isolation.

Will my kids make friends? Who will I talk to when I need support? The good news is that homeschooling and roadschooling communities are thriving across Australia!

When staying in a town for a longer period, many travelling families tap into local homeschooling groups. These communities are invaluable for socialisation, shared resources, and organised learning activities.

Many towns have regular meet-ups in parks or community centres where travelling families are warmly welcomed.

Some benefits of connecting with local homeschooling groups include:

Travelling Kids Academy is more than just an online school; it’s a customisable, flexible learning hub tailored to meet the needs of children learning on the road.

Designed to empower parents, the platform offers a range of engaging resources that complement hands-on learning experiences while travelling.

Key Features of Travelling Kids Academy ✔ Customisable Learning Paths – Whether your child thrives on traditional lessons or prefers project-based learning, Travelling Kids Academy adapts to suit your family’s educational approach. ✔ On-the-Go Learning – Designed for mobile accessibility, lessons can be completed anywhere, whether you’re in the Outback or by the beach. ✔ Australian Curriculum Alignment – Ensuring your child stays on track

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with educational milestones while still embracing the freedom of roadschooling. ✔ Community & Support – Connect with other travelling families and educators who understand the unique challenges of schooling on the move. ✔ Hands-On Learning Modules – Encouraging kids to apply lessons to realworld scenarios, making learning both practical and exciting.

At Travelling Kids Academy, we believe that socialisation is a crucial part of a child's learning journey. Our classes are designed with a strong foundation in peer-to-peer learning, allowing kids to engage, collaborate, and grow together.

To further support this, we have dedicated hubs where children can connect online, fostering friendships and organising in-person meetups. These hubs create a sense of community, making learning more interactive and ensuring that no child feels isolated while on the road.

With Travelling Kids Academy, education is no longer a rigid structure but a fluid, engaging experience that intertwines with the grand adventure of travel.

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ROADSCHOOLING 1. Follow a flexible routine While one of the joys of roadschooling is flexibility, having a loose routine can help maintain consistency. Many families opt for morning learning sessions, allowing afternoons to be dedicated to exploration and hands-on learning.

2. Use the world as a classroom ✔ History: Visit historical sites, indigenous landmarks, and museums. ✔ Science: Explore natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef, national parks, and wildlife reserves. ✔ Math: Calculate distances, fuel consumption, and grocery budgets. ✔ English: Keep travel journals, write postcards, or start a travel blog.

3. Leverage online learning resources Apart from Travelling Kids Academy, many other platforms can support learning on the road: ✔ Reading Eggs & Mathseeds – Interactive learning for younger kids

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it. Don’t pressure yourself to replicate traditional school—embrace the flexibility and find what works best for your family.

2. Worried about socialisation?

Plan meet-ups.

Many travelling families arrange meet-ups at popular caravan parks, homeschooling events, or through social media groups like TAWK’s online community.

3. Concerned about keeping up with curriculum? Use a mix of resources.

Combining online learning platforms like Travelling Kids Academy with real-world experiences ensures children stay on track while making learning enjoyable.

✔ ABC Education – Free educational videos and activities ✔ Khan Academy – A great platform for older children needing structured subjects ✔ Duolingo – Perfect for learning a second language on the go 4. Plan for internet access and offline learning Not every campsite has reliable Wi-Fi, so downloading lessons or having offline activities (like workbooks or printable worksheets) is a great backup plan.

5. Keep it fun and engaging Kids learn best when they’re excited and engaged. Mix up learning styles—some days can be filled with structured lessons, while others are spent exploring local attractions, watching documentaries, or simply reading under the stars.

EMBRACE THE ADVENTURE OF ROADSCHOOLING Choosing to educate your children while travelling around Australia is more than just an academic decision—it’s a lifestyle choice that prioritises family bonding, real-world experiences, and a love for lifelong learning.

With support from TAWK, homeschooling communities, and innovative platforms like Travelling Kids Academy, roadschooling is not just achievable—it’s an enriching, lifechanging journey.

So pack up, hit the road, and let the world be your child's classroom. The greatest lessons aren’t always found in books; they’re discovered in the places you explore, the people you meet, and the adventures you embark on together.

Until next time, safe travels and happy learning!

COMMON CHALLENGES AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM 1. Feeling overwhelmed? Start small.

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GOINGS ON

Culture and nature come together for Karijini Experience Ready 4 Adventure Show brings ultimate outdoor expo to Perth The Ready 4 Adventure Show is bringing the ultimate outdoor expo for lovers of 4WD, caravanning, camping, boating, and fishing to Wanneroo Showgrounds from Friday, May 9 to Sunday, May 11, 2025.

The Ready 4 Adventure Show, once known for its popular 2022 TV series, Ready 4 Adventure, is a live, interactive event that gives adventure enthusiasts the chance to explore the latest in adventure gear, hear from industry experts, connect with other travellers, and discover new products that will help them take their outdoor experiences to the next level.

The event is set to have more than 100 exhibitors, a massive market alley, thousands of products, the biggest brands in one venue, exclusive show deals, a guest speaker stage, cooking demos and more.

The outdoor expo event is family-friendly, with plenty of kids activities, including rock climbing, rides, entertainment, and more, as well as food trucks and licenced bars for adults.

The show comes courtesy of The City of Wanneroo, Interact Digital and Media Junction.

Ready 4 Adventure Show takes over Wanneroo Showgrounds from Friday, May 9 until Sunday, May 11, 2025. For more info, head to ready4adventure.com.au

One of the Pilbara’s most popular annual events, The Karijini Experience, returns in 2025, bringing a diverse four-day program to Karijini National Park from Friday, April 11 to Monday, April 14.

Bringing together adventure, cultural immersion, and culinary exploration, the festival program showcases the rich cultural heritage of the local Indigenous communities, alongside the breathtaking natural beauty of Karijini.

The event kicks off with a heartfelt Welcome to Country by Traditional Owners at the official opening on Friday night, giving attendees the opportunity to immerse themselves in Banjima culture and experience a Barlgabi and smoking ceremony, followed by a live musical performance.

A returning favourite in 2025, The Yurlu Lounge, will feature performances from award-winning Gamilaraay artist Thelma Plum and soulful singer-songwriter Nathan Lamont.

Across the weekend, attendees can also look forward to guided walks through ancient gorges, Banjima language classes, Aussie Rules football training sessions, scenic helicopter rides, markets, cooking demonstrations, art workshops, stargazing and more.

The Karijini Experience takes place at the Karijini Airstrip and throughout Karijini National Park, from Friday, April 11 to Monday, April 14, 2025. For more info and to buy tickets, go to karijiniexperience.com

152 | Western 4W Driver #133 | western4wdriver.com.au

Variety WA’s 4WD Adventure returns to conquer the Gascoyne coast

Rest awhile on the Coral Coast as Jamba Nyiyani Festival returns

Variety WA’s 4WD Adventure is back this year, bringing together the 4WD community for an exciting journey along the Gascoyne Coast from Saturday, May 24 to Sunday, June 1.

Jamba Nyinayi (rest awhile) is set to return to Western Australia’s Coral Coast for its third year in 2025, running from Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 20.

The eight-day 4WD trek is set to explore some of Western Australia’s most popular off-road destinations, such as Dirk Hartog Island, Steep Point, Useless Loop, Kalbarri and Shark Bay.

Held at Cardabia / Gunjayindiya Station near Coral Bay in the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo/Nyinggulu Region, the event sees the Baiyungu Aboriginal Corporation inviting people of all cultures, communities and nationalities to join them for a soulful celebration of connection, culture and community.

It’s an opportunity to tackle hidden 4WD tracks, conquer hill climbs, rock climbs, mud pits, sand dunes, river crossings, ocean crossings, sandy beaches and more.

The trip includes free exclusive track access, all-inclusive meals, showers, toilets, entertainment, and an experienced support team.

A regular event since 1996, the trek raises money for Variety WA, a charity that helps WA children in need. The event is open to all 4WD skill levels and gives participants the option to choose from a shorter four-day trip or the full eight days.

The Variety WA 4WD Adventure returns this year from Saturday, May 24 to Sunday, June 1, 2025. Sign up for the event at varietywa4wd.com.au

The festival offers a vibrant mix of activities, including art and craft workshops, children’s painting, and captivating dance performances by groups like Pundarra Performance Group, Coral Spawn Dancers, and Binmaga Yamtji Dancers.

Live music fans can look forward to a diverse line-up in 2025, with Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse, David Milroy & Lucky Oceans, Maatakitj, Razzy Mak and more to perform across the Easter long weekend.

Camping packages for three, four and five nights are available, which includes festival entry and a range of inclusions and options.

All campers and festival attendees will enjoy the hugely popular campfire sessions, cultural workshops, food and arts markets, and station amenities.

Jamba Nyinayi festival takes place at Cardabia / Gunjayindiya Station from Friday, April 18 to Sunday, April 20, 2025.

For more info and to buy tickets, head to jnfestival.com.au

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QUARTERLY CROSSWORD Read the mag cover to cover and you'll have no problems solving this puzzle.

DOWN

ACROSS

1.

Gajalbu

4.

Home of blowholes

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Education while travelling

8.

Large outback truck

3.

Cake with layers

9.

5.

Traditional Aussie bread

Light display resulting from solar activity

6.

Jet Ranger

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Prado model named after a National Park

10. Rock engraving

11. Luna event signalling change of season 12. Fossilised plant specimen found at Kennedy Ranges 15. Type of jasper used in jewellery 16. Australian-designed bush welder

13. Francis Thomas Gregory’s brother 14. Name of spot for surfers at Three Mile Camp 17. Goldfields town nicknamed ‘Pug Town’ Answers will be published in the Winter edition of Western 4W Driver

Crossword Puzzle Crossword solution from Summer Edition #132

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 Sunrise on the Kennedy Range

 Colin Kerr

Across: nce jetty built in the 1930s 2. Granite island visible from Mandalay Beach n axe 5. NASA's first space station | Western 4W Driver #133 | western4wdriver.com.au ut Another Thousand 7. Animal law introduced in 1903 Foreign Legionnaire turned 8. Biscuits for lemon slice

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western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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ACCOMMODATION Queen of the Murchison............................... 81

MAGAZINES Western Angler............................................ 135

CAMPING SUPPLIES Bob Cooper Outback Survival.................... 131 Go Camping and Overlanding................... 139

MAPS & NAVIGATION Hema Maps................................................... 157

CLUBS Toyota LandCruiser Club of WA................. 125 DESTINATIONS Eastern Goldfields Historical Society/ Kanowna Heritage Trail................................. 53 Golden Quest Discovery Trail....................... 50 Pilbara East..................................................... 83 Shire of Ashburton......................................... 24 Yawuru Marine & Conservation Parks........ 15 4WD PARTS & ACCESSORIES Goldfields Offroad....................................... 101 Make Tracks WA............................................. 97 Maxtrax......................................................... IBC Medicar Automotive Solutions..................... 49 MSA 4x4 Accessories................................... 119 Norweld......................................................... 124 Supafit Seat Covers........................................ 33

MECHANICAL SERVICE, REPAIRS & REPLACEMENT Fremantle Fuel Injection............................. 117 Goldfields Offroad....................................... 101 Medicar Automotive Solutions..................... 49 United Fuel Injection..................................... 87 MOTOR VEHICLES Toyota...........................................................OBC PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS Fremantle Fuel Injection..............................IFC Turbotech...................................................... 103 United Fuel Injection..................................... 87 TRAINING & TOURS Bob Cooper Outback Survival.................... 131 Forest Explorers............................................... 1 WAITOC........................................................... 69 OTHER Quality Tourism Accredited Businesses.... 141 Road Safety Commission.............................. 43 The Gibb Challenge....................................... 80

western4wdriver.com.au | Western 4W Driver #133 |

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S

ILLY NA P S

ded to do some last month, my partner and I deci On a recent trip up to Jurien Bay off early in the set d to see the WWII bunkers. We sightseeing around the North Hea in our sights were kers as we approached, the bun morning, enjoying the sights, and be straight there. ld shou it and , was just one more left turn about 300 metres away. There in my life, and as g the softest sand I have ever seen Well, that left turn ended up bein ed at my partner and it, I knew I was in trouble. I look soon as my front wheels touched gave a grin. towies from n, and after a few phone calls, the Luckily we had full phone receptio thought she was She . calm ner part my do now was keep Cervantes came out. All I had to and kept playing hide being me, I found this hilarious going to perish out there, so me of life." It was the worst "You gotta look at the bright side and seek in the dunes, singing, tly! three hours of her life, apparen AJ Sims

way, but Well, a positive attitude goes a long way, it Cape y Sand up oad if you're going off-r n. agai e hom you get to gh enou might not be ly pay tical prac rs drive k truc tow s The Cervante optimism! their mortgages with that kind of re not the you' So keep that smile on your dial— last! first, and you sure won't be the

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